Iv'e been thinking about doing top surgery before i decide or come to the decision to if i want to take Testosterone
i personally feel more confident and sure of the fact i don't want my chest more then i feel about choosing to take Testosterone. I feel like if anything doing top surgery first may help me move forward and focus on other things in my transition if i remove the main problem first. That main problem being my chest. From their i can go forward onto other choices easier. This is becoming more and more a possibility to me i'm actually considering speaking to my endocrinologist about this and maybe looking around at the people who can possibly do this for me inside of Maine (If i decide i don't want to travel, although knowing me i'd be more comfortable doing it outside of Maine with other doctors. But its becoming a thought showing me that i'm taking this into serious consideration, as soon as possible if i can. Now i HATE where i live and the fact i'm considering doing it here is like huh? wait what? but it shows me i'm over these's thing on my chest! Anyways i'm curious and what i'm trying to get down to is : Has anyone else on here thought about getting Top surgery before taking testosterone and if so why? Also if you've done top surgery before T did it help you maybe move forward (if you did?)

This is exactly what I'm doing. I've already been placed on the wait list for Dr. Medalie. Like you I don't know if I want to start T because I can't focus on anything else but my chest. Right now I feel like I will be done with my transition after top surgery but I don't know

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

I know a few people who had top surgery done first. For a few of them, it was because they were unsure about T but knew they wanted top surgery. For others, that was just the order that the options became available to them. Of the people I know, all of them did go on T except one.

I can't think of any surgeons in Maine off the top of my head, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. Best advice would be to look at your insurance and see what they require before they'll pay for surgery. Some will want you to satisfy certain requirements (think WPATH guidelines). They'd also be able to tell you if there's anyone in network that you could go to.

Quote from: FTMax on September 27, 2016, 10:26:49 PM
I know a few people who had top surgery done first. For a few of them, it was because they were unsure about T but knew they wanted top surgery. For others, that was just the order that the options became available to them. Of the people I know, all of them did go on T except one.

I can't think of any surgeons in Maine off the top of my head, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. Best advice would be to look at your insurance and see what they require before they'll pay for surgery. Some will want you to satisfy certain requirements (think WPATH guidelines). They'd also be able to tell you if there's anyone in network that you could go to.

The surgants in Maine from what i last heard from my endro (who i haven't spoken to yet this is just old info although we never went into it) The ones in Maine are newer that's why i doubt i'll go to Maine and do this, but its on my mind.  Anyways thank you for the information i'll look into it next appointment already been planning on it.
 

Quote from: haeden on September 27, 2016, 10:16:07 PM
This is exactly what I'm doing. I've already been placed on the wait list for Dr. Medalie. Like you I don't know if I want to start T because I can't focus on anything else but my chest. Right now I feel like I will be done with my transition after top surgery but I don't know

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

It possible. I don't really know how i feel or if i'll be done my transition but
i do feel like saying my chest isn't what i focus on the most but i do focus on it in the sense it's the thing that i know for sure i'm wanting to remove. ^.^ I'm sure you'll figure out what you want just like i will, good luck!

Quote from: Tristan on September 28, 2016, 10:28:51 AM


It possible. I don't really know how i feel or if i'll be done my transition but
i do feel like saying my chest isn't what i focus on the most but i do focus on it in the sense it's the thing that i know for sure i'm wanting to remove. ^.^ I'm sure you'll figure out what you want just like i will, good luck!

Yeah I'm not really concerned. I'm just going with the flow of things. If I try and think about everything at once it will stress me out too much and I have enough of that

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Quote from: haeden on September 28, 2016, 10:36:56 AM
Yeah I'm not really concerned. I'm just going with the flow of things. If I try and think about everything at once it will stress me out too much and I have enough of that

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Understandable same happens to me

I got top surgery before starting T. I knew I wanted it done, I had money saved, and I knew that starting T while still having breasts would only make me feel more dysphoric. I wasn't totally sure I wanted T at all at that point, and it felt important to see how I felt after surgery before making any more decisions. Afterward, I felt much more ready to deal with the rest of my transition.

Quote from: Rufio on September 28, 2016, 03:27:57 PM
I got top surgery before starting T. I knew I wanted it done, I had money saved, and I knew that starting T while still having breasts would only make me feel more dysphoric. I wasn't totally sure I wanted T at all at that point, and it felt important to see how I felt after surgery before making any more decisions. Afterward, I felt much more ready to deal with the rest of my transition.

This is pretty much how I felt. Two years later and now I'm on T. I would not do it any other way if I had to do it again.

Quote from: Rufio on September 28, 2016, 03:27:57 PM
I got top surgery before starting T. I knew I wanted it done, I had money saved, and I knew that starting T while still having breasts would only make me feel more dysphoric. I wasn't totally sure I wanted T at all at that point, and it felt important to see how I felt after surgery before making any more decisions. Afterward, I felt much more ready to deal with the rest of my transition.

I had this same concern, specifically I didn't want to deal with hair growth and still have breasts, the thought triggered a lot of dysphoria. It took 6 months for hair to really be noticeable for me though so that was a little overblown. Sometimes taking T first can mean better surgical results. Of course, not binding leads to better results but many people aren't willing to do that. I was on T for only 3 months before getting top surgery, the good thing was that my voice had dropped a little so once I had the surgery I was able to pass sometimes which really felt good.

Some surgeons will make you halt T before/after surgery and the shrinkage from T isn't much for most people (having defined pecs does help--and T could help with that, but that takes time at any rate), so there are some advantages to going for surgery first.