I had been doing some research into getting a facelift.  Age and gravity sure have a way of allowing the jaw line and throat to drop.  It seems all of the extra skin seems to pool on the neck just below the chin.

I was evaluated by a plastic surgeon in Houston and was quoted $18,500.00 for "the works".  The same 'works' in Mexico would run about $7,500.00.  Even the Mexican lift would put a strain on my finances.

A crossdresser friend's daughter is a doctor and has begun doing anti-aging work using lasers, botox, and facial fillers.  She doesn't know about her dad so I had to be careful to not let her know his secret.  I am already somewhat "iffy" in appearance.  My hair is well below my shoulders, my facial and torso hair have been removed through electrolysis, my ears are pierced....

She told me during our consultation that she would leave enough wrinkles and such so that I would not look feminine after all of the procedures....oops!.  I asked her if we had doctor-patient confidentiality as I wanted to share something with her that I wanted no one to know, especially her father.  She answered "Of course we do". 

I told her about my feminine side and explained that I would want her to do her best to MAKE me look as feminine as possible.  I was not interested in her holding back.  She got real excited and, after much more discussion and explanation, said she was extremely excited about the work we would be doing.  She could not have been more friendly.

I am a general contractor and she was in need of a new office building.  We have worked out a barter agreement where she is treating me for free on most procedures or for only her cost of the Botox and Restalyn.  I, in turn, will build her new office space at my cost.  It should be a win-win for us both.

Thus far, I have had 4 treatments.  She has used the Accent laser twice on my jaw and neck.  This treatment heats the lower levels of the skin causing them to tighten and to produce more collagen which is the substance that is lost as we age that results in falling lower faces.  The treatments also "explode" fatty tissue that is later washed away.  There is some pain involved but I only had a little redness that disappeared in less than an hour.

I have had one photofacial.  This procedure removes small wrinkles, helps produce collagen, removes age spots and small scars, and reduces the size of pores.  Again, just a little slight pain and redness that disappeared quickly.

After my second Accent treatment, she injected Botox around the crows feet at the sides of my eyes, the wrinkles in my foreheard and the area between my eyes.  This was done 5 days ago and I am already seeing some significant improvement.  She said the treatment would take two weeks to show how much improvement it could do.  She said we might spot treat the areas that have not shown a great improvement at that time.

I am already scheduled for another photofacial and a session of the Accent laser on my waist.  Two of her staff members had their waists done and averaged losing 3" which is still gone two months later.  For my waist, I think they are going to hook the laser up directly to a nuclear reactor.

After 5-6 facial laser treatments, she will evaluate my progress and then decide where to inject the facial fillers to remove the deep wrinkles that show on my lower face on either side of my mouth.

These treatments do not produce as dramatic or immediate change as does a facelift or liposuction but the changes can be significant without all of the pain and the lost time from surgery.

I am very excited about the changes that will occur over the next few months.  If anyone is interested, I will keep you updated as I go.

Jeanette

Hi, Jeanette!

Please do keep us informed as to how it goes.

Kristi

From what I understand and was told this by some reputable people that a facelift will only last about 5 years and then you will have to have another as you will get old really fast instead of gradually. Now, for the brow shave and/or some of the other procedures I don't know if they needed to be redone after a few years. Breast augmentation is another one. You will have to go in and get them changed out after 10 years or so. Everything goes south sooner or later. Just my opinion
Sheila

Quote from: jeanette-alexis on January 29, 2008, 09:06:06 PM

I was evaluated by a plastic surgeon in Houston and was quoted $18,500.00 for "the works". 

Jeanette

Dr. Yarish? 

tink

Quote from: Sheila on January 29, 2008, 09:32:20 PM
From what I understand and was told this by some reputable people that a facelift will only last about 5 years and then you will have to have another as you will get old really fast instead of gradually. Now, for the brow shave and/or some of the other procedures I don't know if they needed to be redone after a few years. Breast augmentation is another one. You will have to go in and get them changed out after 10 years or so. Everything goes south sooner or later. Just my opinion
Sheila

So in 5 years time I am just gonna be a pile of plastic and silicone on the floor.... cool.

8 years on I am quite happy with my facial and breast work, nothing has gone South so far, still as firm and perky as ever.

Rebecca

Quote from: Tink on January 29, 2008, 10:53:31 PM

Quote from: jeanette-alexis on January 29, 2008, 09:06:06 PM

I was evaluated by a plastic surgeon in Houston and was quoted $18,500.00 for "the works". 

Jeanette

Dr. Yarish? 

tink

Yep

Posted on: January 30, 2008, 09:14:07 PM

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A little update on the treatments I have been receiving:

I was given some Botox injections around my eyes, my forehead, and between my eyes.  This took place a little over two weeks ago.  I was a little disappointed with the results.

I met with the doctor after having another laser treatment on my neck and jawline.  She looked at the Botox results and said she would do another treatment this coming Tuesday.  She said they were often overly conservative on initial Botox injections in males because the muscles in the forehead are larger than in females.  She said if they injected too much initially, a male could have some problems with drooping eyes. 

She plans on being a little more agressive with the next injections.  I did see some improvement in the lines in the forehead but not much between the eyes.  My brow line has improved and the eyelid and brow line does show definite improvement.

The laser treatments on the jaw and neck are starting to make a big difference.  I would say there has been some lifting of the jawline and the drooping skin beneath my chin has been reduced by half.  I think the next couple of treatments on the neck will really pay some dividends.

I am already scheduled for another photofacial and more work with the laser over the next couple of weeks.  When we feel that optimum results have been obtained on the neck, she will turn her attention to using the laser to reduce my waist and stomach.

Dr. Schroeder is a specialist in holistic medicine with a practice dominated with treating females with hormonal problems.  She is a big proponent of bio-identical hormones.  I consulted with her this past Thursday regarding the hard time I have been having losing weight.  I lost 8 pounds quickly and now have been treading water for the last two weeks.

She suspects that my thyroid is not working well.  I am scheduled for a blood test on Tuesday to check my hormone levels as well as thyroid levels.  She also mentioned that she will check my cortisol levels.  She said that when a person is under stress (and I am) that the cortisol levels change and it makes the person retain weight around the midsection.

She also produced a free pass and evaluation with a female personal trainer.  She told me to explain to the trainer that I was interested in slimming and toning instead of building bulky muscles.  Perhaps between whatever she finds in my blood work and the personal training, my weight loss and body firming will again get moving.

I feel very fortunate to have found such a knowledgeable and nice doctor.  She is fully aware of my female side and has taken making me the best looking woman I can be as a personal objective.  Her entire staff is unaware but are given specific instructions from her as how I am to receive my treatments.  She told me during our initial meeting in mid-December that they don't treat men as agressively so that the treatments don't make them look too feminine.  When I explained that looking feminine was my goal, she got excited about what could be accomplished.  Without telling her staff why, she orchestrates my treatments just like she would one of her female patients.

Jeanette, I know this topic is old but I am curious how your blood work turned out.  Was your thyroid the culprit?  My wife had blood work and her thyroid was the main reason why she couldn't lose weight. 

Samantha,

My thyroid was under-producing so she started my on some thyroid medication.  I am currently taking two pills each morning and will increase the level to 6 pills each morning over the next 4 weeks.

She also put me on a different kind of detoxing diet.  It seems to be working great...I have lost about 6 pounds in the first week.

I have been going to a female personal trainer for several weeks now.  I told her that I wanted to tone up when we first met.  I noticed after a couple of weeks of training that she was adding more and more weight each session.  My goal was to lose weight, primarily fat.  Her goal seemed to be to help me build bigger muscles.  I felt like we needed to talk.

I am not one for disclosing my Jeanette side to outsiders without good reason.  I felt that she needed to know if I was going to continue working out.  I went to her studio with an album of Jeanette pictures and asked her if we could talk.
She said "Of course".

I explained that I could not get motivated in the workouts because I knew we were going for different goals.  I showed her the pictures and told her I was serious about my feminine side.  I explained that I needed every feminine feature I could employ to live as I wanted.  This did not include large muscles.  She agreed that my workout was wrong for my goals.  She said that she would change my workout to reach my feminine goals and would not share my secret with others.  After the first new workout that really emphasized my waist, I almost wished I would have kept my mouth shut!

The facial works is going along great.  My face is amazingly clear and radiant.  I am getting to the point that I have to speak quickly and in a male voice to keep from being "mammed" while out and about. 

The doctor and I have set a goal to have everything on the face completed by April 26th which is the date of the Unity Banquet in Houston (a gathering of transgendered people and their supporters.....normally well over 200 in attendance.  It seems that I am now in her office as much as some staff members (Accent laser on the face, Accent laser on the waist, photofacials, and soon Radiance fillers in my laugh lines).

The changes so far have been amazing and are getting better and better after each visit.  I am very excited to see what the next 5 weeks bring!

Do share some information on the waistline exercises   

Quote from: Autumn on March 17, 2008, 09:22:29 PM
Do share some information on the waistline exercises  

I may not be the authority on waistline reducing that I thought I was becoming.  I arrived early at the gym to workout on Wednesday.  Normally there is two women, one man, and myself in the class together.  One of the women and the man have been working with the trainer for quite some time and don't need much personal attention.  The other lady and myself do require instruction as to what to do next and how to do it.

The lady who has been working out for awhile has a key to the gym.  She and I live by the creedo "If you can't be on time....be early".  We arrived about 10 minutes before the trainer.  I decided to do some waist work to warm up.  I got on the inclined bench with my feet lower than my head and started to do a leg lift.

Owwww!  I felt like someone stuck a knife in my stomach.  That really caught my attention!  I quit that excercise and went to a pilates ball to try some easier situps....that hurt too.  I quit and went to the stair stepper....pain again.

Just then, my female trainer came in.  I told her about my pain and she indicated that I should stop.  I called the doctor who is working on my facial improvements and asked if I could come in for a quick visit.  She check me and said that there was a possibility of a hernia.  She said lay off lifting or any exertion for a week and then see how I felt.  If there still was pain, I probably needed to go see a surgeon.

I am really bummed out!  I was really getting into working out for the first time in my life and now I have to stop.  I am really hopeful that I have simply pulled a muscle and that I can continue my workouts by the middle of next week.

Jeanette

Posted on: March 22, 2008, 04:27:22 PM

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I appears that I do not have a hernia.  It seems that I just had a badly pulled abdominal muscle.  I started back working out this past Monday and have been able to do most of the excercises without any pain.  The trainer took me off the incline bench for my ab work and has me working on a mat.  I am up to 100 crunches plus some other waist reducing excercises.

Back on the facial femininization front: my doctor had planned to do the facial fillers on me this week.  We decided to hold off for another month or so because we believe the laser can still accomplish more lifting of my neck and jowls as well as reducing the fat accumulated there.  The laser has to stop being used after the fillers are injected because of fear that they might get too hot and migrate to other places than where they were injected.

There is a definite difference in the appearance of my neck.  There is now a clear deliniation between my chin and my throat where before it sort of flowed together.  One disconcerting thing, however.  For the first time in many years I can see the outline of my Adam's apple if my head is tilted back.

The feminine appearance of my face is definitely improving.  It seems the momentum of earlier treatments are now starting to gain speed.  Each new treatment now shows visible changes.  I think the next two or three treatments will take me to my full potential.

I am somewhat impatient, wanting to see the final product now.  I know, however, that by waiting just a bit longer the final results will be even better.