Hi Karmagirl, yes, that helps a lot!

Right now my chin and jaw is still swollen (4 weeks post-op), and I was getting a little impatient. It looks like I have to be way more patient...

QuoteWell, to be honest with you, it was less about what I saw and more about what others seemed to be seeing. Does that make any sense (LOL)? Ok, so maybe a little bit of what I saw too.

Before my FFS, I was rarely Clocked.  I practiced my voice (that was a little tough for me) and my female gestures (not hard for me or most I think).  My body had developed curves as well, and that was a plus in some respects.  What good is my face if I sound like a Greek sailor right?  So the whole package helped me out.However, 4 years later I was in San Francisco with my spouse for business, and we were eating out and I saw this woman looking at me. I later overheard her say something like "Is that a man?".  Her husband scanned the room and replied, "maybe".  Now, this is something that had happened around the time that Jenner had come out and it seemed like people were just scanning for Transfolk all over. And it's also SF, where there are more than a couple of us.  That had NEVER happened to me before.  I actually walked up to them and complimented them on their adorable baby.  Once they heard me talking, I think it threw a wrench in their hypothesis! They were really nice.  Admittedly, I went home depressed.  And that's when I thought " I think I DO need FFS to get me past that little hump".

I can tell you that I really don't have ANY issues anymore. Dr. Dim and also Facial Team had said I really didn't need a lot of help--Just fine tuning a few things since they thought HRT had done a great job in Feminizing my face. My friends (who can be BRUTALLY HONEST with me), were also very happy.  They had seen a few pics of people with FFS and they were not always impressed with the results (I showed them tons of FFS websites). But, after a few weeks, when the swelling went down a bit, they were relieved with what they saw.  They were afraid that my face would look to "Plastic" and different.

It's been since May of 2016.  And I do miss some of the puffiness...only because it concealed some micro lines on my face and all. Now that the swelling had gone down, I'm STILL happy. I mean, will I pick on my face? Sure, we always see imperfections...like I said before FFS can only do so much.  There are soooo many parameters involved--like your health, skin, how well you heal etc etc.  We're not Clay, or Granite where we can sculpt away things so easily. Each person's body handles things differently. I know that sometimes we tend to want to blame the doctors for things that don't turn up exactly as we wanted. This is not to negate what others have said in regards to mistakes that have occurred.  Again, it's about researching who you think is best for YOU.

And now the short version (lol)...

I think by the 6-month mark, you will see most of the changes you were looking for.

When I see Doctors doing videos of their patients right after the surgery, I don't think it's fair.  How can you say you're happy when your face is so swollen? And things might happen in-between that amount of time. That's why I told Dr. Dimmagio that I would not film or write any testimonials until I thought most of the results were in.

However, when it comes to my nose, it may take up to a year.  The nose tends to heal a little slower when it comes to FFS/Nose jobs.  I promised my Family Doctor that I would not do anything to my nose until a year from now. Meaning; if I didn't like the end result, I would go for revisions (my nose still looks swollen a bit).  But who wants to do revisions?  They can be a pain. But sometimes, we do have to fine tune things. 
And the truth (for me) is, if I don't get any revisions, I'll STILL be happy.  I feel like I don't have to worry anymore and be "On Guard". I don't have thoughts of "Do they think I am Trans or whatever?" 

FFS has truly been life changing for me.  I can go into bathrooms without fear of being clocked. I can have conversations with people without thinking "Do they think I am trans?". I recently came out to a few, and they could not believe it.  I showed them my Guy pics and their jaw dropped.  Not that I do that with most, but I thought that I could add to a semi-negative conversation about Transfolk they were having, and turn it into something more positive. They had no idea.

I think that FFS is not necessarily needed for everyone. And I think, that if you are happy and healthy mentally and physically with what you see, then maybe it's not really for you.  If you are not passing but feel good about yourself, then why get it. 
We were really blessed since my spouse had done well that year, and that was the ONLY way and reason I was able to afford FFS.  I really wasn't counting on it. Although, I did think about it.

And there are times when I think if society was kinder and more accepting of Transfolk would we even think about FFS? I think that people who have Facial Dysphoria like me are constantly fighting with ourselves in regards to that.

We (Transfolk), need to learn that it's a journey that starts from within, not the other way around. You can change all you want on the outside, but if you are not feeling it on the inside, you can spend thousands of dollars and never be satisfied. 

Sorry, I probably wrote a little too much here. 

Maybe by Wednesday, I'll post a condensed visual version of my journey from Guy to Gal.   

I hope this helps,
HUGS
KG

Quote from: KarmaGirl on December 01, 2016, 02:55:09 PM
Thanks so much for those kind words.

Karma Girl, hey you I'm just saying hi, I try to log in once a year or so and post a few messages so hey! I hope you are doing well, you look great and your smile is infectious Meghan

I initionally planned to see DMD for my FFS since my face is so masculine and i'll need major bony work, but the plane ride has seemingly stopped me from seeing him. I'm deathly afraid of flying.

Wow, that is absolutely amazing! 

Hi KarmaGirl

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. You look fantastic!
I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind, and you could PM me with any responses if you'd rather.

1) How tall are you?
2) How much weight did you lose during your transition? I think you said you were 240 lbs at one point?
3) How old were you when you had your FFS with DiMaggio?

I ask because I believe I'm a similar age (mid-40's), height (6'), and frame size (medium). I'm just looking for a little inspiration, given how well you've done (and not without at lot of hard work and pain, no doubt).

I've had two consultations with Dr. Z in Chicago, who recommended basically the same procedures you had done (including the mid-face lift), although Z doesn't do Type III. I now plan to contact MDM for his opinion.
Thanks!

- Taylor

MDM has been posting some amazing results of his fb page

https://www.facebook.com/mdm.marcelodimaggio/?fref=ts

Hello Everyone!!

If I miss ANYTHING let me know! Lol

First, thank you again for the kind comments--- Megs thanks for the smile comment! Believe it or not, I wish I had a smile like yours!

In regards to questions about weight and height and age, I try to stay away from too much personal info online, or via PM's.  I'm sure you gals know why.  So, I'll be a little vague... I'm over 5'11 (lol) and darn it, I forgot I posted my weight (so ya got me there), but yes, I am middle-aged, and yes, I was a little over weight for this op.  But Gosh did I realllllyyyy want this operation!! So, knowing what I had to deal with, I went ahead and did it! 

Again, I would recommend that ANYONE of ANY AGE, should get into shape!! Remember it's all dead weight once you are under. AND DO NOT LIE about your weight either.  IF you do, they might not give you enough anesthesia in the Op!! I had a friend lie about her weight and boy did she "literally" have a rude awakening.

In regards to the plane flight...just think about how you are going to look AFTER your trip! Or take a "happy pill" that your doc can give you before the flight. Can you say XANAX?     Argentina is soooo much fun too!

I hate long plane flights, but in the end it has def been worth it!  I can't tell you how much my life has changed for the better. And like I mentioned before, I can sometimes get comments like "Girl you are tall!" But I never get, you are a man...or is that a guy...not anymore ( I got clocked in San Francisco around a year ago).  It's such a relief that I can just be me without worry, or distress. I don't think about it the way I did before "Do they know?  Do they realize I'm Trans?" I'm free of that. 

I guess what makes me happy too is that DiMaggio's way is simply to take what you have (okay I should not say simply because he really can get quite aggressive with his technique as in my case) and make it feminine, rather than make you into a Barbie Doll.  If that's what you want, I don't think he would be for you.  He even said " I'm not a miracle worker...I work with what I have to give you the NATURAL results you get".  And for all the BS I heard about him  around the net, I really appreciated that comment.
So is my face perfect?...nope.  I don't think anyone's face is really perfect, but my face is perfect for me.  Like I mentioned, I wasn't looking for a cookie cutter effect too.  There are a few Doctors that I researched and after a while, I was able to tell certain faces were done by a certain doctor(s). That is not really a bad thing, I just didn't want that for me.  I'm sure there are a lot of people that might think DiMaggio is not for them.  And that's okay too.

So research research research!!! 

2Cherry :  YES! Be patient!!! We can be patient together!  Don't expect to see ANY FINAL RESULTS until your face (and everyone's healing process is different) has calmed down.  My friend said the other night, " Everytime I see you, your face looks different".  Kinda made me feel unsure by his comment and he explained " It's just that you went from a swollen face to a pretty girl! It's amazing!"  Whew, for a moment I thought he was going to say something negative.  And yes, that made me feel good.   

I have to tell you, that I was your typical Alpha Male, with shaved head, pumped up, and manly.  No one screwed with me. I thought I will NEVER look like a woman. I must be crazy! How's this going to look? I remember one Halloween my wife and I went as a Cowboy and Bar Prostitute!  (and yeah, I was the prostitute) We won the costuming contest! But when I look at that pic, I'm like what the hell was I thinking...I looked hideous! You could tell I was a man. My face hadn't really changed too much with HRT because I had just started too. I remember thinking that there was no way, I would ever "pass" .  I actually was very depressed for several months after that.

I didn't have the finances to get FFS at the beginning. So I had no choice but to deal with my HRT. After almost 4 years or so, finally started noticing that I was being gendered as a woman.  However, my voice at the time needed a lot of help. I practiced and practiced and got some help.  But occasionally, I'd get stares of confusion.  Eventually, the HRT changed my face and gave me my moms curves. I'm not some skinny stick, but I'm like my sister and mom, and if life was different, I may have been born from the very beginning that way if I was Cis-Gender.


I'm here for any of your girls no matter who you pick! Ask me anything and I'll do my best...just do not ask me to pick your FFS doctor...just absorb, and make up your own minds. 






-------------------------------------------------
My DISCLAIMER:   I DO NOT WORK for Dr. DiMaggio, nor have I taken any payments or credits of any sort from him or his staff. I do not get ANYTHING from him other than medical advice concerning my own FFS. It is up to YOU to decide who is best for YOU.
Although, you are welcomed to let him know Karma Girl sent you. (or not) 

Hey KarmaGirl-

Did you know that MDM will be in LA from 02-05FEB? That's where you're based, right?. Anyway,  he's in LA attending the WPATH conference.I've contacted his office about an consultation, and it looks like he'll be seeing prospective patients at his hotel. His office asked me to share this info. See except from that email below:

Hello Taylor. You can contact us  the last week of january and we can send you date and time of the consultation. But yes we can see you on 3th or 4th, we dont know yet time and place, probably will be MDM hotel. By the way if you want to share this opportunity with others to meet MDM in person, you can do that. Please use our email address to contact us.
Thank you. Keep in contact.

MDM & Team
www.mdmsurgery.com
www.facebook.com/mdm.marcelodimaggio
info@mdmsurgery.com
dimaggiomd@gmail.com
www.sanatoriofinochietto.com


2016-12-28 18:25 GMT-03:00 Taylor Hansen <twh705@gmail.com>:

Thank you Karmagirl for posting your FFS journey with MDM and congratulation on your superb results. I saw your pics on MDM Facebook page and your transformation is pretty amazing.

I am considering MDM for my round two FFS due to his aggressive work and natural results but afraid of traveling outside the U.S.

Quote from: Violet Bloom on August 26, 2016, 07:12:13 PM
  One thing I'm glad I never had to see in my surgery was the left-over 'scraps'.  <Shudder>  I don't think I could have stomached it, but I commend you for posting it because it's important for all prospective clients to understand the seriousness and reality of what they will be going through.  How quickly and well did the incisions in front of your ears heal?  My incisions thankfully ended above the ear within the hair.

When I saw that picture, I actually started sobbing and shaking, it is so drastic a thing to NEED to have done to one's self, but I know, I know so deeply, and truthfully, that without such a drastic effort, I will not ever be who I was meant to be.

Yes, I have been convinced for a long time that MDM was the best option for my face, too.

Just need to find the money, Brassard tapped me out, ha!

Hi KarmaGirl

I thought of another question, if you don't mind:
I will understand that Dr. MDM removes the sinus mucosa when performing Type 3. Other surgeons may leave it in place. I can see value to both approaches, given what I've read. So have you had any sinus issues as a result?

Thanks!

-Taylor

Karmagirl-

Darn it, I also meant to ask about the silicone cheek implants Dr.MDM uses. Did he offer lipofilling of your cheeks as an option instead? Any issues with your implants, infection, etc? I guess there's no worry about re-absorption with silicone. Is the life of the implants thought by MDM to be indefinite (as opposed to, say, breast implants)?

Thanks!

-Taylor

Hi Everyone!
I'm sorry I haven't been on here to post in a while.  I've been trying to get my life back up and running.  Lot's of great things happening in my life, but that's for another thread.

So, it will be a year on May 9th.  What has been going on with my healing process.  As I told you all, I would be as honest as I can.

Let's start with the not so good parts...

1) As I posted originally, I had some issues with my left eye.  Dr. Dim, wasn't sure why.  There are a few theories.  I might have some scar tissue around my eye from the surgery that is causing my eye to see slightly higher than the right. It's almost nothing, but when you are talking about the eyes, inches could be yards!  I'm looking into getting that taken care of.  Again, not sure who's at fault.  But, it's costing me to get this taken care of.  The Why's don't bother me, I just want this resolved because it can drive me a little loony.

2) I had some scar tissue develop around where my adams apple was worked on.  I was lucky to have insurance pay for my visit to the ENT Doctor. If not I would have had to pay over $1000.00   The Doctor thinks he can take care of it with some steriodal injections.  I can now swallow ok...but I might look into that.

3) The swelling has gone down considerably. I can notice a few little bumps here and there. My home doctor GP, suggested we wait some more time, since he thinks it just has to settle some more before thinking about doing anything with that. I agreed.   Also, I met up with someone from Susans and we compared work. She had gone back to Argentina with another Dr. there and she had some of her forehead redone. She took a look at me and said I was fine.  (Remember my Facial Dysphoria is terrible, so I need other peoples eye to help me out).

4) There is a small indention under my chin.  I had a doctor look at it and he said that he too wanted me to wait and see after the full year was up.  He thought a fat injection would do well for that. So I'm not that worried.  I know that I heal much slower than most.

5) The scar from the Mid face list that is behind my left ear did not heal well.  Again, it could be my body and the way it heals. Some doctors say that.  Each person's body heals differently. Still, I hate that I have to pack on the make up. I may do some laser work on the scar since that's probably going to help that.

Scars are a very funny thing, so I can't really blame Dr. Dim for that. I've seen others that have had the same op and they healed well. So don't get too scared over this, just be prepared in case your body responds this way.

6) Once you heal a bit and the inflammation goes down, you really see what all that work went to. I kinda liked it when I was slightly swollen! LOL  It lessened any fine lines.  But, I found that an injection of Collegen and fat can help those areas out.

7) I wish I had asked for the lip lift. 

Other than the above, I'm doing incredibly well. 

AND NOW FOR THE GOOD!!!

1)  I now have NO PROBLEM passing! Wow, it really made a HUGE difference in the way people perceive me! I do get "You are tall!" occasionally, but it's all good.  I don't like guys, but I have had a lot of guys ask for my number.  That just adds a bit the whole validation deal. Lol    Women, seem to connect better with me as well.  It's a whole new world!

2) Even when people know I'm trans, they can't believe it.  And then I show my before shots and they faint. Lol

3) I know a few of you are afraid of going into bathrooms and such. I haven't had any issues with that.

4) People see my wife and I as a Lesbian couple.  They'll ask me if I carried the baby!

5) I'm never nervous about people getting too close to my face or thinking they'll "discover" me.

6) My best friends said if I wasn't with my wife he'd date me! Hahahaha...never. But hey! It was nice.

7) My electrolysis lady, thought he did a great job. She sees a lot of trans folk out here and she's seen a lot of issues with a lot of people.  She said my issues were simple to fix.

My face looks thinner all around and when I compared it to my before shots (because sometimes my Facial Dysphoria is so bad I need to compare LOL) I can see a huge difference!

9) I'm glad I got the orbital part done around my eyes because it makes a HUGE difference.  I don't look tired anymore and people compliment my eyes.

--------------

Again my disclaimer:

I have really bad Facial Dysphoria!  Really bad.  It's gotten much much better.

All people heal differently! Some better than others. You can ONLY do your BEST to pick the right doctor for YOU! 

I've seen most doctors on here have issues with patients, not only mine.  Sometimes, you have to just DO IT. Just understand that your body isn't like everyone's out there. You can only research so much.

ALSO: Dr. Dimaggio was kind enough to invite some of "his girls" out to dinner out here in L.A. He took a look at my face there and then even had me meet him at the University where he was giving a lecture, and told me that he loved my face but he understood if I wanted to have some changes made.  I would only pay for getting down there (again) and also the hospital fees, but he wouldn't charge me a dime to make ANY changes.  He also said that he'd like me to wait a bit because a lot can change within a year or two. 

So I don't feel too bad about my healing process, and it's nice to know that if I need anything worked on I can just go back.
That being said, the operations kicked my butt.  Probably my midlift more than anything. The rest was okay to deal with .


------------
IF I were to grade my FFS with Dr. Dimaggio I think I would give him

For bedside manner and care before and after. He was amazing! And so were his staff!=A+

For my own FFS (regardless of my healing) I would give him= A-  had I not had any issues with my eyes I would have given him an  A+    -- Just being honest.

Would I recommend him to you all?  Of course.  I have seen his amazing work on me and others and I like that his faces look natural.  I could have gone to a gazillion Doctors in my area, but I didn't feel at that time that any of them offered what I was looking for. 

So again, I think you all have to research as much as you can and take a look at the faces your Doctors have worked on and then make a decision.

-------------Some more questions???

To answer the question about the cheek implants...

I could have gone with bigger implants but as two or three doctors pointed out, the way my eyes are, it would have made them look more tunneled in.   So we went with sm to med size silicone implants. I have had no issues with this.  I had a friend get fat injections (with a famous doc out here in L.A.) put in but after a while it started to look lumpy on her. 
I'm happy with the implants I have.

Do you need to lose weight for the op? 

Well, if you got a belly or are a little overweight I would suggest you lose some because once they put you under, your whole body just flops down on that op table.  Things can shift and move around. And it seems one of my discs did. I've been getting Physical Therapy and it's helped and I'm also trying to lose more weight...still.  Lol  SO GET IN SHAPE!!!!

Hope this helps all of you wondering about stuff.

Best to you all!

Hi KarmaGirl! Thank you for these posts.

I am considering MDM for FFS and although no other surgeon suggested a face lift of any kind during the 6 other consultations I did, Dr. DiMaggio brought it up with me. I'm 37 and have no sagging skin or anything under my chin like you had, I have no signs of jowls etc, but I do have volume loss and flatness in my under eye and upper cheek area and visible tear troughs. I'm not quite 9 months on HRT, so it's hard to say how much is aging vs being somewhat early on HRT still. My BMI is 20 and I'm quite healthy. I will be getting jaw and chin contouring work done and will do cheek implants whether I do the facelift or not.

Do you feel like the face lift was worth it? How are your scars now? I don't like the idea of more scars but my dysphoria is telling me to just get everything done that was suggested all at once, assuming the risks are not too great.

Help

I wonder about the face lift and some other things too. I also had several consultations so far - sadly only 2 face to face yet. Most of them are in agreement of the procedures that would benefit me - mainly hairline, forehead, nose chin/jaw and lip lift. However two exceptions to that were PAI who basically recommended only small bone shaving at the forehead and chin and diMaggio who gave me a whopping list of probably around a dozen procedures (including cheek implants, lifting,...) stretched over two full day surgeries! Last time I sent him pictures, about 2 years ago he was in agreement with the other ones and suggested the same 5 procedures basically.
I wonder what has changed - either I changed so much to the negative in that time, or he changed his recommendation behaviour. My first suspicion was that he may try to sell more surgeries. Or did he somehow change his philosophy and believes that even those women coming to him that already "pass" well still need a lot of procedures to really be happy?

I hear you anjaq. I don't see how I need a facelift. Honestly, I think he was a bit over zealous in trying to sell procedures. The list that was sent to me originally didn't include a facelift but then during our 2 hour consult he started suggesting it. In the end I decided to go with someone else.

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I think his long list that he sent me was all kind of optinal - something to pick and choose from, but if I want to find out what procedures I should get all by myself, I do not need to ask a surgeon at this point. I know the procedures available, the key would be to know which of them are making sense and for that I would like a surgeon to use his expertise.
I can however indeed imagine that I may need a neck lift, especially after having chin and jaw work done, since the tissue will probably sag afterwards - so I guess one could as well do it at the same time and be done with it, but in any case doing this in addition to FFS will result in two surgery dates - either within a week distance or with more time between as other surgeons would do it.

Moderator Edit: References to a deleted post were removed

I haven't had any work done yet, but he was my first choice and he seemed very pleasant when i sent him my pics for evaluation. I've heard other stories where he commented on people in Spanish ect...but what can you do?

Moderator Edit: Removed reference to a deleted post.

I met MDM for a consult in L.A. 4 months ago. He said "I can't make you look like a girl". He went on to say that I was too "big" ( I'm 6' 0" tall), and that I'm not a good candidate, due to the size of my head, width of my face, etc.  I did appreciate his honesty, although the other FFS surgeons I met made no such comments. To his credit, MDM still spent almost an hour answering my questions. He seemed like a nice guy, but just not interested in my case.

I too picked Dr. Rossi, however a scheduling error on their end meant that I couldn't go for the surgery (I had even bought my plane ticket) and I have yet to re-schedule.
Thanks.

- Taylor

Moderator Edit: Removed reference to deleted post