Hi Julian,
Glad to hear your surgery went well and you are mending nicely.
I understand the hair thing, too. You could just go shorter, but still over the ears through the winter. See how you feel about it. Then, in the summer, go shorter if that's what you would prefer.
There are many styles that are sort of in-between that present a more androgynous look without being a drastic change. Humans don't like drastic change, but small steps are easily accepted. Find a picture of someone who has a style that you like and take that with you to the barber shop. It won't look exactly the same due to facial bone structure, but they can get pretty close.