[4 Month Update] Chest surgery = done

[Ender]

After a while you can also start working out, which Medalie told me can assist in stretching the skin post-op. So that could help.

Yeah, I was thinking working out might help in that regard.  (And some pecs would be nice ).  I'll give it a shot once I'm healed up.

I take it you've either had a peri with Dr. Medalie or are looking into it?

[Ender]

I'm looking into it. He said he thought I would be more on the DI side, but he wouldn't be sure until he saw me in person and peri was a possibility. I also have somewhat large areolas, so it's good to see that he can reduce the size a lot on a peri; hope the pleating from that goes down.

For a better idea of what my areolae were before surgery--they were somewhere between 2-2.5" in diameter.  It's like the rest of my skin was resistant to stretching to accommodate what little growth I had, so the areolae just got huge and puffed out.  Ridiculous, but happily he was able to re-size them.

[Jay]

Looking good!

Jay

[anibioman]

the scars underneath are really great real small the pleating is really odd looking but hopefully it will even out as it heals

[zombiesarepeaceful]

Ah! I am also considering Dr. Medalie, since I only live an hour from Cleveland. How would you rate him and his staff, and your outcome, compared to what you've heard of other surgeons?

[Ender]

Ah! I am also considering Dr. Medalie, since I only live an hour from Cleveland. How would you rate him and his staff, and your outcome, compared to what you've heard of other surgeons?

I would rate both him and the staff highly.  Absolutely no complaints with the level of care or professionalism.  The nurses in recovery are exceptionally nice and familiar with FtMs.  As for the outcome, I chose Dr. Medalie for his skill with the peri-areolar technique.  I based that on the post-op pictures I have seen (try TransBucket, if you haven't given it a look already).  From the photos, he's very good at achieving a natural contour and does a good job with nipple/areolae placement (though for a peri, the condition of the pre-op chest can make it difficult).  I was also considering Dr. Beverly Fischer in Maryland for her skill with the peri-areolar technique, but she was further away and cost more.

As far as comparing him to other surgeons, I'd say he ranks among the other highly-regarded surgeons in the U.S. who perform FtM top surgery: Dr. Brownstein in California, Dr. Fischer in Maryland, Dr. Garramone in Florida.  If you're only an hour from Cleveland, definitely look at TransBucket to see if you personally like his results (he does both peri and DI), but I would call it kind of an easy decision if you're living that close to a good surgeon.

[Ranktwo]

Wow, you look absolutely amazing. Congratulations.

[Myself]

grats! looks scary

[H205]

Congrats, very nice. I can't believe how good you look already! I'm and A something I think and naturally don't want any extra scarring than necessary but I thought you had to have a revision with Peri to adjust nipple/areola size. You look all squared away, again, congrats.

[Ender]

Congrats, very nice. I can't believe how good you look already! I'm and A something I think and naturally don't want any extra scarring than necessary but I thought you had to have a revision with Peri to adjust nipple/areola size. You look all squared away, again, congrats.

Thanks.  I should post an update pic when it gets to be 1 month post-op.  My chest is looking a lot better--less like a giant wound and more like, well, my own flesh.

Yeah, if you're an A, you'd be a candidate for a peri, provided you don't have any sagging.  Revisions with peris typically happen when a person is borderline (B or so) or has excess skin and sagging.  As for the resized areola,  I'd say that most surgeons will be able to resize the areola on the first go, since the incision is around the areola anyways.  A revision might be necessary if they stretch out too much while they heal (mine have stretched out some), but the caveat is that they might stretch out again after the revision.  Most surgeons will not touch the nipple during the first surgery, preferring to resize afterwards in a revision.  Apparently resizing the nipple during the first surgery has a greater chance of compromising its blood supply, resulting in... nipple death, I guess.  I asked Medalie if he could trim my nipples in the first go (they were exceptionally large), and he said he usually doesn't do this (for reasons previously mentioned).  But he said he would do it if my blood supply was good; apparently it was, 'cuz he trimmed them and they've healed fine.

[Arch]

Looks great, Eryk.

I scar absurdly easily, too. So I'm seven and a half months post-op (DI) and my incisions are still very pink. But the puckering along the incisions has mostly smoothed out, so I think your areola puckers will go away.

[SamFtM]

Congrats

[Ender]

Note: just added a 4-month update & photo.  Apparently editing doesn't bring a post up to the top, so... *bump*

[Arch]

Looks pretty damn good for four months.