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I Just Had Top Surgery


Alex_S

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After a lot of lead up I finally had it! So I thought I'd make a post giving some details and offering to answer questions anyone may have, as I know when I was prepping it seemed like there was a lot of different info going around as to what to expect.

 

So, first up some basic info:
- I'm in Australia

- Medicare covered some of the expenses but nowhere near all of it

- I was a size D to double D

- I had to get a note from a gender specialist psychiatrist to be allowed the surgery, but this required only one appointment and it was bulk billed (i.e. free via medicare)

- I had already acquired evidence from a non-gender specialised psychiatrist, this may have helped

 

I did my research and picked Dr Merten, he's based in Sydney and seems like the best in Aus for this kind of surgery. I was aiming for a drastic reduction for a nonbinary style appearance, leaving a bit more tissue than a trans guy but not much. Firstly; he understood that. He has catered to nonbinary patients before and will work with you to get the appearance, or as close to, that you want. His nurses are also well versed in this and asked my pronouns; when I stumbled trying to explain when one nurse asked if I was FTM she didn't even blink and instead said "oh, are you nonbinary?" and carried on. The anesthetist Dr Ferch was also fantastic about this, she was lovely just in general.

 

I don't live in Sydney so had to travel, we made this work by having my pre-op appointment on the 29th with surgery scheduled for the 30th of July. I had my pre-surgery consultation months ago but had to put off surgery to wait on my private health insurance to clock over to cover the hospital fee, this turned out to be very lucky as in that time I lost some weight and it helped my surgery.

 

I had a double mastectomy with the "pedicle" technqiue for nipple placement. I had my drains taken out the day after surgery and was able to shower as normal from then onwards (and showers feel amazing). The day after surgery I had some bruising on my upper arms and around the nipples but this went away after a day. My chest is still swollen but already coming down and never really bruised up. I was able to wander the hospital the day after the surgery, and by the day after that I was ready to walk around the city happily. By the 2nd of August I felt pretty much normal. For painkillers I was on a mix of panadol and neurofen and by August 3rd I'd dropped down to only neurofen.

 

I'm currently a week into recovery and feel good. I don't want to move my arms over my shoulders, lift heavy things, or jostle around but I can happily walk a couple of kilometres with no hassle and am only taking neurofen (and honestly I don't think I need it for pain, I'm using it for the anti-inflammatory aspect). So yeah, it's all pretty incredibly good.

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Congratulations!! This is amazing! 

I want top surgery too so thanks for sharing your experience, it's very encouraging! 

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DuranDuranfan

So are you down to an A cup or lower than an A cup?

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8 hours ago, DuranDuranfan said:

So are you down to an A cup or lower than an A cup?

Currently I'd say I'm an A cup but I've been told it may flatten down a bit more as swelling decreases. I'd say I look like a pretty ripped dude in terms of pecs, or a petite woman in terms of breasts.

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FindingTheta

Congratulations! this is rad af :).

 

Hoping you have an expeditious recovery!

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DuranDuranfan
5 hours ago, Alex_S said:

Currently I'd say I'm an A cup but I've been told it may flatten down a bit more as swelling decreases. I'd say I look like a pretty ripped dude in terms of pecs, or a petite woman in terms of breasts.

Okay, because even though I have a masculine gender expression, I still dress feminine when the mood strikes, so I don’t want all my breast tissue removed, just reduced, probably to an A cup. But I want to try to drop some weight first.

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5 hours ago, DuranDuranfan said:

Okay, because even though I have a masculine gender expression, I still dress feminine when the mood strikes, so I don’t want all my breast tissue removed, just reduced, probably to an A cup. But I want to try to drop some weight first.

And that's achievable. It took a bit of talking with the surgeon to determine that it was doable but some breast tissue can be left, and the pedicle technique for nipple placement (when done on larger breasts) also leaves some mass in place.

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I've also found that I used to slump as soon as I sat down, just slouching forward a bit and letting my chest rest down. Not anymore! I just happily sit up straight without thinking about it. I also walk taller, my partner even commented on it. Sweet, sweet freedom :D

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That is awsome xD Now you don't have to deal with such troublesome things anymore, congrats !!

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Close to three weeks into healing and feeling fantastic. I still have limited range of movement on my arms but it's only a bother when trying to get things on high shelves. I'm impatient to get back to my sports regime, I feel so fine most of the time that this is a real annoyance! I had my bandages changed last monday and I'll be honest; that really stung. It left me feeling tender all day and I didn't enjoy it at all, little bit intimidated for next time.

 

But I got to wear my waistcoat out to a local LGBT+ night and it was amazing. I can button up my waistcoat correctly and it looks awesome.

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I hope you are able to return to sports soon but I guess it'll take a while before you properly heal being it is a big surgery xD

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Yeah, I shouldn't try anything vigorous for another three weeks. Which is okay, but it can't come soon enough. As the swelling goes down it's just so nice to look down and actually see myself. And even just touching my chest and having it feel like me rather than how it used to be is just amazing :D

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That sounds awesome! Can't wait to get that myself, hearing your experience is great! Keep up on the updates! 

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15 hours ago, PoeciMeta said:

That sounds awesome! Can't wait to get that myself, hearing your experience is great! Keep up on the updates! 

Will do! And if you have any questions just shoot.

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Four weeks (well, technically one day off) into healing and just had my bandages changed. Didn't hurt at all! The bandaid stuff pulled at my skin a bit but it was fine. 

 

I've also slept on my side a bit. Sleeping on my back is still more comfortable but it's progress. I'm feeling great and just so impatient to get back to my exercise and sports. I'm still wearing the medical binder, you can stop after 3 to 4 weeks but I find it comfortable and the option exists to wear it longer. 

 

This whole experience has been fantastic. I keep thinking I wish I'd done this years ago but you know what? Now is great too.

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  • 1 month later...

Been a while since the last update. I'm now 9 weeks into healing, 2 full months. I've been bandage free for a week and been getting to do scar treatment with cream; it's surprisingly lovely to massage the scars. I still have some swelling on my right side that I'm not too fussed about (it seems like only I can notice it, it's not hugely visible but I can feel the difference); worst comes to worst I'll talk to my surgeon about that if it's still around in a month.

 

My scars are currently really thin looking, but rather red in colour as one would expect. I'm amazed by how smooth they feel at certain points; the double incision scar at the bottom of my chest can't even be felt with my fingertips sometimes it's that smooth. The scars at the side are a bit more bumpy but nothing terrible and will get better with massage.

 

Today was my first day back at gym. It was AMAZING! I can and it didn't hurt at all! I skipped! I jumped! I finally get how people can enjoy running; it's actually really nice when you're not in physical pain due to un-fun bags bouncing in front of you. I've lost a fair bit of strength in terms of push ups from the recovery period, and I suspect the injury that is surgery itself. But I've booked in a session with a personal trainer (an afab body builder!) so we're gonna fix that. :D

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