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Posted

Congratulations!!! How is your post-op experience so far? I hope you can feel physical comfort if you're resting and recuperating, and that you have those around you to support you with treats, kindness and any stretches that become possible as you heal. <3

Emotionally, does it feel as you thought it would? Perhaps the joy is even stronger? Huge congratulations, once more, for reaching this dreamed-about moment!!!

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Posted

Thank you everyone! I super appreciate all the reacts and congrats. <3 <3 <3

17 hours ago, Acecream said:

not sure if I'm happy for you or jealous right now hahaha

congratulations, that's amazing!!!

You can be both! That's extremely fair! Good luck on your own journey!

13 hours ago, the more the merrier said:

Congratulations!!! How is your post-op experience so far? I hope you can feel physical comfort if you're resting and recuperating, and that you have those around you to support you with treats, kindness and any stretches that become possible as you heal. <3

Emotionally, does it feel as you thought it would? Perhaps the joy is even stronger? Huge congratulations, once more, for reaching this dreamed-about moment!!!

This is an absolutely HUGE post, so I don't expect many to read it, but I did write out a whole synopsis from research to post-op so far as a resource for others if anyone is interested in learning about the process especially given my particulars.

My post-op experience has been overall really good! Minimal discomfort. Mobility and independence returned really quickly for me. Maybe too quickly, tbh - I'm having to be really mindful to not stretch my arms out too far or too much because it feels fine to do so, but I know that can impact healing and scarring. The drains were definitely the worst part, so thankfully those were only a part of it for less than a week. I don't like the compression vest either (I was never someone who did binding due a combo of sensory processing disorder + asthma), but I know it's not forever, so that's helping a lot. It did take a week for me to be able to actually focus and partake in mental stimulation again. It was kind of amazing after this started returning to look back and not realize how foggy I had been feeling, lol.

My sister was my caretaker, and she did amazing!!! She was really on top of making sure I was comfortable, offering me food, making me take my meds, and bringing me water and tea. She drove me to appointments and even took my laundry to do and still does my dishes whenever she comes to visit me. She never complained. She regularly checked in. I'm really grateful for her and currently considering how I can best convey this to her because I really need her to know how great she was and how much I appreciate it. I told a long distance friend who's also been really great. She's had to go through surgery alone before, so she really wanted to be here for me, so I ended up not telling her beforehand because I wasn't looking to travel to her for surgery and didn't want to put pressure on her to travel to me. She's been checking in on me every day, though and been really sweet and supportive. Other than that, I haven't told anyone else irl yet. So that'll be interesting when I return to work and see my parents again. But I'm not complaining because everyone I have told, online and off, has been amazing.

Emotionally, it's absolutely wonderful. I always knew that I didn't enjoy my chest (or many of the things puberty brought) far, faaaaar before I realized I was any flavor of trans. I've always done whatever I could to avoid bras and distract from my chest. I think so much of this was focused on what I didn't like that I didn't think that hard on what I would like. I just knew my chest brought me no joy and I'd wanted my boobs to disappear as soon as they started growing in. Getting to actually see my flat chest and see the way clothes just hang flat on my chest now... It's so special. It's so right. Knowing I'm never again gonna be cursing nipples when trying to figure out how to wear a shirt I like...I cannot wait. When I got my first view of my chest, I was just genuinely happy. It wasn't weird or startling because it was different. For the first time in my life, it just felt right. It felt like me, how I was supposed to be. I'm so grateful I was able to access this care - and so grateful to everyone along the way who helped me realize that I could pursue this and that top surgery wasn't just for trans men. The joy and euphoria is definitely a lot greater than I ever expected.

Thank you so much for the congrats and the chance to reflect!

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Posted (edited)
On 1/12/2023 at 4:51 AM, hemogoblin said:

 

You can be both! That's extremely fair! Good luck on your own journey!

 

thank you :) I'm having some preliminary talks with doctors/hospitals this months😱 u have to say that it kinda scares me

but I still don't know if my health insurance would pay for it and I can't pay it by my own, so I still have to organize some stuff... (unfortunately the insurance most likely would not pay for non-binary individuals, so I'll have to be a bit unclear about my gender in my application😅)

 

hope you are doing good😊

Edited by Acecream
Posted
On 1/13/2023 at 5:36 AM, Acecream said:

thank you :) I'm having some preliminary talks with doctors/hospitals this months😱 u have to say that it kinda scares me

but I still don't know if my health insurance would pay for it and I can't pay it by my own, so I still have to organize some stuff... (unfortunately the insurance most likely would not pay for non-binary individuals, so I'll have to be a bit unclear about my gender in my application😅)

 

hope you are doing good😊

Good luck with the consults! I know not every surgeon is gonna be the same, but in my experience, my surgeon and his staff all had the spiel down pat and knew exactly what information to provide me with. They went over all of my questions before I could ever ask them. The appointments were generally waaaaaaay easier than I was expecting. Doing the research and setting the appointments definitely ended up way more nervewracking than the appointments themselves were.

Good luck on money, too! I paid for mine out of pocket since I don't have insurance. On one hand, I definitely didn't have the money to do this 10 years ago, so it's nice that I didn't start seriously considering I could get top surgery until recently. On the other hand, having to pay out of pocket meant I didn't need to deal with any complicating letters of recommendation to prove to my insurance they should pay for it. I was stressed enough just thinking about having to deal with that stuff, so all the more luck to you to trying to navigate that! I fully support straight up lying about your gender in order to get approved if you need, tbh. I hope your insurance does help you out!!!

I'm doing good, thanks! Returning to work Monday, so I'm just trying to emotionally prepare for that.

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  • 9 months later...
Posted

I'm so late to this topic, but congrats! Also I love your tattos!!

Posted
On 11/4/2023 at 3:59 AM, Keith said:

I'm so late to this topic, but congrats! Also I love your tattos!!

Thank you!!! Haha, you're not late - it should have died 10 months ago, but I'm way too excited about my new tat, lol.

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