Dec 16, 2020
December 16, 2016 vs December 16, 2020
So proud of how far I’ve come.
seen from Germany
seen from Slovenia
seen from Bangladesh
seen from Japan
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Denmark
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from Spain
seen from Venezuela
seen from Malaysia
seen from Bolivia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Jordan
December 16, 2016 vs December 16, 2020
So proud of how far I’ve come.
I'm 3 weeks post op top surgery!! (Top: pre op, bottom: 3 weeks post op) -- My nipples are quite swollen still, but otherwise I am thrilled with my chest. -- I had peri areolar (keyhole) with Dr. Daniel Medalie in Cleveland, OH.
Sometimes you just feel comfortable as hell in your skin
Top Surgery Plans
I'm making plans to have top surgery at the very end of this year. I've been wanting top surgery since before I even knew I was trans, so this has been a long time coming. By the time I get surgery I'll be 22 years old and a little over 2 years on T.
I've been checking off the things I need to do in order to get top surgery.
1) Choose a surgeon.
I'm going to Dr. Medalie in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He is a very well known surgeon who has great results (in my opinion). I believe I am a candidate for keyhole, so that is why I am choosing to go to him.
2) Get to money together.
These past few weeks I've been organizing my finances in order to be able to afford surgery. It costs between $7000-$8000. Dr. Medalie does not accept insurance, so I'll be paying the full cost out of pocket. He does accept CareCredit though, which is like a credit card for medical procedures. They have a 6 month, 12 month, or 18 month interest free payment plans. However, Dr. Medalie only accepts the 6 month plan, or 24/36 month plans with interest. If I can avoid paying interest, I'm going to do everything I can to pay it off in 6 months. I think I'll be able to save up enough money by the end of the year to accomplish that goal.
3) Tell my parents.
My mom and dad are fully aware of my transition. I was honest when I came out to them, telling them that I was going to get top surgery at some point in the near future. I was planning to go home and tell them in person, but my mom called me and I just told them both over the phone. It was hard for them to hear because they hold a stigma around “plastic surgery” even though this is medically necessary for me. They were understanding and supportive in the end though. My mom offered either her or my dad to travel with me to Cleveland, which is what I was hoping for, so that is one less thing I have to worry about!
4) Pre-op Documents, Photos, ect
Getting any kind of surgery is complicated, but as trans people we always have to fill out more paperwork than anybody else. With Dr. Medalie, he requires 4 things in order to schedule surgery with him. The first is a therapist letter that follows the WPATH guidelines. That hopefully won’t be difficult for me to get, as I am currently seeing a therapist at school. I’m really crossing my fingers that she will be able to write the letter for me. It would save me so much time and money. The second thing he needs is photos of my chest so he can judge what procedure is most fitting for me. I’m planning on getting keyhole. I have a pretty small chest, and I think my nipples are in an okay location. The third thing is a medical history form. This form was very easy to fill out. He requests that it be printed, filled out, then scanned. The fourth thing is a $65 consultation fee which is applied towards the total surgery cost.
5) Emailing my documents.
As soon as I see my therapist again, I am going to ask her about the letter. Hopefully I’ll have it by the end of the month, then I’ll be able to email all the documents and photos to Dr. Medalie’s assistant, Valerie.
6) Scheduling my surgery date.
I emailed Valerie today (1/8/18) to ask about Dr. Medalie’s schedule in December of this year. She responded surprisingly quickly, saying that he only has his schedule open for 3 months ahead at a time. So I responded asking how far in advance I can schedule. She said that she can not schedule anyone in any part of his schedule that is not open at this time. I can submit my information to her sooner to get put on his waitlist, then she’ll contact me once his schedule opens up! His waitlist is only about 2 months long, which is much shorter than I had expected based on what I’d heard from other people who had surgery with him. At this point, I need my surgery date to be between December 13-21 (after finals week, but before the holidays). I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to get in then, otherwise I’ll have to have it after Christmas and New Years, which would make things a little more complicated, but still doable.
I’ll create a thread off of this post when I get updates on my situation.
Dr. Medalie’s Website:
http://www.clevelandplasticsurgery.com/transgender/female-to-male-surgery/
CareCredit Website:
https://www.carecredit.com/