@OrionShenanigan group
Ok, so I know there’s like. So many transmasc folks on this site who might need this to help quell some anxiety so here goes: I just had my top surgery consult yesterday. I went to the doctors with Corewell Health in Grand Rapids Michigan (not naming my surgeon here for privacy reasons but if you dm me I can give you her info) and I waited in the waiting room doing some paperwork for about five minutes and then waiting for about twenty more due to my surgeon being in the OR for a bit.
The nurse took me back to the exam room after weighing me and we went over my medical history and medications I was on and there were no issues with anything so the doctor came in and she was super nice, a little young looking to me but she was overall very casual in a good way, well educated and friendly! She asked me some questions and we did a chest exam which consisted of her just. Squishing my tiddies for a second or two and checking for abnormalities of which I only had some mild lymph node weirdness due to being sick the day prior (not COVID, just a mild cold that went away the next day).
I have some moderate acne on my chest due to taking T for a hot minute and I’ve been keeping it under control by applying my facial skincare routine to my chest and it’s been working! The only reservation that my surgeon would have is if there were open lesions at the site of surgery (aka zits on my tits) and since it’s been easy to control them it likely will turn out fine. I also have a medium-large set of honkdonkers so I will be getting double-incision top surgery which, whilst more invasive, is better for a lot of reasons for me one of which is that I will be able to remove my nipples with the surgery.
Why no nipples? Well, mostly cuz I hate them and I don’t like them. That’s about it! Purely an aesthetic preference!! And while some of it was to do with dysphoria tbh it’s fairly easy to get surgeons to do what you’d like with the surgery. Another factor is healing time; due to the nature of the surgery I’d need my nipples grafted back onto my chest and that increases healing time and takes a (albeit mild) toll on your body that I just didn’t want to deal with.
However I did go over the risks and benefits of nipples, mostly the only issue is that the nipple grafts might not take and that smoking increases that risk, which means that the nips could realistically fall off which is needless to say not good. I do smoke marijuana legally in my state for social and medical reasons so I would need to quit a few months before surgery, not an issue for me just something to be aware of. Edible marijuana is also acceptable but they don’t want any in your system pre-surgery, post surgery however it is known to help with inflammation and swelling and to relieve pain and if you have access to that, you might choose to utilize it. Not taking any particular stance on whether you should or shouldn’t for legal reasons.
Another note is that you can’t quite control nipple placement as well surgically so they may turn out wonky, as well as there being the risk of parts of the grafts not healing the right way and just. Falling off which again is increased chance if you smoke nicotine based products like smoking, vaping, cigars cigarettes etc etc. so if you’re particular about placement you might opt to skip nips and just tattoo them on later.
Ok, lastly we went over scar shapes (you can use them to contour the pecs for a more masculine look, or be more straight or rounded for a more nonbinary look) and that due to my truly honking donkers, my scars would likely meet in the middle of my chest (not an issue just something to be aware of). Then we just went over some paperwork and post-surgery recovery homework that I’d need to keep until surgery, and then I went home to immediately take a long ass nap lmao. I guess that’s it, let me know if y’all have any questions! I will likely update this over time as I remember, and I will be receiving a call to schedule my surgery date soon!
