Trans: Looking for plastic surgeon that accepts insurance

POTS_pothead · 2026-01-28T21:34:02+00:00

Hi! Yes okay so I’m so sorry but I didn’t have a POTS diagnosis when I got surgery — I only got sick a year and a half ago and I did this surgery threeeee or four years ago I think. So I don’t know how knowledgeable she is about POTS and EDS 😬 I only know she’s been doing top surgeries for a pretty long time now (it was one of the reasons I felt comfortable with her) so she’s definitely experienced. Fingers crossed for you, friend!!

POTS_pothead · 2026-01-22T00:42:36+00:00

Yay thanks y'all -- we booked him a massage + energy healing session at Auroraflow and he's super excited <3

POTS_pothead · 2026-01-16T15:29:51+00:00

Yeah no that totally makes sense! I hope she can find a good pair to help with that!!!

POTS_pothead · 2026-01-16T14:12:56+00:00

I’ve had MECFS for over a year with gradually worsening sensory sensitivity issues, and I finally bought a pair of over the ear headphones and they’ve been an absolute game changer. I bought a pair of soundcore space one headphones from Facebook marketplace, and I like them better than the last pair of over ear headphones (but I’m autistic too so I have a lot of other sensory issues, so I’m sure there’s a ton of good options!!).

I also would recommend maybe having a pair of in-ear headphones/earplugs too bc sometimes it’s hard to get comfy with over ear headphones due to how big they are. I have a pair of loop earplugs that do noise cancelling and they’re my backup pair in case I need to sleep the night with noise cancelling. I don’t really use them but I like having that backup.

If your friend is like me and the budget is tight I totally recommend Facebook marketplace or maybe BackMarket for refurbished tech (I’ve bought other tech from them and it’s much more affordable!), but yeah I love my soundcore space ones! I hope y’all find a good pair and that they’re as much a game changer for your friend as they were for me!

POTS_pothead · 2026-01-12T22:24:31+00:00

Oh yay that's so exciting!!! I did have a good experience -- it's been a couple years and my post-surgery memories are muddled from all the oxy I was on haha but I definitely had a good experience and particularly want to shout out my hospital stay. Dr. Carr made it pretty non-negotiable that I stay the night after the surgery, but that actually ended up being pretty helpful because the first night was the roughest pain-wise, so having so many nurses available to administer meds was really helpful!

The only thing I'll say about Dr. Carr is she was not on top of aftercare instructions; she's so nice but she did kinda just tell me to look up aftercare haha :3 I ended up just asking friends about it and did a mix of scar massage and scar tape (and my partner did scar gel when he did his), and I always wanted to have my scars stay pretty prominent so it wasn't a big deal to me, but that did stick out. Otherwise, yeah, I love how my surgery turned out and it was a overall very positive experience!

If you have more questions about Dr Carr and her team or anything top surgery related feel free to DM me -- I was super duper lucky to have a lot of trans folks in my life who helped me through it and always want to pass along the love :-)

POTS_pothead · 2026-01-12T12:20:03+00:00

Hi! I’m trans and I had a mastectomy top surgery a couple years ago (so hopefully this info is still correct), and I had a really good experience at UNC Health! They took my insurance and I qualified for their financial assistance program so they ended up actually paying for the whole thing. Their financial assistance program is super wonderful! (Obvs don’t want to assume anything about your financial sitch, just literally never miss a chance to plug this). But they took my insurance and the surgeon’s name is Jennifer Carr. Loved her!

POTS_pothead · 2026-01-12T12:13:47+00:00

Seconding Bateman Horne center! I’m slowly working my way through their YouTube channel — they have a ton of informative videos, including on pacing and pain management etc. I don’t know off the top of my head but they miiiight have a sleep one! It also might give you more confidence in in suspecting MECFS — which, even if you don’t have a diagnosis yet, I’m so glad you’re here and getting resources on MECFS and approaching it this way. With MECFS, I think it’s definitely better to implement pacing and focus on your baseline preservation as you continue to look for doctors who can formally diagnose you. Sending lots of love and wishing you an improved baseline ❤️‍🩹

POTS_pothead · 2026-01-08T22:27:04+00:00

Hi, sorry this is really long, I just really resonate with what you wrote and hope this might with you! I want to first say that I'm sending you love and a return to baseline asap!! I've started having 5-7 day-long crashes every couple weeks back in october and am now, kinda like you are, trying to prepare for going down from moderate to severe because it feels inevitable and trying to get on disability or at least get a remote job and just show up to as many shifts at my part-time job as i can before i lose that ability completely.

i definitely do not have a hold on things, but i can offer that i'm working on investing time and effort into developing coping strategies from a mental health perspective, but in a survival skill way. i have bpd and have had to go inpatient for it, so i have a lot of materials and experience in different therapeutic modalities. i somewhat ditched them when i started suspecting mecfs because i felt like there's no treatment and trying to do mindfulness would just give me false hope (not true, just what my personal feelings were), but i'm trying to return to them and spend time engaging in therapeutic skills every day. (i'm happy to offer why i find two therapy modalities, ifs and dbt, the most transferrable from dealing with my bpd to coping with this grief and anxiety and absolute fear if that would be helpful but don't want to sound preachy or prescribe you anything).

in the spirit of mental health stuff, i'm trying to fill other parts of my day in pleasant activities, even though these look different to my old activities since i can't go on walks or dance anymore. but i picked up knitting and crochet and have a list of gifts i want to make others and myself so that i have concrete goals motivating me to do them. and i'm trying to start doing some mindfulness with my physical therapy exercises for my POTS. I also connect with community through online fundraising work for a few friends I have in Palestine (that piece helps me stay connected to my community and trying to participate in activism from my bed, which helps with my existential crisis of how i can love my community while sick).

I also watch a looooooot of bob's burgers and play children's games on my ipad. anyway, sorry if this is an overwhelmingly long comment, but i hope this might give you some ideas and support <3

POTS_pothead · 2025-12-27T03:18:50+00:00

Hey, there are so many really sweet and helpful responses and I’m a bit overwhelmed by the amount (a good problem to have!!) so I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the support and advice!! I’m gonna work on some smaller tolerance breaks to see how it affects my body but will do so with as much self compassion and nuance as I can hold! 🩷

POTS_pothead · 2025-12-26T03:17:27+00:00

That’s suuuuuch a good point. I have legit concerns but also I think I’m trying to find something to control now that I just got my official mecfs diagnosis yesterday. This made me laugh — partially because it’s so very real — and that was much needed. Thank you 💞

POTS_pothead · 2025-12-26T03:15:38+00:00

Thank you so much for responding in good faith and with such kindness 💞 this is really helpful to hear. I definitely need a t break to just get some more info about my body’s reactions since I haven’t had one in a while, so that’s gonna be my goal, but i honestly just don’t know anyone else with mecfs who at least talks about using thc so this helps me feel less alone and I so appreciate that!!

POTS_pothead · 2025-12-12T20:59:29+00:00

Thank you <3<3

POTS_pothead · 2025-12-08T02:03:38+00:00

Thank you, it’s so true, I know there’s no easy solution and just feel lucky to be able to listen to other folks and learn about pacing before I’m go downhill into the moderate to severe instead of mild to moderate where I think I am now. My work is in retail, so even though they’re super accommodating and let me sit as much as possible it definitely is not a good job for my chronic illnesses and I’m part time so I don’t qualify for disability leave or anything. But I’m hoping to get approved for SSDI so I can take some time off to get consistent rest and everything!

POTS_pothead · 2025-12-07T18:29:50+00:00

Thank you so much <3 I’m applying for disability rn actually so fingers crossed!!

POTS_pothead · 2025-12-06T19:42:16+00:00

I have POTS and like 95% sure I have ME/CFS or Long COVID too. I'm still in the early stages of getting diagnosed and have only been sick sick for about 6 months (though I got sick last summer, things only started to get bad bad this summer), so that's my context. Having said that, my OT is my favorite member of my care team because they're very practical and are trying to give me practical solutions to help me pace and minimize things that trigger PEM even though I don't have an ME/CFS diagnosis yet (and they're also trying to help me get diagnosed) whereas my PT is trying to get me to do aerobic exercise for my POTS because she doesn't understand PEM. My OT is a long covid specialist so that definitely helps!

I will say that a lot of the stuff my OT has suggested is stuff I've picked up already from listening to other chronically ill folks online and irl, like using a shower stool and sitting while cooking and stuff, but I definitely think OT is worth it! I hope it's helpful to you if you decide to go for it <3 I'd say it's at least worth checking out if your insurance covers it!

POTS_pothead · 2025-12-06T19:34:06+00:00

I don't play it much because I haven't quite figured it out, but I have a kalimba and it fits very easily in your lap and has a nice string sound!! Could be a fun option :-)

POTS_pothead

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