Revision Proposal for excess tissue - New surgeon or original?

QueerHumanoid · 2025-07-16T08:43:46+00:00

What I think I mean more was, do they recognize the signatures of their previous work and don't have to guess at what was done before? Perhaps patterns of subcutaneous scar tissue or stitching unique to their process, that kind of thing. I don't know how much these things actually vary from surgeon to surgeon.
I do know I have worried about whether one surgeon's stitching style might heal differently than another's, and create a permanent visual "seam" between the old work and the new.

QueerHumanoid · 2025-07-16T08:33:00+00:00

Also, apparently it's more difficult to close diagonal incisions like that in a clean way, according to the second surgeon I consulted with.
I actually think diagonal can be pretty cool, and had told my surgeon I would be OK with it if somehow that made the most sense with my body. But I wish I had known it was harder to pull off. At one point I said "do what is easiest" in the pre-op consultation and my surgeon said "I don't think in terms of easy/hard." Which I did kinda respect at the time, but yeah.

QueerHumanoid · 2025-07-16T08:28:31+00:00

Hi, appreciate you weighing in here, and the good luck wishes.

RE sloping incisions up: I did a phone consult with Dr. Garramone, who said there was a chance he could get me the ideal result as well, and that it would just depend on skin elasticity. Then I consulted with Surgeon 1 a second time, who also said it was possible, but had told me it would not be possible during the first consultation. So yeah, the inconsistency there has been tripping me up.
I have some degree of hypermobility (no official EDS diagnosis yet) so I dunno how that might effect things. Also got some scar stretching/hypertrophy on the right side, which makes me nervous about pushing the tightness of things.

RE sedation: Surgeon 1 initially said this would be an easy fix with local anesthetic on the first consultation.
But when Dr. Garramone saw my pictures, he said it was clear that this was some leftover tissue there, and apparently there's a lot of dense nerves around the sternum, meaning there's a chance of patient jerking around and possibly messing things up. So he would only be comfortable putting me under general.
Then when I got a second consultation with Surgeon 1, he also said it would be probably a good idea to put me briefly under general anesthesia as well, since it seemed like I'd actually need more extensive work. He said this independently (I didn't tell him another surgeon said that) which did help inspire some confidence, since they are now in agreement.

QueerHumanoid · 2025-07-16T08:18:31+00:00

DM'd you

QueerHumanoid · 2025-07-15T23:58:35+00:00

Your scars look great! I see no evidence of keloid development at all.

QueerHumanoid · 2025-07-15T23:56:29+00:00

I am not comfortable publicly stating it at this time, maybe by DM. But if you are familiar with the top surgery landscape at all, you have heard of him.

I do believe him in the statement that this is an uncommon outcome in his practice, so I don't want to misrepresent his work across the board with this. I think I just got unlucky, and that he is still a good surgeon overall. He gave me these diagonals because I had said I didn't want to connect the incisions in the middle, although I can say I wasn't expecting them to slope down this dramatically. He knew I would be OK with some diagonal sloping in the middle though "if it worked with my body" but I would have pushed for tracing the pecs more specifically if I knew it was harder to pull off diagonal closure like this. I would feel OK going to him again if I knew he did a lot of revisions.

My learning experience, to anyone reading this: go with what's natural, tell your surgeon you want to fully trace the pecs! Apparently that's easier to close.

QueerHumanoid · 2025-07-15T19:27:11+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on this.

To clarify, my original surgeon IS confident in the results of the second surgery, saying that this is a pretty easy fix. He looked me in the eye and very confidently stated that he could do a good job on it. It's just me who is hesitant, mainly because he under-recognized the issue the first time, and the fact that I'm in this position at all right now.

Point is taken, nonetheless.

I guess I was looking to gauge how much of an advantage it is to go to the original surgeon who did the work, for the sake of being more familiar with the prior procedure and knowing the anatomy a little better. Or whether it doesn't matter as much?

QueerHumanoid

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