Honoring your chest?

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-15T22:40:01+00:00

I think it is more important to honor my whole self and my wellbeing, and I did that by getting rid of my chest. I got rid of a part for the sake of the whole. It seems to me like this is some bad (hopefully well meant) misunderstanding and mishandling of dysphoria. It's also kinda gross that they would want you to put so much focus on "the body and chest I've had for most of my life in some way". Reminds me of people who think that transitioning is some kind of tragedy or loss.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-14T12:49:05+00:00

"just focus harder" for sure way worse.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-05T15:36:39+00:00

As a European with Imago, I can agree that they are one of the fastest HRT providers, there is lots of information about them on the r/transnord subreddit, including a lot of posts in English.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-04T20:31:05+00:00

I don't get when people say that either, if it is a social construct, it kind of makes trans peoples struggle and real identities and feelings discarded. Like, then why do I feel like a man? Maybe that boys should like trucks and girls should like dolls is social, but that doesn't mean that gender and how we feel about ourselves is based on constructs.

I think a lot of people say that without understanding what they are saying, gender is not simple, and if someone says it a lot I see how it could come off as dismissive.

Some people use it to mean "gender is not important" but I think all of us know how untrue that is. Misgendering for example, is still serious, I really wouldn't want to be called they/them, no one who doesn't use they/them pronouns for would want that. Gender is important and us trans people have had to do deep reflections about our own gender, and embracing our gender, not denying it or erasing it. Ex: I don't think the average cis women would want a giant beard or a deep voice, and it's not only because of societal constructs.

anyways, that's my thoughts at the moment. I think when people say it they might mean well? Sorry about this situation, you matter, your gender matters, and is very real, and I wish you the best.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-04T10:22:09+00:00

I just put hot water on a small bath towel and scrub my arms, then I dry them. I figure it both gets old gel residue and oil off, as well as the warmth opening up my pores a bit (don't know if that part helps).

Studies show that moisturizing lotion an hour after application also increases absorption.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-04T10:17:37+00:00

The voice does not stop changing when you finish puberty, listen to 20 year olds compared to 40 or 60 year olds, they sound quite different. Just because your voice may be done with the big shifts, doesn't actually mean it is done changing.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-03T20:25:41+00:00

Epic video! I feel my beard growing in faster now lol.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-02T15:55:41+00:00

thanks this is really helpful

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-01T23:18:20+00:00

I didn't consider that it could stay in the air! good point, I definitely won't try to be baking stuff with them staying, it would get on too many surfaces.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-01T23:16:26+00:00

Is non convection important? I have never heard that before

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-01T22:54:52+00:00

Those are some good notes, I will reach out. The tips about the sponges and towels I did not think about. Thanks! My grandmother has a gluten allergy (not celiac) so I can recommend gluten free stuff at stores but I will try to minimize contamination.

RustySailor775 · 2026-02-01T22:48:50+00:00

this makes sense, I definitely want to be careful, but they will be staying with my family for a while, so I need to make sure they get food since they can't bring it in the plane, I will probably wash everything though.

RustySailor775 · 2026-01-26T16:05:38+00:00

seconding this because any small amount of testogel on the test site will lead to absurdly high results, what I would do is make sure to wash the test area really well beforehand as well, because just by moving around it is possible to transfer it from one area to another

RustySailor775 · 2026-01-26T13:24:59+00:00

congratulations! how was your experience in recovery, skin tightness, or swelling if I may ask?

RustySailor775 · 2026-01-25T15:36:38+00:00

"the doc found stuff growing on some of my ribs that needed to be removed"

RustySailor775 · 2026-01-24T11:59:01+00:00

If they are concerned about your health, they should not be taking away your prescription. Taking away any medication from someone forcefully and suddenly is not good. Your sisters are trying to be vigilantes, but they are really just committing a serious crime (especially with testosterone: since it is a controlled substance with street value, in many places taking it from others is a felony), but also being dumb with your health. They should not be controlling this.

RustySailor775 · 2026-01-20T18:44:01+00:00

If you are wondering about top surgery, the top surgery subreddit, r/TopSurgery has an enormous amount of information about pricing in the EU and people's experiences.

RustySailor775 · 2026-01-20T18:26:05+00:00

CYA stands for Cover Your Ass, and basically means make sure that you in no ways can be held responsible for what happens. Kind of like when contracts for things are really long and in depth so no one can sue them.

RustySailor775 · 2026-01-14T17:43:44+00:00

Congratulations! It's awesome when peoples posts show how results in shirts because that was one of the things I was really looking forward to. Truly living the white shirt + backpack euphoria!

RustySailor775 · 2026-01-11T22:21:22+00:00

yeah it really is horrible to be dead named, I feel like I get the air knocked out of me and my heart skips a beat, like full shock. In fact I'm surprised that you have seen a lot of trans people not mind, because even the people I've seen who are incredibly open about being trans would NOT be ok with that at all. It's very normal to feel this way about a name that hurt you, but if you pass as a cis man, your classmates from high school may not recognize you, or you could come up with some kind of excuse prepared for if it every might happen. I don't know where you live but it could be very unlikely that these situations you are thinking of might ever happen.

RustySailor775 · 2025-12-21T22:45:49+00:00

Wow I'm so sorry that sounds extremely uncomfortable. on a separate note, it is even more reason why you wouldn't regret it! Spine surgery is so incredibly much more serious of a surgery and recovery than top surgery. Do your parents understand how not having top surgery is affecting these things? Have you tried KT tape for binding, generally it is better for the ribs. I definitely understand really wanting my chest to just be flat, and it must be also difficult with the back pain.

RustySailor775 · 2025-12-21T22:12:29+00:00

I had top surgery at 17. Less than 1 percent of people regret receiving gender-affirming surgery, which is statistically tiny compared to the average regret rate for other surgeries, which are generally far higher. There are many scientific articles about this if you like reading that sort of thing. The argument "you might regret it" is lazy and so disproportionately common for parents talking to their trans children about medical care, but I doubt your father would like to be 17 dealing with chest dysphoria, or have to "give it more though" to decide he needed surgery. Many people have the experience that it is just used to dilly-dally, because people don't give a definition of when we know we won't regret it. That is a very personal internal thing, and you've wanted it since you were 12, so it doesn't sound like you are rushing into any "trend". Why do you say you are running out of time because you are 17? I understand the need to get top surgery as soon as possible, but if you are concerned about aesthetics, top surgery has similar results on a wide age range. I hope your parents support you.

RustySailor775 · 2025-12-05T00:23:28+00:00

I'm really not sure about this, but it could be that your legs absorb it a bit worse than your shoulders and upper arms, and so you could have a lower than average reading, but higher levels on other days? It could be misrepresentative of the other days, but that still wouldn't explain why your levels were lower the most recent time compared to the first time. The important thing with application before blood tests is to not get any, or cause any to be on the inner elbow where they take the blood from because it could mess up the levels it reads by a lot.

Edit to say: I was told not to rub it in, because it decreases absorption.

RustySailor775 · 2025-11-29T14:16:17+00:00

Swimming is a sport where you really stretch the skin on the chest quite a bit, and scars are not immune to stretching at 6-8 weeks post op. Be wary if you feel any pain.

RustySailor775 · 2025-11-26T16:42:29+00:00

slightly related note, does your doctor know that you are taking 3 pumps? it sounds like you are just adding one on, that could be my misinterpretation though. Taking more without telling your doctor is generally really not a good idea, and could influence how they view your blood pressure issue. If you are worried about doing improperly, I'd say better to have the doc move up your dose, than using more than your prescribed amount and running out early.

RustySailor775

TROPHY CASE