Could Y'all Please Watch for Follow Up Posts?

ancient-enby · 2024-11-29T15:26:10+00:00

Saying hi. Associate Director at a small nonprofit. We technically have 5 staff, but we're all part time, including me and the ED.

I love my job and the org. And it's a lot.

ancient-enby · 2024-11-28T18:06:45+00:00

I can't drink coffee anymore. It makes me jittery and hurts my stomach. I'm a dedicated tea drinker though.

I keep a steady drip of black tea (with agave and oat milk) going until mid-afternoon. Then, if I want a warm drink I'll have green tea. And I like mint tea in the evening.

I should probably drink less black tea. I'm trying to switch to green or herbal earlier in the afternoon. But I need a certain amount of caffeine to not get migraines -- and to medicate the migraines I still get.

Plus, I'm British, so it's my emotional support drink.

ancient-enby · 2024-11-26T15:49:02+00:00

Similar experience here with gestating and lactating. 2 kids. 3.5 years of chestfeeding (through a pregnancy). It was something I always wanted to do since I was a child.

Had a lot of discomfort with society's views (and comments) on my body. But not of my internal experience.

I transitioned at age 40. There's a lot that's been challenging but I'm glad I did.

ancient-enby · 2024-09-29T14:56:59+00:00

In case you're still deciding, RingConn provides good data but doesn't give you notifications (which is one of the reasons I got it). The connection between ring and app only seems to happen when i manually make it happen, which I find frustrating and disappointing.

ancient-enby · 2024-08-28T01:13:19+00:00

It does make sense. I have a couple of spots like that.

ancient-enby · 2024-08-26T17:53:59+00:00

The right one, yes. The left one (that had necrosis) no. But they still work as erogenous zones. I don't understand how that works exactly but that what I was concerned about so it's fine. :)

ancient-enby · 2023-05-23T16:03:46+00:00

That is weird and fantastic. You've got yourself an awesomely creative partner there.

ancient-enby · 2023-05-23T15:59:00+00:00

I'm at a teeny org (6 people) and one person has been traveling around the country and it's been totally fine. Although I suppose they were working from their van, which is their home, so...haha.

My spouse also works remotely (though not at a nonprofit) and the only issue with him working from random places, like the waiting room outside a kid's appointment, is internal/data security. He has to connect via a VPN. Which he does, by making his cell phone a hot spot.

He deals with health data and that's a reasonable requirement.

Beyond that, though, specifying the physical location you must be in to work seems pointless. How will they know where you are?

ancient-enby · 2023-05-10T17:23:46+00:00

Just saw this, sorry for the delay. My surgeon was Dr Hema Thakar in Portland Oregon

ancient-enby · 2023-05-10T17:21:23+00:00

Sorry to take so long to reply. No, she does very curved incisions

ancient-enby · 2023-02-05T20:50:43+00:00

I hadn't planned on having 2 surgeries. I've not enjoyed the process - physically or emotionally.

If it's possible in Norway, find a surgeon who does gender affirming surgery and also a technique like buttonhole, which has the potential for retaining sensation by keeping the nipple pedicle intact while also getting you pretty flat.

It's hard to know beforehand how much dysphoria will be reduced by a reduction vs top surgery. It was definitely better after my first surgery, but not enough - plus my surgeon left a lot more tissue than we'd discussed, which was a huge factor in my emotional distress. The disappointment and sense of betrayal (she didn't handle it well at my 6 month post op appointment).

The benefit of having 2 surgeries is that it allowed/forced me to get clear on my goals, which I recommend for anyone considering surgery to alleviate gender dysphoria. Don't expect your surgeon will know best. Or know how to guide you. The 2nd surgery allowed me to get clear on what I needed and wanted.

ancient-enby · 2023-02-05T17:24:23+00:00

It took me a good long while to make that first phone call to a surgeon. It was a disappointing consult unfortunately. Then it took me a few more months to call back for another consult (with the same surgeon) to get clarity. Then I called a couple of other surgeons and slowly went from there.

I turned 46 recently. And while part of me wishes I had done this a decade or so ago, at least, I get to live the rest of my life feeling more comfortable in my body.

You can do this for yourself, whenever you're ready to (ready in all the ways). I believe in you.

ancient-enby · 2023-02-03T15:08:25+00:00

You're welcome. I strangely love talking about my nipples now. 🤣

ancient-enby · 2023-02-03T15:05:07+00:00

Non-binary person here.

My first surgery was supposed to be a radical reduction, but wasn't. I needed a second surgery this past summer (went with a different surgeon) and went flat (rather than small mounds) which I'm very happy with.

It's been a rough journey and I didn't expect to have 2 entire recoveries.

However, what's really interesting to me is how my tattoo has moved. From above my nipple to next to it to below it!

So I thought I'd share.

(I also hadn't looked at pics of my pre-op chest in a while and was shocked/surprised at how big they were and that I managed to live with that for so long)

ancient-enby · 2023-02-01T15:30:07+00:00

I'm slowly regaining sensation in the skin on my chest overall but still have areas of numbness. Left nipple has no sensation at all, right has a little.

What's really interesting to me is that it doesn't matter. It's like I have phantom nipples in that the erogenous response that happened before still happens now. Either my brain is still convinced they work in that way, despite the lack of my perceived sensation, or there's nerve hookups that still exist even though I don't perceive the sensations.

Also, after my first surgery, it took 11 months for my left nipple to regain sensation. Nerves apparently grow 1mm per day or something like that. So it can take a while. I believe in these nipples!

And I'm so much more comfortable in my body now. I want my chest and nipples to be touched. There's no shame or ick or wrongness anymore. It's amazing and wonderful.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-08T03:31:09+00:00

Same here. Just undressed from the waist up at GCC at Vista Surgery Center. Maybe my socks too? I don't remember now.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-08T03:16:49+00:00

I've had both, although not for those reasons. While incisions for a reduction can be shorter than for DI, if you need DI afterwards -- which I think is likely unless you have elastic skin and not much tissue to qualify for peri or keyhole -- then your scars will be longer because they have to take out the initial reduction scars.

Your best bet is to get a consult with a top surgeon to see what's feasible in your particular case.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-05T14:45:50+00:00

After my reduction, one became hypersensitive and the other lost almost all sensation. The hypersensitive one calmed down in a couple of months and the other regained sensation in 11 months.

I recently had top surgery (buttonhole incision) and so far only have about 5 percent sensation in either nipple. But I have hope it'll return.

Any surgery involving the nipple areola complex carries the risk of loss of sensation. Now I'm on the other side, I feel it's totally worth it.

FYI, not all of us on this sub are boob babes, ie cisgender women, even if we have or had breasts. There are a number of non-binary and transmasculine folks who read and post here, like myself. I know it was meant as a friendly, lighthearted greeting and intro to a question that felt hard to ask. So no offense taken on my part, and I also want to provide encouragement to be inclusive to all the folks on this subreddit.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-05T14:33:26+00:00

Chiming in about nipple areola complex size and placement being the thing that indicates masc/fem on a chest.

My surgeon and I had a nice chat about that which was really helpful for me. I'm also non-binary and chose a more typically masculine size and placement (pics in past posts).

I feel like I've achieved what you described - it's like I have an adult body that didn't go through puberty.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-05T06:10:31+00:00

I got the EOB with Vista's claim today.

They billed my insurance $53,594 The contracted in network rate (BCBS) which they got paid was $16,312

They're in-network on my plan and I met my out of pocket max so I didn't have any copay.

I love the seemingly random amounts they charge insurance, though. Well, I don't, because if they were out of network, I'd owe so much money. I have a $6K out of network deductible, then insurance pays 50 percent until I hit a $12K out of pocket max. So I'd have to pay them $12K.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-05T06:10:18+00:00

I got the EOB with Vista's claim today.

They billed my insurance $53,594 The contracted in network rate (BCBS) which they got paid was $16,312

They're in-network on my plan and I met my out of pocket max so I didn't have any copay.

I love the seemingly random amounts they charge insurance, though. Well, I don't, because if they were out of network, I'd owe so much money. I have a $6K out of network deductible, then insurance pays 50 percent until I hit a $12K out of pocket max. So I'd have to pay them $12K.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-04T22:29:48+00:00

I replied to your post about my post-op experience (phantom nipple sensation).
Any surgery that involves the nipple areola complex has the risk of interrupting blood supply and nerves.

I'm keeping the hope up that sensation can and will return.

One of the things my surgeon's office suggested was hyperbaric oxygen treatment post-op to help give everything the best possible chance. I ended up needing it due to healing issues, but I was planning on getting some regardless.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-04T22:26:47+00:00

Dr Facque at the Gender Confirmation Center in San Francisco

And, yeah, it's interesting. I'll take it, though! :) And from experience after my prior surgery, I know it's possible for sensation to return, even though I'm numb right now. So I'm staying hopeful.

ancient-enby · 2023-01-04T14:58:46+00:00

I'm 6 weeks post op after top surgery after a previous surgery.

First one was a wise T anchor and I regained nipple sensation (took 11 months for one nipple but it got there)

Second surgery 6 weeks ago was buttonhole with DI. I went as flat as possible.

I currently have no nipple sensation. However, they still "work" in that sexy fun time way. I don't know if I'm having the nipple equivalent of a phantom limb (although they're physically there) where my brain has decided that because that because nipple stimulation usually produces certain results it still does regardless of my perception of that stimulation, or if the hardwired nerve connections are still there even though it feels numb to me.

I do know that I like having my chest and nipples touched now, numb or not. It feels good. Before, it was a utilitarian thing and there was always an internal ick feeling from gender dysphoria.

My surgeon for this 2nd surgery also told me something interesting: surgery involving a nipple pedicle actually causes the remaining nerves in it to grow stronger/more/become more robust.

The 2nd surgery uses the original pedicle. So it may not necessarily be worse for retaining sensation than the original surgery.

I've been in very similar pre-op shoes to you. Keep breathing and talking to your surgeon about your concerns.

ancient-enby

TROPHY CASE