Transgender Ascender

These are the results 1 week after my 3rd top surgery….. I am proud to say that I am finally happy with the way my chest looks!! Obviously this is not the end result, I’m still pretty swollen and I have tape all over, but I can tell it will look great after it heals. I’ll definitely post some more pics after I take the tape off!

If you read my previous story about my struggles with top surgery, you could probably imagine that I’m quite relieved that Dr. Fishman was able to clean up the mess that Dr. Stein made previously. I would highly recommend Dr. Fishman to any transguy that wants top surgery from a skilled surgeon. Not to mention that it was HALF the price Dr. Stein charged!

The surgery itself went well too. My parents and my girlfriend came with me to the hospital and took care of me afterwards. They told me that it took Dr. Fishman 4 1/2 hours to perform the surgery! He had to resize my nipples, make them symmetrical and aligned to the center of my chest, and liposuction the remaining breast tissue. He took his time to make sure that everything was done correctly. 

As you can see, I have a lot of stitches (especially on the left side). But I promise that it’s not as painful as it looks. I tend to heal well with scarring so I’m not too concerned. And besides, it’s more important that I don’t have a funky looking chest anymore with deflated half-boobs. haha

I had been on the fence about whether or not to even get the surgery since last May, but I’m so glad I decided to go through with it. I can’t wait to see how everything looks when I’m all healed up! Lastly, I’m extremely grateful to my girlfriend and family for all their love and support :)

Amen!

(via qbutch)

This is a post I recently submitted to trans-positive’s tumblr. Check it out!

trans-positive:

Hi there! My name’s Nikk and I’m a 23 year old FTM. My favorite thing about being transgender is that I can embrace being a man with a woman’s heart. I truly feel that since I was socialized as a female, I was given more of a chance to develop my emotional side and intuition. I was never told to “stop crying like a girl” (duh!) And even though we live in a society that generally values masculinity over femininity, I think I have an advantage over most cisgender guys because my emotions don’t scare the crap out of me. I may not have a huge penis, but I certainly have a huge heart :)

(via fuckinfemmetastic)

Thrive Movement

We are at a crucial turning point in human evolution. It’s time to awaken to the infinite possibilities of the Universe

Yes, it’s true. When I was a girl, I had boobs the size of Wisconsin… I was a size 34 DDD (or F). And even though my surgery results are far from perfect, I’m glad I don’t have to wear a binder anymore to suffocate the 3 pound bags of fat that were on my chest.

My experience with top surgery is a mixed bag of tragedies and blessings. But I really do try to keep a positive outlook on the whole thing. 

The thing is, what you’re seeing in the picture above is the result of not one but TWO top surgeries. $10,000 later, this is what it looks like.

To all Transguys that are looking for good surgeons in the US:

DO NOT GO TO DR. KEN STEIN IN CHICAGO, IL!!!!

Ok, I’ll explain here and try to be as neutral as possible…. I had my first surgery from Dr. Stein on November 24, 2009. Then I went back for a revision on May 20, 2010. I was highly disappointed at the results after the second surgery. 

Here’s why:

-I still have some breast tissue left over

-My nipples are not the same shape/size

-There is a gap between my nipple and my chest on the right side

-I’m still having discharge, scabs, and irritation after over a year and a half

-The sutures didn’t completely dissolve (which is a big part of the irritation)

I think the biggest mistake that Dr. Stein made is that he insisted on doing Keyhole incisions (cutting around the nipple) even though I was a DDD cup. Any competent plastic surgeon will tell you that Keyhole should not be done unless the patient is a B cup or below. Dr. Stein justified this by saying that “the scarring will look better”.

Now here’s the sunny part of the story… 

Even though my chest looks kinda weird, I don’t have boobs anymore. I don’t have to wear a binder, and I can go to the beach with my shirt off. No one has ever given me dirty looks, stared at me, or said anything at all. I am a lot more comfortable with my body than I’ve ever been.

I am so so so so blessed to have a wonderful family that supports me in my trans identity and physical transition. After my parents learned more about transgender people (mostly from TV) my dad told me that he felt obligated to pay for my top surgery. I was originally going to take out student loans and pay for it that way but my parents took out loans instead. I am beyond grateful for all their support and love.

On January 13, 2012, I am going to Michigan to get a third top surgery (second revision). I am originally from Michigan and the doctor is a family friend. We’ve known him since I was 8 years old because I was friends with his daughter. His name is Dr. Jeff Fishman and his office is in Troy, MI. I feel very confident in Dr. Fishman’s ability to fix the mess that Dr. Stein made. 

The only thing is that I have to get a fourth top surgery after this next one because Dr. Fishman said this needs to be done in stages. He said he is worried about the blood circulation if he does it all in one surgery. I’m hoping that there is a chance that this is the last one! Surgery is not very fun…

My girlfriend is coming with me to Michigan for a week (and missing her first week of classes) in order to take care of me. See, this is why I really can’t complain. Everything else about my transition has been relatively simple and painless aside from this. I don’t have to worry about coming up with the money for all these surgeries and I have an amazing support system. It could be much worse, so I do my best to be positive. :)

Check back for updates after my next surgery in January! and keep your fingers crossed!

Girlz 2 Men

A short documentary I made earlier in my transition

This is what I looked like pre-transition in April 2009

This is me now- almost 3 years on Testosterone