TOPSurgery: The Wait l

When my gender-care specialist told me that the wait for my surgery date could easily be 18 months, I was crushed and defeated.
In her office, I forced myself to recover quickly.  Dr. G then explained some options that I might consider while I wait. 

 First was binding to reduce the prominence of the breasts. This entails wearing an Ace wrap or a garment designed to compress (squish) the breasts  to make them as small and unnoticeable as is possible. It is very uncomfortable to say the least. I already did this with sports bras, which were restricting enough.  I had tried several different types of binders only to find that they were way too uncomfortable or gave me pretty much the same results as my sports bras did. 
Next option was packing which Wikipedia defines as " wearing padding or a phallic object in the front of the pants or underwear to give the appearance of having a penis". I believe that this may be important for some Trans-guys who want a fully male appearance.  Since I didn't intend to fully transition, this was not for me.

Then came the testosterone discussion.  Taking testosterone or "T" as a part of changing one's outward appearance to look more male was on the table.  My wife cringed, and I felt very unsure about how this might help me. 

 My wife and I had watched the documentary a few years back about Chaz Bono. Let's just say that the way it depicted him after his transition was not very flattering. His girlfriend talked about how much he had changed, and that she (a lesbian) had gone from being with a woman to being with a man. She missed the female qualities that Chastity had when they had fallen in  love.  My wife felt that if I started taking T, that I too would lose the feminine qualities that she found appealing , and missing from her previous relationships with men. I found myself in interesting place. My gender-care doctor was not pushing T on my by any means, but I could tell that she was just sort of recommending that I try it. Decisions, decisions. There was obviously more to all of this than just an elective bilateral mastectomy

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