TOPSurgery: The Consultation

On April 30th, 2018 my wife and I arrived at the office of Brownstein and Crane in Millbrae, CA.
I was nervous and didn't know what to expect.  It was super cool to see other TG people who had already undergone surgery and were returning for  follow up appointments.
I had been taking T for about 1 month and hadn't really noticed much.  I had also been on the Whole 30 Diet plan - felt great and had lost some fat.  Felt good about how I might look after my chest was transformed.

We spoke for the longest time with Debbie, the PA. Many of you may know that surgeons often have PA(physician's assistants) surgical assistants in the OR and they can see patients in the office both pre-op and post-op.

She explained how the surgery would go. That it was an ambulatory procedure, meaning that I would arrive, have the procedure and go home on the same day.  This surprised me a little bit, but honestly I was glad to be able to go home.  She said that I would feel mostly back to normal in 1-2 weeks, and could go back to work at that time.  The surgery necessitated wearing a tight chest binder for the first week post-op, at which time I would return to the office, have the binder and dressings removed, and be on my way with no additional followup. Sounded great!

We talked more specifically about nipples.  Did I want to just tattoo nipples on later or have grafts?
This entailed excising my current nipples and areolae, taking parts from both, and grafting them onto my chest after the breast tissue was removed.  I was not to let the shower water hit them directly (after the binder came off and I was allowed to shower). Also that they may lose pigment, and could possibly not "take", so there were decisions to make.  I opted for the grafts. Why not just go the whole way?  Moreover, tattoos on my new chest? Sounded painful.

So here's where it gets good - Debbie said that she thought that I could have my surgery by Feb or March 2019! Way better than 1.5 years away.  I told her that I wanted to be on a cancellation list - in case another patient had to be cancelled -that I would make myself available at a moment's notice.
I think that she empathized with me because, let's face it, I am not a 23 year old. She went to investigate how to get on the wait list for an early surgery date. She found out that there was no specific process - so she put a yellow post-it note on the scheduler's computer and said "See this? Jett is next" for any openings!  I was ecstatic! Maybe even sooner! Things were looking up!
I left the appointment uplifted and hopeful.  Was there any chance that I could have the surgery before my 60th birthday on September 12th? Strong intentions are just that, strong.

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