One Year After Surgery and Six Months on Testosterone

So I'm going to keep it short and sweet! One Year!

Voice! Bare with me, I feel really dumb taking these videos, so a lot of the time I don't know what to say!

Regular

Skipping right to the six months

                                     

Eight Months

Hey guys! It's been eight months since I've had my surgery. I've had three testosterone shots and am currently setting myself up for giving myself the shots. I don't feel any different yet; rather disappointed at this point. Hopefully getting my needles and such won't be too expensive. Currently my insurance doesn't cover anything so every time I go to get a shot it costs me $500 plus, out of pocket. I've been working out consistently and feel strong some days and other days it's like the Testosterone has worn off and I feel weak and kinda weird. In this area too I don't feel much different. Christi says that my shoulders are broader and that my arms have gained mass. I am up ten pounds, but it doesn't look it, which is good and bad I guess.

Here's my pic!

Testosterone

Hey everyone! On March fifth on got my FIRST TESTOSTERONE SHOT! It was super exciting. I've waited so long and to finally just walk in to my doctors and get my shot was an excellent feeling. As for how I feel, I feel no different. Everything seems the same. I go back April fourth for my next shot and hopefully from there on I'll be able to give them to myself and avoid the doctors visit. I'll still have to go back in every so often to get basic labs done to check my levels.

I got a gym membership and am ready to start pounding the weights again after my surgery. Hopefully now I will get the results I want! I'm super excited to see how things go and change just in the next two months. My voice should be one of the first things to change :)

I did give in and have a conversation with my mom. I told her everything. I told her about starting testosterone and that I had chest surgery. Unfortuantely she is still not accepting and said some pretty hurtful things. I was very upset after we talked, but I think I did a good job of putting it behind me quickly and not letting it effect my life choices. I wish for once she could leave God out of it. I don't forsee being around her much. She just stresses me out and adds more of a burden. It saddens me that I have failed in her eyes, not because I agree, but because she can't see all the great things I have become and done. I'm "broken" to her.

Thanks for the love and support friends! Sometimes its the things you guys say that get me through the day!

Five Months and Three Days!

      Hey everyone! So it's been five months since my original surgery and just over three weeks on the areola reduction surgery! Overall I'm feeling great! I am still massaging and wearing the silicone sheeting to help the scar tissue. The discoloration from the steroid shots has gone, along with the overall tenderness. I'm hoping to get a workout regime started soon and to stick with it.

PICTURES!!!!

 I'd like to take some time and send a few shout-outs. I clearly should've done this sooner, sorry!
              First and foremost I'd like to thank Christi for her endless love, strength, and support. I truly don't think I would have been able to go through all of this with out her. From the encouragement and security shes given, to the drain tubes and long car rides, I am forever grateful to have her in my life! Thank you Kerry for watching the dogs and taking Landon to let me have some down time to rest and recover, but most of all for your support as well. David and Teege, thanks for your continued support and the get well gifts. Misty Brum, thank you for checking in and for bringing me prunes (I guess)! Also for lending me Bones to occupy my down time! Annie, thanks for your continued support and inspiration! My friends up north: Kathy and Kelly your constant checking in on me. I'd also like to send a special thank you to my extended family that has really kept me involved in their lives and for your acceptance! I am blessed to have amazing cousins (including the married in ones)! Nathan, you're an inspiration to me! I am pleasantly surprised by the love and support I receive day in and day out by everyone! I'm the happiest I have ever been and I'm so glad that all of you are in my life! I can only wish that my immediate family will come around. Thank you everyone! Much Love!!!!

Evan

Four months and Areola Reduction Surgery

Hey everyone! So it's been a while since I updated so I thought I'd do a quick update. On January 21st I went back to Dr. King and had areola reduction surgery. This procedure took an hour in half. I was awake for the entire procedure, which had its pros and cons. I was laid flat on my back, raised up in the air with lots of bright lights. They stuck a grounding patch on my leg in case they needed to cauterize any bleeding (I was told I probably wouldn't need this). The nurse then washed my entire upper body. My arms were placed at my sides, but not tight to my body. They then placed sterilized towels all around my arms, waist, and neck. Then the fun began! They took a huge needle out and stabbed me multiple times on each side of my chest to numb all the nerves. Once they were done on both sides he started to cut! I couldn't watch because I was trying to stay calm and still. Basically what they did was cut the areola down smaller and then did a purse-cinch stitch all the way around the nipple. Unfortunately I felt every stitch and pull. I had a really hard time trying to not think about what they were doing. Of course nothing can ever go perfectly smooth and I began to bleed a lot. So they had to cauterize all around my nipple. The stitching and numbing hurt, but smelling and seeing your own flesh burn took the cake. It was horrendous to say the least. I tried to not look as much as possible, but I could see the reflection of my chest in his glasses. Plus asking and using all the different tools I could see all the blood. Normally this kind of stuff doesn't bother me, but when its yourself, it's a whole different ballgame. Once they finished the right side then they went to left. At first it was pretty numb, but once they started to cut I could feel it. They knew I felt it from me jerking around, whoops! They ended up cauterizing both sides and cleaned my nipples and chest up and then put medical adhesive on them. I had to let it dry for a little bit and I was free to go!!!! I go back in two weeks for a check up. He'll remove the glue and check the stitches. I should not have to have any more surgical procedures done on my chest. I have one scar that the scar tissue I just can't seem to get rid of. This potentially could lead to a steroid injection.



CAUTION PICTURES!!!!





This was right before I left for the surgery. took the pictures myself so they aren't the best, or straight :)

 

 

This is about eight hours after the surgery.

 

I developed a white ring around my nipple from all the pulling and such. The pain afterwards wasn't horrendous, but I won't lie it hurts. The best way I can describe it is that it's like someone is giving you a titty twister constantly.

 

Here's to a speedy recovery!!! Thanks for your support! Special thanks to Christi, my love and my nurse. I don't know what I'd do without her!



Update 3 months

Hey guys! So I'm just about at three months already! It's kind of unbelievable. I just had a check up and things are looking good, but I need to massage more and harder because my scar tissue is getting a bit thick. I also need to sleep with silicone sticky strips on the insicions, which will help break the tissue up as well. I will be having surgery again on the 21st of December. It will be pretty minor, but he is going to make my nipples smaller. He recommends a week off so I'll see how that goes.

One day shy of 3 months

 

I also have gone to see my therapist again. I'm preparing to tell my family that this is who I am and will be. I need to get the burden off my shoulders. I have an appointment made in the middle of January to see a new doctor about starting hormones. This is going to be a huge process and step in my life. Lots of emotions.

Nine Weeks!!

Well I'm back at work and feeling good overall even though I'm working twelve hour days. I still have some undesolved stitches, which is annoying. Hopefully they'll be gone soon. The scars don't look much different to me, but I'm using Mederma, Vitamin E Oil, and a lotion containing Vitamin E. I'm hoping to see the redness start going away in the next month or so. I have full feeling, if not more, than I did before. It's so cool to actually wear one shirt instead of three and to actually feel it!

 

 



Six Weeks!

Week 5

Felt really good today! It can only get better from here! Feel free to share!

Following Weeks

One Week After...

Two Weeks After...

Three Weeks After...

 

 

Four Weeks After...

 

I couldn't be happier with how the healing is going. I won't lie, it hurts like none other to massage the incisions, but I have to tell myself it will be worth it!

 

 

 

 

After Surgery Pics

                                                             First time I saw my chest!

   As you can kind of see the drain tubes go in your arm pits to minimize scarring on the chest!


                                                                 Leaving the hospital!

Friday I went to Dr. King's Office to get my drains out. This is also when he stitched my arm pit from the drain. They stocked us up with extra bandages and binders.

                                     After some breakfast we hit the road for Appleton!

Picture Results! Befores BEWARE

First off I would just like to thank everyone for their love and support! This has been and will continue to be a journey, but it's something I've always wanted. As I've said before I am so very thankful for all that Christi has endured with this process! I'd like to thank my extended family for all the kind words and conversations of love and acceptance. Last but not least I'd like to thank my closest friends for being there for me through the tough times and helping me literally get through life day by day sometimes. I now have a family that I have created and couldn't be more happy.

I decided to post all the pictures up until this point all together so its easier to compare. First up, the befores.

           The before surgery procedure.

When I woke up, kinda...Courtesy of Christi

 

 

 

 

The lovely drains...

 

 

Recovering At Home

Once I was home I was feeling really good. I had a surreal amount of emotions and every time that I took my bandage off, I just couldn't believe my eyes. Christi made sure that I was eating and taking my four medications. My best friend Misty came over to visit and we had pizza for dinner. I was flying high on cloud nine until I woke up Sunday, extremely sick. I couldn't eat or drink anything. I was in and out of the bathroom constantly. I tried taking the nausea pills, but it wasn't helping. Of course this was the day that some more of my friends stopped over. I appreciated David and Logan coming over along with my other best friend Annie, even though I didn't even socialize with them. Eventually I broke down and had Christi call Dr. King (He had given us his personal cell phone number). Christi told him what was going on and he said to throw all the medications out and he would fax an anti-nausea prescription right away. Unfortunately it was a suppository, but it worked! Everything was going good again. I started showering every other day. Christi had to help me because I didn't have much range of motion with my arms. I was very scared to shower, but I felt phenomenal afterwards! As Friday approached I found some hard spots in my chest. I immediately called and it didn't seem to have an infection or feel warm so I decided to just wait until my two week checkup. When Monday rolled around Dr. King's nurse called and said he wanted me to come down if I could so he could check everything out. I got to the office around quarter to two in the afternoon and he came in and examined me. He started to scrape and peel the adhesive off my incisions. He literally did this with a scalpel and it was pretty painful. He then felt the hard spots and was pretty sure it was just swelling, but to be safe he stuck a needle in the side of my chest and moved it all around to make sure there was no fluid built up. Turns out he was right and it was just swelling so he gave me some more bandages and took the stitch out of my arm pit. I was then on my way home.

My next appointment was Monday October 8th. Up til this date I began to be more self-sufficient, started going on walks with Christi and Denali, our puppy. As I showered more of the remaining adhesive would slowly come off. I moisturized everyday to help with this. On Monday I made the trip down to Middleton to see Dr. King. He was super impressed with how I was healing. Some of my stitches hadn't dissolved so he had to pull and cut them off. Only one of them started to bleed. He then told me that because I was going on my fourth week I needed to start massaging my incisions. The purpose of this is to help the skin heal together better and to help smooth the scars. He said I had to push pretty hard and he began doing it. It hurt so bad. He showed me how to do it and we could literally feel the scar tissue popping and breaking apart. He said that that was a very good sign, even though it felt really weird. I then had to get some after photos taken and he said I no longer had to bind or bandage my chest! I scheduled my next appointment for December tenth and walked out of the office just wearing my polo!!!!

So everyday now I massage my incisions, continue to moisturize, and plan to start using some scar medicine. Today, October tenth, marks four weeks since my surgery. I'm a little sore and almost have my full range of motion back. The hardest for me is to reach up above my head. As for my pain I only take ibuprofen. I still have swelling on both sides which can take up to six months to actually settle. Even with the swelling, I couldn't be happier. My chest is unbelievably flat! It feels so good to not have the tight binder on. It just feels so right!

I will try to get some photos up next. I warn you that I will show the whole process including before and afters. Consider this your warning!

Getting Started

Finding a surgeon was a challenge. Most people that I have talked to have had to go out of state. I personally had hoped that I could find something in Wisconsin. I knew the surgery was expensive and I didn't want to add to the cost by having to travel, find a place to stay, and then have to constantly travel back and forth for check-ups. After a tremendous amount of research I found a doctor in Middleton WI. Dr. Clifford King I would recommend to anyone. He is super professional, very caring, and an EXCELLENT surgeon. Throughout my process I've had several appointments both before and after the surgery. The entire staff is very accomadating and understanding. I had to travel just over two hours to get there and they always said if I was late it was ok and always asked how my drive went. It was just a very comfortable atmosphere which I never thought you could find in a hospital.

Dr. King examined me and discussed the options that I had. It came down to two options: a lipo procedure with minimal scaring or the bilateral breast reduction. I decided to go with the bilateral surgery because I would have had a lot of extra skin, given the size of my chest. So I had to then schedule a pre-op appointment. At this appointment I had pictures taken, a brief physical, and the procedure was went over again. I got all of the "pre-surgery" rules, where to go and I got scheduled as the first surgery of the day. My surgery was on Wednesday September 12th. Christi and I were up at three a.m. to get ready and head to St. Marys Hospital in Madison. We gave ourselves enough time to find the hotel that we had reserved before going to the hospital so that when I got discharged we had an idea of where we were going.

We got to St. Mary's by six thirty where I got prepped for surgery! Everything went smoothly! My IV went in the first try and my pregnancy test came back negative! The anestesiologist came in and just went over what he was going to do. I informed them that I have issues with getting sick so I got a special nausea patch put behind my ear, plus some meds directly into my IV. Dr. King came in and marked me all up, made sure I was comfortable and ready to go. They gave me something to relax me before actually getting to the OR and I don't remember anything or evening getting there! The surgery lasted three hours and I spent a good two hours in recovery. He removed three hundred grams of tissue from each side. Christi was a trooper through all of this. I am so grateful for her. It was a long day for her. I apparently asked her the same questions over and over after my surgery and she was gettting annoyed :)

Everything went well. I woke up in moderate pain, two drains, and a really big bandage. I felt pretty good overall and really just slept a lot. The nurses got another bed in the room for Christi and she finally passed out. She never woke up once through the night through the commotion of the nurses taking my vitals, my countless popscisles, and getting up to go to the bathroom. Dr. King came in and took my bandage off and checked out my chest. This was the first time I saw myself with a flat chest and it was AMAZING! I got out of the hospital by seven thirty in the morning on Thursday. Christi got us to the hotel where I just sat propped up in the bed. She emptied my nasty drains numerous times and made sure I had all my pills on time and consistently. My cousin Theresa stopped by to visit and brought us some muffins and cookies from Perkins. When I woke up Friday I had to go see Dr. King so he could check on everything and remove the drains. When I got up I had bled through my bandage and I didn't know why. When we got to the office he removed the drains and ended up stitching my right arm pit from where the drain tube was. This is where the bleeding was coming from. Everything else went fine and looked good. They gave us a bunch of trauma bandages so I could change them out before coming back in two weeks.

We started on our way home and stopped in Sun Prairie to meet some of my cousins and my Aunt and Uncle at the Country Cafe for some breakfast. Christi drove us home while I slept. When we got home Christi propped me up on the couch and basically did everything for me. I'm so thankful for her and all that she did because I couldn't have done it without her.