Day 220
10.30am Yesterday marks my seventeenth injection.
The first time I attempted to self-inject within the confines of Dr P.’s office, I recall the nurse commenting upon my frustration at grasping a handful of muscle into which to inject, (it being less painful in this manner than to simply shove it in) “You just don’t have enough fat to grab!”
So it comes that I notice increasingly less and less fatty tissue at each injection, and coupled with the firmer, tighter muscles, it makes for a very small amount of anything to bunch in one’s fingers. I do believe it might be easier at this stage to merely plunge the needle straight in.
In other news; on Saturday, in a stroke of inspiration, I emailed Dr. Brownstein regarding the first steps to getting top surgery. I must say that during our correspondence over these past days I am continuously surprised at the speed at which he replies, even on a Sunday and a holiday — within half an hour has been the standard.
After regarding photos of my chest, he concluded that if I feel strongly towards the “keyhole” technique; where an incision is made around the perimeter of the areolae and liposuction is used to remove the breast tissue, therefore resulting in minimal scarring; I may be a candidate for the procedure. It is most commonly used on A cups to very small B cups. Due to the lack of scarring this is famously the procedure that everyone wants; though after observing several of the “unfavourable results” slides at Dr. Brownstein’s presentation at the IFGE conference, admittedly I was somewhat deterred. I am however, as he puts it, at the in-between size; perhaps small enough for the keyhole, but we have agreed to plan on the more common technique of removing the breasts altogether and transplanting the areolae; and, when he sees me in person, then make the final decision.
We shall see. It is still nine months at least before the money, resources and time can be obtained for the surgery.
Nonetheless. Excitement!
I am, therefore I am. 
Great news about Dr. Brownstein! I also found that he was incredibly fast to respond to emails, and that was really refreshing.
Something to ask Dr. B: Does keyhole remove the inframammary fold? I had the peri-areolar procedure done, which does remove the i-fold. I was a large A / small B.
If keyhole does not remove the i-fold, does Dr. B do peri-areolar? If it is something that you would be eligible for it would be worth getting a second opinion with another surgeon, despite his AWESOME reputation. I did a consult with him and he recommended double incision–I am SO happy that I didn’t end up going that route.
The keyhole is the peri-areolar procedure; merely seemingly his own name for it, and easier to pronounce! I am unsure if Brownstein’s own personal techniques with the procedure removes the i-fold, however. I would assume so. I should ask.
Since you seem(ed) to be about the same size as me; how is your skin contracting at this length of time following the surgery? One of my greatest apprehensions about the peri-areaolar technique is the concern that the skin will sag or droop. I have seen a number of photos where the skin does not contract very well, and the nipples tend to drift down and almost point vertically.
There seem to be a couple of keyhole procedures. In one, they just do lipo and don’t remove the i-fold. With peri-areolar concentric circle (the longer name for what I had) they do. Check out the difference in the diagram on page 16 in this PDF guide.
Age is a big factor in whether or not these procedures will work: in older guys, the skin has lost elasticity, so double incision provides a better result. The same goes for guys who have been binding for a long time.
In my case, the surgeon thought my elasticity was fine, and while I don’t have much to compare to, I think the skin contraction is doing just fine. I am wearing a compression vest to help prevent any skin sag and will wear it at least another 3 weeks.
<a href=”http://genderoutlaw.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/chest-at-27-days-post-op/”Here’s my most recent chest photo, at 27 days post-op.
Have you looked at before/after photos at Transster.com? I’ve seen some great results there.
The cost for the procedure was $2K less than double incision with Dr. B. Another boon.
Congrats! =)
hey Jason,
Nice website! you are a fantastic writer!