Top Surgery
I had top surgery completed, June 26th, 2014 by Dr. Maud Belenger in Montreal, Quebec. It was my belated birthday gift to myself as the surgery happened exactly two days after my 39th birthday. I choose the Centre Metropolitan De Chirurgie because a year earlier I had gone with a friend for his FTM top surgery and I had seen the good outcomes and the fact that they had the Asclepiade – Convalescent Home for those travelling from out-of-town to stay at.
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Waking up and seeing a flat chest (despite the bandages) after 26 years of struggling with breasts, was the most surreal feeling in the world. I remember talking to my mom on the phone and crying in happiness even though her first thought was that I regretted my decision – I had to keep telling her that it was happiest day of my life. People have asked if I was nervous before the surgery, but honestly I wasn’t nervous about the surgery itself, I was nervous that something would go wrong and the surgery wasn’t going to happen. I just wanted so badly to have a flat chest even if it means that I would have scars from where the two attributes that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. My experience with Dr. Maud Belanger was the best experience I could have ever had with a surgeon since my hysterectomy.
Surgery and Recovery Time
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Operating Room Time:
Waking up from anesthesia: 1 hour
I wore a zip-up hoodie, sweat pants and loose fitting runners to surgery (besides the runners these things were the easiest items to put on). I was able to lock up my jewelry and personal effects in the safe they provide to each patients. They also made me take out my eyebrow piercing as they don’t allow any metal into the operating room. After I started to come out of the anesthesia I wanted to get up out of the bed, but the nurses had to fight to keep me in bed. For the recovery, I was moved over to the Asclepiade – Convalescent Home which is next to the hospital. I spent time sleeping, drinking lots of fluids and watching TV or having out with other transgender individuals who were also recovering from their own surgeries. I became depressed because I was alone, other people in the Asclepiade – Convalescent Home had visitors coming in to visit and I was alone – despite knowing a couple of people there I still was alone in this process. I spent a total of five days in Montreal and then it was time to return to Ontario for the remaining part of my recovery. I couldn’t life my arms up parallel to my shoulders for a while, but each passing day it got easier. I was also back in a binder but this time it would only be for 4 to 6 weeks instead of years.
Items for Surgery
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2 pairs of pj’s (bottoms)
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Unscented Soap
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Razor and shaving cream
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Hoodie
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Tensor bandage
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Unscented Hand lotion