November 13, 2007
The Plan
Here’s the schedule for the next few weeks.
Monday, November 19: Pre-Op appointment with Dr. Ousterhout in San Francisco.
Have an early morning flight down to SFO with an appointment with Dr. O to talk about all the pre-op stuff. Here’s where I get to hear about all the risks, and go over for a final time what he’s going to do. This is also when I need to pay him (in full).
Sunday, November 25: Fly to San Francisco
Monday, November 26: Surgery #1
Have to be at the hospital at 5:45am for the first surgery (outpatient)… Breast Implants. Ok, I know everyone is going to ask: Saline, Under the Muscle, Through the Nipple, Oval, C cup is the goal. (I still want to be able to run!). Time in surgery: 3-4 hours.
Thursday, November 29: Surgery #2
Ok, if that wasn’t enough fun, its time for the “Full Meal Deal”. No fries included. Again, 5:45am at the hospital. Here’s the plan:
Hairline: While eight months of hormones and Finasteride have slowed my hair loss, and even regrown some hair, my hairline is still too high. The hairline is moved “down”. How much – not huge, but noticeable.
Brow: This is the one I’m kind of spooked out about. Here, the take my brow, and “shave’ it to make it flatter. Men have a brow ridge, women, not so much. Mine’s not huge, but its there. Here’s the spooky part – the amount of bone that he takes out *may* mean that he “punches through” into my sinuses. In this case, a titanium plate will be used to cover the holes, so I don’t get an extra two nostrils.
Nose: Smaller, narrower – basically a standard nose job, bony work included. Again, I’m sure we’ll talk about the goals here the 19th, but right now, I don’t have details.
Upper Lip: Turns out that female top lips are “shorter” than for men. So, here, he “shortens” it. I will end up with a little scar right below my new nose.
Chin: Implant of some type – will be narrower, but more protruding. Again, more detail on the 19th.
Jawline: Near the joints on the back of my jaw, he’ll shave from the bottom, making it narrower.
Adam’s Apple: In the words of Dr. O: “We’ll take care of that”. Basically, it gets “shaved” and reduced so it’s not as noticeable. Little scar right below.
Ears: Pinned back. My ears stick out a bit… not for long!
Total time in surgery will be about 12 hours… long day.
Because of the jaw work, my diet will go from liquid to soft over the next weeks. Hard foods (which happen to be parts of my staple diet) like granola, trail mix and beef jerky are out for months. The other downside of this is running. According to Dr. O’s assistant, Mira, running isn’t prohibited after the first month, but “You probably won’t want to run for three months or so. Other patients have tried, but felt like their Jaw was going to fall off.”
Huh. I’d like to avoid any jaw-falling-off feelings. Three months it is.
Saturday, December 1: Leave Hospital
After all of the fun of the 29th, I’ll be in the hospital for two days.
Tuesday, December 4: Office Visit #1
From what I understand, here’s where most of the mummy-like bandages get removed. However, the nose bandage stays on for a few more days. I get the first real glimpse of my post FFS face.
Two words: “Train Wreck”.
Friday, December 7: Office Visit #2
Rest of the bandages, sutures, duct tape and bailing wire gets removed. After the appointment, we fly home to Seattle. Lots of things about this will be interesting. First of all, I’ve seen lots of pictures of folks going through this and what they looked like on this day. I don’t think I’ll look much like my license picture at this point – both because of the surgical changes, plus the fact that there’s likely considerable swelling and bruising still.
I’m also very curious as how I’m going to get “read” at this point. Male? Female? Sir? Miss? Who knows… I’ve never been read as anything but male to date, so this should be an experience.
M( ) 
Brian B said,
November 14, 2007 at 6:18 am
Michael,
We’ll be thinking of you during the surgery. We hope all goes well.
— Brian and Helen