FTM Chest Reconstruction. Golden Valley, MN

More about Masculinizing Top Surgery

Treatment Provider

Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS
Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
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*Treatment results may vary

4 months post-op

  • 17 Mar 2015
  • 4 months post
Had surgery 11/17/14. Pictures from 3/17/15, at 4 months. I'm still very happy. No nipple sensation except my right nipple is starting to seem like it is getting sensation and I can't tell if I'm imagining that. Both nipples become erect from temperature change and touch. The dog ears on both ends of each incision are getting smaller with time and massage. I use SkinMedica Scar Recovery Gel, which the office gave me, twice a day. And vitamin E oil once per day. The scars are getting lighter quickly. Both sides of my chest have a spot that when tapped feels like my "old" nipples are getting pinched. The scars stopped hurting when touched about a week ago. I still have infrequent stabs of pain.

I wasn't sure which choice from the dropdown list...

  • 9 Dec 2014
  • 22 days post
I wasn't sure which choice from the dropdown list was best, so I chose GRS. It was really "TG Mastectomies with Star Pattern Areola/Nipple Reduction." Included in the total cost was a $1000 cancellation fee because I had to reschedule because of an impassable snowstorm. My medications were an additional approximately $120. Two of the medications weren't covered by my insurance, two of them were. I had two consultations, one in 2010 and one in 2013 that were both free. At three weeks post-op I'm very happy. We had talked about ideal scar lines and nipple placement, and I got both.

Provider Review

Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
4825 Olson Memorial Hwy., Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Overall rating
Doctor's bedside manner
Answered my questions
After care follow-up
Time spent with me
Phone or email responsiveness
Staff professionalism & courtesy
Payment process
Wait times
  • 9 Dec 2014

Very good. He is interested in being available to more trans people. I originally wanted to go to one of the more well-known surgeons, who would have been very far away (an because of that, more expensive) but my results look exactly like what I had wanted from the bigger names. I had two consults because I thought of many more questions, and I'm really glad I went in a second time. I asked him to sketch his nipple reduction technique on my paper and he did. I really liked all the staff. They all seemed really happy generally and happy for me specifically. I had one nurse mess up my pronoun just once, and I think it was because we had just been talking about respecting pronouns and she overthought it or something and got mixed up. It wasn't a big deal.