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Motivation: Transgender man seeking chest...
PROS
Absolutely love the outcome. The scar lines are thin and follow a masculine chest pattern. The placement of the nipples works excellently for my body size and type and everything is symmetrical.
While it's a common thought that male nipples are nickle-sized, or otherwise super small. I neither wanted my nipples that small, nor did I want to trim the actual nipple, just the areola. Dr. Tholen worked with me to get the results that I wanted and we discussed every outcome of the surgery.
CONS
Wearing the binder for three weeks was the most strenuous part of the surgery, but the outcome was worth it.
OUTCOME
It's perfect. As stated above, Dr. Tholen worked with be about every outcome of the surgery (eg: placement of scars, nipples, size of nipples, etc). I'm currently at the first day of 6 weeks after surgery and have gained back most of my mobility and can complete every day tasks without trouble. I still sleep on my back to prevent pulling on the scars, but otherwise am very happy with my progress.
Provider Review
I met with Dr. Tholen for the consultation, flying in from out of the state, for the surgery and then met with him 3 times after to review the healing progress. For the consultation he went over the surgery with me (based on my body) and then answered each of the questions I had brought listed from home, having done my research prior. For the surgery his staff walked me through everything, both before and after, and were very patient and calming. The week after, I had the drains pulled out and a routine checkup. Dr. Tholen and his #2 assisted me with undress and redress of the binder, took a progress picture for me and re-informed me about the do's and don't's of recovery, given my progress thus far. A little over a week later I returned on a Saturday for a brief checkup to make sure that the nipple graphs were taking. They were, and the scars were healing very nicely. We spoke for a bit, he patched me up, and I headed back home. A week later I returned for my final checkup and removal of the binder, which I kept just in case. Dr. Tholen went over everything with me, talked a bit of shop and talked about the results of my surgery and the transgender community. His perspective as a Doctor was very interesting and thoughtful to the communities' social and physical obstacles that have to be overcome. His awareness of the harassment my community undergoes on a personal level when working with professionals, specifically doctors, has given him insight into how to best communicate with his transgender guests without being dismissive or outright rude. For example, the VERY first thing he asked me when we met the first time, was what pronouns to refer to me by. I had been so excited about the surgery itself that it, in fact, completely took me by surprise. After hearing all of the horror stories transgender men and women go through when seeking out transitional surgeries I had already braced myself for some level of contentment. Well, there is none to be found here and I have no doubt that if something did bother someone, they could politely correct or infer and the correction would be made immediately and without negative remark. I absolutely love the results and would recommend Dr. Tholen and his staff in a heartbeat. They treat their customers like people, are patient with any questions and concerns and are clearly proud of their work, with good reason, and do the best job possible. If I ever have anything else done, I will go there.