Alexandra Schmidek, MD - Account Suspended

I had top surgery (chest masculinization) with Dr. Schmidek on March 25, 2022, and my experience has been wonderful. From my first visit, Dr. Schmidek and all of her team were very kind, friendly, and affirming, which are so important for any patient but especially for transgender individuals like myself. Everyone made me feel cared for, and I could tell I was in good hands. I trusted Dr. Schmidek's surgical technique and her opinions on how my results should look, and she listened to all of my concerns and took my own input into consideration. The turnaround time was much faster than I expected—I sent in my paperwork in November 2021, had my consultation on January 3, 2022, and got a phone call on March 8 saying Medicaid approved the procedure and I could have surgery on March 25 (there was a cancellation that day).

The day of surgery was one of the happiest days of my life (though I do understand that most people are not particularly excited for surgery). It was a gender-affirming procedure I had been wanting for seven years. I was nervous as it was my first major surgery, but Dr. Schmidek and her entire team were so comforting and reassuring. It seemed like they were all really happy for me too. I felt very safe and happy, and they were also great with my name and pronouns. When my surgery was over, Dr. Schmidek called my mom to let her know it was done and it went well; that was wonderful for my mom to hear, and for me to hear once I left the surgical center.

Recovery went very well. Dr. Schmidek's team helped me get forms signed for a medical leave of absence from my job, and even an extension of that leave toward the end of my initial healing process. They responded very quickly to all of my messages, and when I had concerns about my healing, they got me an appointment the same day. Everyone was always so kind and reassuring, and happy to answer my millions of questions. I have had virtually no issues with the wound healing, other than a minor reaction to one of the sutures which is relatively common with this type of procedure and healed itself within a few days. My pain levels have been very manageable, and my chest was already mostly healed and looking great around five weeks after surgery.

I am extremely happy with my results. Dr. Schmidek factored in my own desires for what my results would look like, and she did an amazing job using her own techniques. For the first time since I was a child I feel happy and comfortable in my body, and this would not have been possible without this surgery from Dr. Schmidek and her wonderful team. :)

I am 28 years old, 5'3 at 115 lbs. with 32 DD. I have had large breast almost my entire life - which has led to chronic neck and back pain. I finally decided to take the plunge and meet with Dr. Schmidek to discuss a breast reduction. From the moment of my first consult to my last post - op visit, I have never felt more comfortable and supported by Dr. Schmidek and her team at Virginia Mason. She explained and answered all my questions and ensured I understood the outcome. The entire experience was incredible - especially for someone who has never had any type of surgery in her life. I could not be more happy with the outcome and wish I had done the surgery sooner. I would recommend Dr. Schmidek to anyone looking for a breast reduction, she works and operates in your best interest- you are in great hands!

I'm a Transgender Male and had Chest Masculinization Surgery done by Dr. Schmidek. She and her team do amazing work I'm VERY HAPPY with my results!! All my Questions were answered right away. I will definitely be recommending her. :)

I am a transgender guy and I had a bilateral mastectomy with Dr schmidek and I am VERY happy with the results!! She was very nice and explained the procedure well and answered all my questions clearly and her staff was amazing as well!!

I am a transgender man and I had periaereola mastectomies with Dr Schmidek on March 28th 2017. My first appointment was in November 2016, and insurance took 4.5 months to process because I am on state healthcare. Dr Schmidek's office, including all the scheduling staff and nurses are wonderful people who took extremely good care of me! I even receive hugs from certain staff members when I'm there! I stayed overnight for observation and had a small complication. Dr Schmidek was more upset about the complication than I ever was, I was just happy to get rid of my former chest. Everything about my experience was wonderful. Virginia Mason is a great hospital and Dr Schmidek is a great surgeon. I'm very happy with my results.

With 20 year old breast implants leaking silicone everywhere, I needed to have removal ASAP. Given the choice whether to have implants replaced, I elected to have them replaced in the same surgery. Dr. Schmidek did a fantastic job in complicated procedures.
Background: I was over 60 years old, and came out looking as good as I had 20 years earlier.

The whole process took about 6-7 months to get a surgery date worth all the effort and did not have to pay a penny insurance paid for it all, Picture is three weeks post op, so glad I did it one of my breasts were much larger than the other. Still some swelling but happy they are more alike. I had three incisions one around the nipple and down and across the underside, I also stayed overnight and had drains placed which were pulled the next day then I went home overall recovery was not bad had a issue keeping anything down day two post op but it was not bad. My right breast was the larger one you can still tell in the picture.

I met with Dr Alexandra Schmidek at Virginia Mason Plastic Surgery. I was referred to begin the process of receiving a breast reduction to treat back and shoulder pain that is well documented in my medical record. When I met with Dr.Schmidek the appointment did not go well. She repeatedly insisted that reducing my breasts would give me a "disproportionate" and "not conventionally feminine" appearance, even after I repeatedly explained that I wasn't seeking a proportionate or conventionally feminine appearance. She then asked me if I had been raped or molested as a child and if that was why I was seeking the surgery. At the end of the appointment, she insisted that it was not physically possible to reduce my D size chest to a A. I believe this is not true. I have met with three other surgeons who agreed that the level of reduction I wanted was normal and possible. Some time after the consult, I received a letter denying my from receiving a bilateral mastectomy, not a chest reduction, from my insurance. Dr. Schmidek filed for me to have a breast reduction under CPT 19318 and DX F64. The second code is unnecessary for treatment of a breast reduction and was solely added because I am a genderqueer person. While I was approved for a breast reduction through my insurance, I believe that the inclusion of the second code moved my care onto a “gender care” pathway, which has separate requirements (such as hormones) for approval, which I do not meet or need. Incompetent, rude, and ill-prepared to serve trans patients. See LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE if possile

I've been wanting a reduction for a long time. Like everyone else here I developed at a very early age (around 10) and I remember being a DD by 7th or 8th grade :( I started having sever back and neck pain about 2 years ago and decided I needed to do this. After a year of fighting with my insurance I was finally approved and have my date scheduled for next week!! I'm nervous but mostly excited! :) no matter what the outcome is I'm sure it'll be worth it. I'm excited to be proportional and to not have back and pain anymore. And to be able to wear normal sized bras and clothes! Yay!

Updated on 16 Jul 2017:
Starting to get the pre surgery jitters! I'll definitely upload some before pictures soon as well :) I feel like I need to do more preparing, I still need to go out and get some comfy post surgery bras and other things I might need. Aaaahhhhhh

Updated on 16 Jul 2017:
These are from June 2017, I was trying to find a swimsuit for the pool on a budget and I actually found one at target with an underwire and it didn't have a halter top! I'm around a 32 G, so I went to my sister size of 38DD (it had adjustable strings) and it fit decently. I hadn't been able to find a fitting bikini top since high school.

Updated on 16 Jul 2017:
These pics are from December 2016. While I was still trying to get my insurance to approve me I was seeing a chiropractor who said I needed better bras (wahh). So recommended I try Rigby and Peller (my old go-to was Nordstrom) and I dropped some major cash $$$$ on 4 nice bras (thanks mom!). So here's 2 that lasted with me for 7 months while I was on my journey to a reduction! One of them is also a photo with a shirt on over the new bra, when they were nice and new and smoothing :)

Updated on 19 Jul 2017:
I did it! I arrived at the hospital at 6:45 am and went to the pre op room almost immediately :) they prepped me for surgery with an IV and I had a nice heated blanket type thing. I met all of my doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists. I took some anti-anxiety medicine before I arrived and was feeling calm but excited! :) before I knew it I was waking up in recovery and it was the easiest I've ever awoken from surgery! No nausea or pain - I was given some applesauce and water and then quickly taken to see my family and friends and was feeling very chipper and talkative all afternoon :) I took a couple naps and had a good hospital stay all in all!

Updated on 20 Jul 2017:
It's been 2 days since surgery and I got to see my new boobs standing up :D I feel so much lighter already! So happy! I haven't felt much pain so far, just soreness and some discomfort. I can't help but wonder what size I'll be when I'm all healed!

Updated on 27 Jul 2017:
Today is my first post op appointment! :) I had my surgery a 9 days ago now, so I'm excited to see how I'm healing. I have lots of swelling and bruising still, and I randomly started having more drainage today, but I think it's just all apart of the healing process. I also have some redness that's a little warm and puffy on the bottom of the anchor incision on the right breast, so I hope the doctor says everything looks good!

I have some healing progress pictures to share as well :) When I woke up today (8 days post op) I had a lot less drainage in my liner than yesterday (yay)! I'll post a picture when I do an update after my appointment as well.

Updated on 28 Jul 2017:
I had my post-op appointment in the morning and it went great! :D my surgeon said everything was looking good and healing nicely (and that the redness and swelling and drainage I was experiencing was normal). She said that I was looking nice and symmetrical and that my shape was looking good too :)

Then the nurse started taking the glue off around the incisions. For some reason I assumed the black stuff around the incisions was blood and scabs but it was just the skin glue! They didn't use any tape or bandages on me because I have super sensitive skin that reacts terribly to adhesives, so all they used were dissolvable internal stitches and glue :) When the nurse took it off the incisions looked more normal and less Frankenstein-esque haha.

I also learned that they removed 1600 grams total from the reduction!!! 630g from the left side and 970 from the right! I had no idea I was THAT lopsided haha. That's something like 3.5 POUNDS of breast tissue! No wonder my back is feeling so much better :)

Updated on 30 Jul 2017:
It's almost been 2 weeks since I had breast reduction surgery! :) I'm 12 days post op and everything seems to be healing nicely! I had a little hiccup where my left T-junction opened a little and was oozing, but it's totally healed now. Most of my bruising and redness is gone and much of the glue (the black stuff) has peeled off revealing the closed incisions. The scars look like they're healing nicely and many look small and thin :) I'm very happy with the progress! My surgeon allowed me to stop wearing my surgical bra full time, but I have to wear some sort of bra 24/7. So I've been sleeping in the surgical bra because I like the compression and wearing a sports bra or wire free soft bra during the day :)

Updated on 9 Aug 2017:
It's been 21 days since my BR surgery and I'm loving the results :) I feel like I still have a lot of redness and both my T-junctions are being slow to heal - but I think I've probably been too active and not too kind to my body either :p
My next post op appointment is in 2 weeks and I'm hoping to be cleared for exercise and allowed to put scar creams on!
Today I noticed I have a NEW bruise under my right boob as well. No wonder it's been sore. Not sure if it's from doing too much or just a deep bruise rising to the surface weeks late.

Updated on 9 Apr 2019:
It’s been almost 2 years since my breast reduction in July 2017! I pretty much can’t imagine having that large of breasts ever and am 100% happy with my decision ???? My body now matches the one I feel like I should have. I wear a 34E and sometimes a 32DD. The scars on my left side healed perfectly and the scars on the right are a little thicker because I picked at them while they were healing (whoops). They’ve definitely dropped and fluffed out and aren’t as perky as they were right after surgery but I couldn’t care less haha. My back feels great and my clothes fit now! 10/10 would recommend getting a reduction!

I am an active 37 year old with a 3 and a 5 year old. I carried very big with both of my babies. My youngest was transverse the entire pregnancy and really contributed to my diastasis recti. Since my two pregnancies, I put a lot of effort into finding clothing to hide my stomach, and I still feel self-conscious. I'm hoping this surgery will be a good solution. I'm very nervous about being able to cope with my two kids, as my husband works a lot and will be traveling the week after my surgery. My parents are super supportive and will be helping me out the first two weeks. I have my pre-op appointment on Monday and will hopefully find out more information about my surgery on July 5th.