26 Years Old, Transgender Man Seeking Chest Masculinization Surgery - Minneapolis, MN

mithrylvampire's provider

Richard H. Tholen, MD, FACS

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

4.9 | 349 Reviews

CONSULTATIONPROFILE

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.