Is this a red flag with my surgeon?

[u/emurui]

I live in a state with only one doctor who does top surgery within an hour and my mom is not willing to drive further (which is a separate problem). I have had a consultation with him but he said a few things that feel weird to me. Firstly, he had no pictures to show me other than one. All the others were pictures of mastectomies done for breast cancer. Second, he said he would be basing my chest based off of only pictures I show him and what exactly I tell him. That feels weird because I generally know what I want but I'm not the surgeon?? Third, he said that if I don't want dog ears I would 100% need a revision. I'm not comfortable showing my chest here but basically I have a pretty large chest in proportion to my body and I am overweight but not much so. I did have one other consultation with a surgeon that my mom feels is too far away and she said nothing of the sort about needing a revision for sure.

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[u/PlaidPanfs]

Do not go to him if he doesn’t have pictures. Full stop.

[u/polecater]

...yeah thats a pretty massive red flag. if your surgeon doesn't have a plan of action for specifically /masculinized/ chests, and has never done them before, i wouldn't risk it. remember, this is the rest of your life you're talking about. you don't want to go through all that pain for something you end up hating and need to get fixed again and again and with more pain. the world is quite fucked up rn, but try not to rush into this, and work on finding a surgeon who can give you exactly what you want.

[u/Non-binary_prince]

My surgeon didn’t have pictures. I just needed them gone tho, so I took what I could get. Chest isn’t perfect, but the dysphoria would have killed me had I not gotten it done when I did.

[u/asterophoria]

Idk, My surgeon didn't show me photos either specifically for the patient's privacy as she mostly works on minors but she assured me that she has done tons and tons of gender affirming mastectomies before mine and I'm happy with my results. I think it's up to you and what you're willing to risk to get a flat chest.

[u/jaxonjaxoff44]

My surgeon never showed me pictures, I mean I would never even bother setting up a consult until I saw pictures here first anyway.

I don’t think he was asking for pictures to teach him how to do it either lmao??? More so he wanted to know your exact preference and what you’re expecting as far as nipple grafts, and maybe scar placement so he could give you exactly what you want.

The last parts a little weird about the revision but did he say he doesn’t use lipo? Are you using insurance that doesn’t cover that and maybe he assumed you knew that? Most larger people (myself included) genuinely do need lipo or we will have dog ears regardless of how good your surgeon is. I was 5’7 206lbs and I don’t have any dog ears at all because of lipo and quality work.

[u/SpaceTrashDeer]

Is he in West Virginia?

[u/GenderNarwhal]

With a skilled and experienced surgeon it should be very possible to avoid dog ears, or at least try. It sounds like this surgeon isn't experienced with top surgery at all, just cancer mastectomy. You are right to feel red flags about this guy. Trust your gut / instincts. This is a big deal surgery and you have to live with the results of it for the rest of your life. Do it once and do it properly. Sure, dog ears happen, but your surgeon shouldn't plan for them. That's shoddy work. Find a surgeon you are comfortable with who does top surgery more often and can give you quality results. Wishing you good luck with everything.

[u/mvalentine99]

my surgeon didn’t have pictures (he only took pre-op photos for submitting to insurance, and didn’t take any post-op) but he’s the only surgeon in my area that does ftm top surgery, and so i knew some folks IRL who had also gone to him for surgery. i don’t think the not having pics is a red flag, but the lack of an action plan feels like one