First pic is from my post-op appointment (6 days) and the second is from today (7 days) after my first shower!!

I (transmasc nonbinary, 22) got double incision with heart shaped free nipple grafts with Rachel Goldstein at the Crane Center in Boulder, Colorado. Rachel and her team are so nice and she was super excited to give me the results I wanted. I originally asked for "hockey stick" incisions (straight lines that cut up to my armpit) but bc of my anatomy we pivoted to the soft curve that I have!

I haven't experienced much of any pain but I have been really itchy. I got some relief at my post op and being able to take off the ace bandage everyday for showers really helps. My right side has a little extra puffiness that I've been told to keep an eye on but overall I'm healing well! In two weeks I have to go in for another appointment where they'll remove the surgical tape from my incisions which I'm really excited for.

I started the process in March 2026, had my consult in June of 2026, and then got scheduled for October 2026 due to an early cancellation. I probably could've gotten seen even earlier, but when filling out the initial info form I put my email in wrong which resulted in me not getting a call back for about a month or so.

I used insurance for this process and paid about 1.5k to the Crane Center and prepaid $200 to the hospital, and I'm expecting a pretty sizable bill (around 5k).

Feel free to ask me any questions!

Hey guys! Just wanted to show my healing progress. Hope it goes down a bit more, but not super displeased

i’m 2 weeks post-op and have been waiting (somewhat impatiently) to wank again. i’m not in any pain and have almost complete range of motion back (besides reaching above shoulder height) so i really can’t see any reason to not be able to, but i’m afraid to ask my surgeon cause i feel stupidly embarrassed about it lol, so i thought i’d ask anonymously here instead

First photo is today second photo is 10/2. I had top surgery 9/17. My surgeon was a bit concerned about the photo left side of my chest. I have worn my compression vest until today. It seems like the scars are going into my body. Has this happened to anyone? I’m getting an ultrasound tomorrow to check and see if I should be worried but I’m having a hard time calming down. I don’t understand why the right photo looks better even though it was a week and some ago

I'm quite happy with the results (except one nipple that's a bit swollen but I think it's fluid and it wants to resolve itself but I admit I haven't talked to my surgeon about it yet). I can't wait for the scars to fade even more!

Im in the u.s. and ive had one consultation and they are ready to start scheduling. This feels sudden to me, but i dont have much experience.

Maybe there will be more appointments, idk, ive been putting it off for a bit because not knowing all the information makes me nervous, and so does asking questions that i maybe should already know the answers to.

Always did appreciate the people posting their results, so I wanted to post mine as well!
I am still quite swollen around the nipples and I will probably be posting results in a couple months or so once the swelling has settled.

I have been on T for 3 years at the time of the operation, so 1 year at the time of the ‘before’ pictures. I’m 165cm/5’5ft and hover between 125-130lbs.

My right breast was larger and had more breast tissue due to an extra nipple, and Dr. Lee warned me when offering periareolar surgery that I would likely end up with a slight crease under the breast due to excess skin. I agreed, feeling very lucky that I could get periareolar with him. The crease isn't visible yet I'm assuming due to the swelling filling out the skin, and will probably show up in a month or two.

Dr. Chen Lee at the GRS was lovely, very well spoken and communicated expectations and potential outcomes very well. I had read from reviews beforehand that he is extremely picky with periareolar candidates, and didn't even expect to be able to get peri. From his words it really is a skin deal, and I'm lucky enough to have good elastic skin he says will bounce back.

I had drains for 4 days, one of the entry point did end up painful as the tubing got stuck between muscle, lol. A nurse told me the nipple dressings will fall off on their own in the coming days. I've had almost no pain in the chest area other than pressure and swelling, and I've been able to go to my daily routine almost 1:1, but I did have my family/friends help me with chores and cook for me. Infinitely grateful to have people with me during recovery.

Of course, still waiting for the swelling and the healing to settle! I am incredibly happy with my results and couldn't ask for better.

sorry for the stupid question. my pre-op is this friday (exciting!) and my actual surgery is next month. i'm not scared of the procedure itself, but i am autistic and struggle a LOT with not knowing what to expect. if anyone could share what exactly the pre-op is i would greatly appreciate it!

Still have to wear post op binder for another week bc of minor swelling 😔

Goku from dragon-ball Z, in case you didn’t know. Hand made by my mother and hand painted by me. My scars are fully covered no matter what way I move, but I’m still gonna wear sunscreen on them just in case. Not planning to be outside in this really. It’s just for a dress up day, to raise money for charity.

(The charity is breast cancer research, in the most ironic twist ever)

In case this isn’t relevant enough to top surgery— my surgeon was dr Karolis Varkalys in Nordesthetics Lithuania, I was a DD pre op so this is a huge weight off my shoulders, and I’m only recently back to near full range of motion, which makes this costume a lot easier.

First 2 are today, second 2 are yesterday

I got out of the shower and noticed both scabs were raised like they wanted to come off so I used a q tip and like nudges them and the left one was like literally off while the right one I got all the peripheral off.

I am not that worried since it all looks fine but has this happened to anyone else?

Also do my nipples look even? The scab is throwing off my judgement

Surgeron was Dr Joachim Grab in 🇩🇪.
Super happy with the result. Can’t wait for the summer and go swimming shirtless for the first time 🥳

I'm really happy with my results, post op binders annoying as hell and I'm still really itchy tho.

I miss smoking cigarettes so bad, when did y'all start smoking again?

I started sleeping on my stomach and on my sides again I feel relieved

Cant wait for my next appointment with my surgeon (on october 29th) he'll probably tell me how to take care of the scars and stuff but should I start massaging where it's still a bit swollen?

Happy to be posting here, I got surgery almost 7 weeks ago, my surgeon was Dr. Arezoo Astanehe in Abbotsford BC; She was very nice to work with, she did let me know that without getting liposuction, I may have some fatty sides under my armpit.. which I do a bit, but I'm hoping it will be less than it looks and swelling will all go down.

I had a little bit of compromise in the healing of my left nipple, cuz I had a scab come off prematurely.

Otherwise a great experience overall, except for the binder haha, can't even remember not being flat anymore for I only had weight on my chest for about 7 years versus the 9 plus now years I've had flat, overall very interesting experience 10/10 put it that way

I had surgery in sweeden on 15th then check in in clinic on 16th and 19th on both occasions the doctor thought the thing heals well just looking at the bandages covering the incisions (I had not seen the bare chest yet )

Thing is this is night from day 6 to 7 now and those bandages feel frankly disgusting ..I am waking up every 2 hours worried that the incisions might be getting infected. I have itching pains and stinging pains and some.odd.pressure at the back of my ribcage to the side.

I propabkt wouldn't be as concerned if not the fact that a lot things went wrong during the trip I had stomach bug then caught some horrible cough I am still helping from and the flight back home had me extremally exhausted and sick.

I will be calling doctor to get the stitches on nipples removed today and bandages changed but it's still few hours till then and I'm scared.

On top of it I don't even know how tight that medical band should be ! The surgeon had it originally extremally tight then doctor on 16th made it very light just for then the doctor on 19th to make is somewhat tighter just not as tight as it was right after surgery.

I hate this thing

Getting my drains out today and I haven't taken my heavy painkillers (Oxycodone) since the first day post op just been taking Panadol since the pain isn't bad (my tolerance is quite high I've been told BC of chronic pain lol). My issue is I've just got my body back to functioning and shitting normally so I don't really want to take a heavy med and fuck it up again and also potentially be nauseous?? Equally scared shitless to get my drains taken out since im a bit squeamish about them so any advice 😭🙏

edit: I took a Panadol and it was super chill, the worst part was all the tape and shit because the adhesive was STUCK DOWNNN the actual drains them selves I didn't feel - they are itchy now though

i’m 10 days post op and i’m trying to figure out if i should bother my surgeon. the concerning nip is my right and i’m concerned about my nip lifting up. looks like there’s just one part. i added pics of the discharge aswell. let me know if you have any advice please!

i can’t believe i’m so flat‼️ now i just can’t wait to get all these dressings off 😭

how long did it take for people’s scabs to come off? under the dressings there’s no yellow stuff anymore, just leftover cream, and my whole nips are scabbed with some pink poking through, but not much. i want to keep them covered until the scabs have come off completely but idk how long that’s gonna take. i really want to be able to wash my nips soon so they’re not so caked with cream lol, but i’m nervous to because i don’t want to accidentally take of the scab - i’ve also been advised to keep the dressings on while showering for at least 1 more week

4 months post-op with Andrew Mellington
Just over 4 months post-op now, so I thought I’d share an update for anyone considering surgery with Andrew Mellington or wondering what things look like at this stage.

One thing I’ve noticed is that my scars have healed really well and are barely noticeable at this stage. Obviously, everyone heals differently, but I thought it was worth mentioning as part of my four-month update.

I’ve included an earlier post-op and pre op photo for comparison. Hopefully this helps anyone researching the procedure and wanting to see how things progress over the first few months.
Happy to answer any questions!

I got top surgery this morning (woo hoo!) and am struggling to sleep with the drains. Not because of pain but where to put the drainage bulb. Right now I'm wearing sweatpants and put them in my pockets but I am worried I'll roll on them or something. Is safety pinning my best option? I just feel like they flop around a ton. Any thoughts or tips would be helpful!

6 weeks post op 🎉

Anyone heard of this surgeon or had experience with her? I’m booked for Dr Wolf in michigan but I finally heard back from Kaiser and they scheduled me with Dr Labove for a consult. Just wanted to see if anyone had experience with her since i literally can’t find a single thing about her online. Scary!!!

Brief context- I’m 25 and transitioned as a young teen, on T for over 10 years, only just recently made the decision to get top surgery due to persistent dysphoria. I have Kaiser SoCal and have gone through all the hoops of getting a case coordinator through the kaiser gender clinic, getting approved by a gender therapist, and getting all my bloodwork done.

I just had my in-person consult for top surgery and am still kinda reeling at how it went. This surgeon basically told me “you’re already starting with a very masculine appearing chest, so I’d have to get a second opinion from my team about whether or not this would fall under the category of gender surgery or cosmetic surgery. Does that make sense?” I was straight up like “um… no” 😭😭😭 because what do you mean it’s not gender surgery??

I’m obviously aware of the fact that I technically can pass shirtless but that is not what this is about for me. I have crazy discomfort and dysphoria that affects my quality of life, and this procedure is medically necessary for that reason. Why does a group of surgeons get to see pictures of my body and decide if I deserve to have dysphoria? It pissed me off soo bad.

It would be one thing if she was saying she literally couldn’t operate on me because i don’t have enough tissue or something but that isn’t the case. I DO have chest tissue and she explained the lipo & peri techniques she would use. She’s basically just saying that because my chest already looks good enough to HER, that they might change the category of surgery it falls under, and subsequently I’m assuming it would not be covered by insurance.

Has anyone been through anything similar?

TLDR- surgeon basically thinks my chest already looks cis enough and is suggesting that her & her team might categorize my top surgery as “cosmetic” and not medically necessary