Plastic Surgery, the Journey

I have written before that I have lost a good deal of weight, so to reward myself I'm going under the knife this Tuesday, August 12, 2008. This is to deal with the turkey neck that is the result of losing weight along with the fact that my cheeks are now hollow. In addition, I've asked to have the bags under my eyes to be fixed.

Here's the offcial "Before" picture. I am wearing a wig and no makeup:


I've done some soul searching and wondered if I'm doing this strictly for my crosdressing and if so, am I being influenced by the fashion and media industries about how we should look. I'm sure a feminist would jump down my throat if I said, "no way". So yes, there is that influence to some degree, but keep in mind I'm in guy mode much more than gal mode, so that looking good in guy mode is important too. The main thing is when I did lose the weight I felt great. In fact I feel better today than I have in many, many years. Yet when I look in the mirror, there's this haggard looking guy looking back at me. The outside does not match the inside. This is the main reason why I want these procedures.

Many friends have asked me to chronicle this adventure as they would like to know what it's like. My plan is to write and post pictures of myself each day. I'm not sure if I will be up to it or if I can actually put a wig on over my bandages. So I'll have to wait and see what kind of pictures I can come up with. Hopefully I will be up to at least writing about it.

I've already had two meetings with the doctor. The first meeting we talked about what could be done, where it could be done and how much all of this was going to cost. It will cost a little under 12K. Health insurance does not pay for this, so I took a loan out from my retirement account.

I also chose to come out to the doctor about my crossdressing. I wanted him to understand that he did not have to preserve anything that is masculine about me, and that I did not want any feminizing surgery either. He told me he could make me look better in both my male and female presentments. This was a great relief in that he understood what I was all about. I felt it helped that I showed him pictures of me as Tracy, he seemed to understand that I was serious about how I looked. I also told him that I use 3M Transpore tape to pull my turkey neck up for some of my pictures. He said that was essentially what he will do with the face lift, and in addition, he will remove the fat that is under the chin.

We discussed where I was going to have this done. He is the head of plastic surgery at one of the best hospitals in the South-East Michigan area. He has his own "state of the art" surgery suite at his office. In fact, the surgery suite is a copy of the operating room at the hospital. He is board certified in plastic surgery (very important, some plastic surgeons are board certified, but not in plastic surgery). I chose his office because it would be a little more than $800 less expensive and it was out patient. The hospital would have insisted on an overnight stay. I figured too that he would be more at ease in his own suite. I know I would be! He told me that since he's had his own suite, he has only had to use the ambulance three times, and they were all for precautionary reasons. Keep in mind I asked other people for recommendations for an excellent plastic surgeon, and he is one of the best!

I wanted to see his pictures of before and afters, which he showed me. They looked wonderful. The people in those pictures looked like themselves only better, nothing drastic and they all looked very natural. This was very reassuring. At the end of the meeting he turned me over to his assistants where they took my before pictures and we went over the cost of the procedures. One thing I found out is that if I got the three procedures done all at once, I got a discount as I didn't have to pay for the surgery room more that once nor the anesthesia.

It took me a week or so to decide. In order to set up appointments for the surgery and the follow-ups, I had to plunk down a deposit of a thousand dollars. I had a second appointment on July 25 to go over my surgery prep. This is where they tell you what medicine to stop (usually blood thinners like aspirin) and which to start (like mega doses of Vitamin C, for better healing). It's a basic physical and checking reports from other doctors. They also gave me a personalized booklet describing the whole process and what to expect.

For the record, this is the technical mumbo-jumbo of what will take place:

BILATERAL LOWER LID BLEPHAROPLASTY (Removal of excess skin and fat from my lower eyelids)

STANDARD RHYTIDECTOMY (Removal of excess skin from my face, jowl and neck. Tightening the underlying fascia and muscle)

NASOJUGAL FOLDS FAT TRANSFER (Fat transfer to Nasojugal/Nasolabial Folds (Transferring fat from another part of my body to my nasojungal/nasolabial folds)).


On Friday the 8th, I got a call from the anesthetist to go over what medications and existing conditions I have. I asked her point blank if she liked working for this doctor. She told me she has done this type of work for 25 years and have worked the last 10 years with my plastic surgeon. She even had her two sisters that live outstate come and have work done by him. It was a frank and open discussion and really has helped in settling my nerves!

This is not a flattering picture of me, but this is the full picture of the above shot. This is what I would call "Minimalist Crossdressing" I'm wearing a wig and three pieces of clothing:


So wish me luck, the next time I write will be after the surgery!

Love, Tracy

Face Recognition, Just In Time!

I found this fun application at MyHeritage.com. Load up your picture and they show you which celebrities you look like!

I decided to try the Rocker Chick photo to see who she would match:



I was surprised by the results. I didn't realize I had created such an exotic look!

I've had to look up a couple of these beautiful women:

Boa

She is a South Korean singer who performs in Korea and Japan.

Kyoko Fukada

Is an actress, model, and singer in Japan.

Tyra Banks

Well I know about Tyra Banks, I watch The Soup on the E! Entertainment Channel and they use Tyra and her show as fodder for there brand of comedy.

Ayumi Hamasaki

She's a Japanese song-writer, singer and former actress.

Lucy Lawless

Yes, Xena: Warrior Princess, wow I think that's great. That was one of my favorite shows!

I put in another picture that is closer to everyday and it's interesting how different the results are:


This is just in time because I'm going to have plastic surgery this coming Tuesday. I hope to have a blow by blow (ew poor choice of words) report of my experience.

Till next time, take care, Tracy

Marc Jacobs & Transgender Advertising

Marc Jacobs is not the first nor the last to use transgender themes for advertising. Here's one from the now defunct Clothestime clothes stores:

I liked that ad, they used a very convincing TG person and got the point across. I hope this ad didn't kill their store.

And I'm not going to rag on Marc too much, he had designed tee shirts for the Human Rights Campaign (albeit with his name interspersed within the design), but I believe we as transgendered are being used as "edgy". His homepage opens to a drag review video, so I guess he's on some sort of transgender bender.

Here's two picture ads I found in Lucky Magazine:





To me the dresses don't look all that bad, especially when I look at them modeled by a woman, they look much better. When they are modeled by the male model Cole Mohr and photographed by Juergen Teller, they don't do anything for me.

So I guess my questions should are: Is Marc just trying to be "edgy"? Is this just creative license? Does he think if he uses a male model that us TG folk will beat a path to his door?

Something tells me it's the former and not the later, as I am not enamored by the ads. But on the positive side, he is bending the gender rules in the mainstream media. Since I found these ads in Lucky Magazine (which is geared for 16-24 year old GG's), maybe this audience will be more "open" to this idea and don't see us as threatening. I sure hope so.

-Tracy

Colortration Convert

I'd like to thank Dana, a friend of mine on crosserdressers.com, for suggesting Colortration for my foundation and beard cover. I think I'm a convert! I ordered their 6 color tester and I think I found a new solution!

Here's a picture of me without makeup, my beard is probably an hour after shaving. I know it's not much but it bothers me:



Here are the first 4 colors. Number 4 was the only one that came close and it was still too light and pink in my opinion.



I thought 7 or 10 would be too dark, but I actually like the olive tones in number 10. I think I'm somewhere between 7 and 10 actually.



So as an experiment, I went ahead and used number 10 all over as a foundation, what do you think? Oh, and this is a new wig, same color and brand as my long blond one but just shorter. It's like, "Oh look, I just got a hair cut!"



Oh, and by the way for this shot, I was wearing no bra or forms! (Please don't say it, thank you)

Till next time, Tracy

Ranma 1/2 (らんま½) Japanese Manga

OK, it seams as if I'm on a Japanese bender here. But I've known about Ranma 1/2 for some time, but just recently bought the first volume of the manga. I had always worried about what people would think if I were to bring the comic book up to the cash register. I worry no more as I am becoming more open about my own proclivities.

Ranma 1/2 is a Japanese manga about a young boy who when dowsed with cold water turns into a girl. His father when dowsed with cold water turns into a panda. The father character is more for comic relief than anything else. However, the main premise is a brilliant way to explore what it means to be a man or a women, and thereby examine what it means to be macho or feminine.

This story could have been setup rather easily with Ranma Saotome (the 16 year old boy) showing up at the dojo and then turn into a girl. But instead, he shows up as a girl with his father as a panda. The dojo's owner, Soun Tendo has three daughters Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane. Akane is a tomboy, she is the youngest and matches the age of Ranma. The two fathers have promised their offspring in an arranged marriage so that the dojo can continue. The changeling Ranma is betrothed to Akane the tomboy. It is no surprise that the style of karate taught at the dojo's name is translated as the "School of Indiscriminate Grappling", more commonly known in the West as "Anything Goes Martial Arts".

Akane is not only a tomboy but she hates boys. Thinks they are overrated and since she's a martial arts practitioner herself, she is able to take on all the boys at school. Ranma is immature and full of himself/herself. A cute scene at the very beginning is when Akane doesn't know that Ranma is a boy and asks Ranma for a match. Akane loses, but is so relieved that she at least, "Didn't lose to a boy!"

There are some key scenes that really reflect the conflict between transgendered people and society, between male to female transgenered and genetic females.

For example, Ranma says it's OK for him to see a women naked because he has seen himself naked. He adds, that he is "Better Built" as a female than genetic females. He gets flattened by a tea table by Akane when he says this and his father observes, "Now that he had coming". If you want to get a genetic girl's ire up, just say how feminine you are over her. You will wish those words never left your lips. Since he's immature there are times he doesn't even realize he's switched genders.

You can tell from this first volume that Ranma is trying to find where he/she fits in. He is approached by a suitor while a girl and yet doesn't know how to handle the situation. In fact the same suitor that likes him/her is also smitten with Akane. Akane is sweet on her doctor, but the doctor loves Akane's sister Kasumi. It can only get more messy and fun as the stories unfold.

This series of stories was and is one of the most popular series in Japan, it ran from 1987 to 1996 and sold over 22 million copies. They were authored by the female artist Rumiko Takahashi and all her works combined have sold over 100 million copies!

I hope you get a chance to check these stories out. As one who is within the transgendered spectrum, I find the story lines delightful.

This has been my question for a long time:


-Tracy