#lowdoset

Hey there!

Yes, I had my partner there for the first several days full time, and part for another couple weeks. (We also live together, but like he knew he would be helping me much more for the first weeks of recovery).

Here is what advice I can give.

I think the first day or so is the most important to have help. In fact, my surgeon required I had someone with me for that long or I would not have been able to have surgery. So you will likely need to find someone for that amount of time. If you live in a big city, I have seen lots of people offer to help people after surgery. I really encourage looking into facebook top surgery groups, there are some that are pretty popular and a great resource. It would also be a good place to ask this question and you may be able to find someone who recovered more independently than I did, but also can ask about recovery help if you need it. 

Okay my general advice is to set yourself up for sustainability. If you are going to be alone, you need to over prepare. Get all the pillows, get disposable kitchen wear so you can throw away dishes instead of clean (I wouldn’t have been able to reach my dishes in my cabinet without help for several weeks, and I never even thought of that before surgery), get a long charging cable and a small desk to set up on your bed. Have things things to do because it is easy to recover when you aren’t bored. Meal prep, and make sure you can make those meals (My microwave is also at head height, I wouldn’t have been able to reach it).

A lot of recovery is just rest, and you don’t really need anyone around for that. But for your safety I would encourage you to have someone on call. Someone who, worst case scenario, if you need a ride or just a meal or help with something urgent they can come over and help you, rather than be with you all the time. 

I found that I had a lot of independence much quicker than I was expecting. I was back to school after 11 days, so I don’t think you would need a lot of help for very long. I think having someone there the first day is good so you can understand what you need and how you are feeling. My worst day of recovery was day 3, I just felt my worst but I had a bad reaction to my medicine. It was nice to have someone there so I could talk out my symptoms and get support, but I didn’t necessarily need it. 

Also some insurances cover over night stay after surgery. It really isn’t necessary for top surgery, but it might be good for you if that is an option.

Hell yeah I do.

I’m gonna recommend three methods that I used for years, with different price points and wear-ability, so next is finding what works for you best.

Prior to top surgery and T I had a somewhat large chest for my small frame, so know that that’s the perspective I’m coming from. If you have a much larger chest some methods may not work as well, and if you have a smaller chest these methods may work even better!

1) Compression sports Bra: The one I wore daily was C9/Cloud 9, the athletic brand from target. It was labeled as a compression sports bra and was very comfortable. I wore my recommended size. This was good for my days off binding, or when I needed to be wearing it for a long time which I couldn’t do that with my binder. It did not make me completely flat, but if I was layering or wearing bright patterns this worked okay for me.

2) Binder: My favourite brand is GC2B, and with the holidays coming up they will for sure do a black friday and other holiday sales. Another brand is shape shifters, I never bought a binder from them because they are more expensive, but have heard great reviews because of the customization and heard those with larger chests sometimes prefer this brand.

Here is what you need to know about ordering a binder: it is very important that you measure. Your binder size will not be your shirt size, your bra size, or anything like that, so you need to measure in order to get the right size. If you don’t have a flexible tape measure, you can cut string and measure with a ruler. I thought that my binder size would have been like my shirt size, so small or xs, and boy was I wrong. Binder size has a lot to do with shoulder size and chest size. My binder size was Large from GC2B. 

I was between sizes for my binder, so I sized up. I am very glad I did. My binder was much more comfortable, and I was able to stretch, swim, and do some workouts in my binder because of this. In a medium I was much more constricted. 

The other big thing when it comes to GC2B is full or half length (and also razor back now which is pretty cool!) I bought a full length but wish I had gotten a half length. Full length does have a larger compression panel, but I did not need that. Living in a hot climate, the extra fabric was just hot and bunched at my hips. Others like the full length better because it looks like an undershirt. So it is up to personal preference!

Binders also have a lifespan. My binder doesn’t fit as tight as it used to after two years of wear. You can shrink it with the dryer to hopefully make it last longer, but just know because a binder doesn’t fit anymore it may just be loose from wear and not that you have changed sizes, so always measure before buying a new one. 

3) Transtape: I tried this option much later and it was instantly my favourite, but it is not for everyone. You can wear transtape for 3-5 days, and in the shower, which is incredible. Sleeping in transtape was incredibly euphoric to me, and not feeling the weight of my chest when I would otherwise not be binding was fantastic. It is more expensive because you have to buy rolls when you run out, but I would definitely recommend giving it a try, or using it for special occasions if not daily wear. You can use it for open chest binding and even swimming. 

My hacks for transtape are that you can take it off with baby oil. Do it carefully and slowly because the adhesive is strong. I bought the largest roll because my chest size called for it, but if yours doesn’t you could also buy the largest size and possibly get more life out of your roll. You can also use it to tape packers. There is always an affiliate code for 10-20% your cost, if not another deal!

I should also give you the general PSAs. When you wear a regular binder you should stretch often and never wear more than 8 hours. Take off days no matter what method of binding you are using. Never sleep in your binder. You will know your limits once you put on a binder. So like I mentioned, I could work out in my larger binder, things like running were easy, but chest and back exercises I avoided in my binder. I could also swim in my binder, but think about other clothes when they get wet, they shrink, they get harder to take off. If your binder is already uncomfy, getting wet in it is going to make it a lot worse. 

I hand washed my binder using laundry detergent and hung it to dry.

Binding and taping will also change the shape of your chest over time, which is something you should be aware of. Over time your chest can sag and shrink from binding. Some people have noted that this affected their top surgery results. If you aren’t planning on top surgery it is good to be aware of in case the shape of your chest is important to you, in which case you will need to decide how it is best for you to bind.

~my injections are changing from one dose every two weeks, to half that dose every week. This is to hopefully alleviate some pain being caused by my endo that seemed to flare up between injections.

~voice continues to crack and waiver, but hasn’t changed much more

~i have to shave now. mostly my sideburns and sometimes my mustache. not a huge fan of this

~still waiting to hear back about my T levels so once I get that call i will share

~i feel emotions very strongly right now. sometimes it is inpatient and anger (its finals week, things are tough), but a lot of time it is love and infatuation. my partner has been getting a fuck tonne of attention because i am just so fucking in love with him

~i have enough bottom growth that i wanna get an ftm masturbator... so maybe i will review that. (i always really wanted to try these but didn’t think i would ever go on t or have bottom growth)

~my next checkup is in april! if my endo is still flaring up my goal will be treating that no matter what. I am still on shots but I may try and switch to gel at that point for daily hormones to help my endo and to reduce my shot anxiety

~ I had to shave again. I think it went better this time.

~ Still have acne, on my face and shoulders, and a little on my chest (but this happened to me pre t). It hasn’t gotten out of hand or anything though

~ My partner and I both think my face has maybe gotten a bit longer/my jaw more pointed? It is subtle, but I really feel like my face is a bit more masculine and I like it. I feel handsome. But like whether it is real or not I feel good and that is what is important.

~Something I was worried about pre T was body odor changing. I barely sweat before and rarely got smelly. I feel like maybe I sweat a bit more often now (which is weird because I don’t feel any hotter) and maybe smell a bit worse, but again I rarely every get sweaty enough to smell so like it might just be I’m so not used to it I don’t know if T has done anything. It’s not awful though, and my partner would say something if he noticed it and he hasn’t said anything. 

~ I really feel like changes are slowing down. My hair and voice have not changed much. Body shape is the hardest to see but I don’t feel like it has changed.

~ (sex mention) I don’t think my bottom growth has changed much, but I have noticed I don’t really know what gets me “hard” or not, it just sometimes happens when I am turned on, which kinda sucks because I got a FTM sex toy I haven’t been able to use.

~ As for switching to weekly doses, it has not helped my endo. I am going to try and give it another month before I go back to every other week to see if anything helps. 

~ I am three months post top surgery!

~Body hair has increased everywhere. A little darker, a bit more in places I didn’t have it before, fuller in places I did. 

~ People are consistently mentioning my voice change... So I guess it really is different! I’ll post a comparison video soon.

~Can not sing anymore. I think it will just take time to settle into this voice. 

~ It is very hard to tell if I have had any fat redistribution or not because of top surgery, but I think I like my proportions. Can’t wait to work out though.

~ I have been losing weight, but again, just had surgery.

~ Sex drive is up. Bottom growth is a thing. Honestly, I like it. I had almost no sex drive before and it was not something I liked. 

~T has not helped my endometriosis sadly. I will be looking for surgical intervention as soon as possible for it.