Dr. Michael Brownstein, whose name is synonomous with “top surgery” for many, is retiring at the end of this year. Dr. Curtis Crane will be taking over his practice in the new year under the name “Brownstein & Crane Surgical Services.” In addition to male chest reconstruction, Dr. Crane will also offer metoidioplasty and multiple types of phalloplasty.
Dr. Brownstein pioneered FTM chest reconstruction and has been performing the procedure since the late 1970's in San Francisco.
The film explores body image, gender identity, masculinity, femininity, relationships, and religion and spirituality. You can check out more of Paul's documentaries here.
Yesterday I posted this video to my YouTube channel which intends to be a quick overview of what to expect when you have chest surgery; it also hopes to answer questions and calm some nerves!
As with all my videos and blog posts, the opinions reflected herein are solely my own and I do not claim to speak for anyone but myself.
Here is a follow-up video I shot this afternoon with some tips for guys preparing for surgery.
This is a video log I shot the morning of my chest surgery in the hotel in Baltimore.
This is me seeing my chest for the first time on December 19, 2006, a week after my surgery.
Here is a video shot the same night I saw my chest for the first time and documents a simple, but significant milestone in any transman's transition - being able to wear a t-shirt for the first time with a flat chest.
Tristan Skye (aka TristanSkye79 on the tube) just had his top surgery with Dr. Charles Garramone in Sunrise, FL. He made an awesome video documenting his experience and his emotions leading up to surgery, and examines his wife's feelings as well (after all, everybody in our lives transition, not just us!).
Tristan ended up being less nervous about the surgery than his wife Sicily was, probably because she was so busy getting everything in order and making sure it all went smoothly for him. Hat's off to awesome SOFFA's everywhere! Thanks for all you do.
Tristan and Sicily also run an awesome transgender social networking site called TQNation. Definitely check it out and create a profile.
Here is a video log I recorded on the day of my top surgery, December 12, 2006. As you can see, emotions were high that day.
I can't believe it will be four years in December since I've had the surgery. My life has changed in so many ways, more than I ever expected. Surgery has given me the freedom from the body I was trapped in my entire life. Thank you, Dr. Fischer!
In this video Christian, aka ctshaw84 on the tube shares his top surgery experience with Dr. Medalie in Cleveland, Ohio. He is 26 years old, got double incision, and just had surgery done on the 24th of April.
Send some well wishes his way for a speedy recovery!
An intimate look at a slice of the new generation of queer identity: bois. Boi is a term used in the queer community to refer to a person's sexual and gender identity, and it may include: a person who looks and acts like a young, heterosexual male and partakes in casual sex, a transman, an FTM or female to male, a submissive butch, or a bisexual gay with effeminate traits.
In the spring of 2007 I made a short documentary film while in college about my best friend Troy (tro23y on YouTube) getting our chest surgeries done together in December of 2006. We went to Dr. Beverly Fischer in Baltimore (Timonium), Maryland.
Chest surgery was one of the most moving and empowering experiences I have ever had, and I can wholeheartedly say it was made 1,000 times better by having it done with Troy.
Just a short video I made Troy wishing him good luck with his lower surgery coming up on Tuesday.
Here is a birthday video I made for him a couple years ago:
Here is a photo montage I made of documenting our top surgery experience. We had our surgeries done together on December 12, 2006 with Dr. Beverly Fischer in Baltimore, Maryland.
