FFS with Dr. Deschamps-Braly, 3 year post-op before/after
I had FFS done with Dr. Deschamps-Braly in February, 2018. These photos are from a while back when I went in for a minor revision to my left jawline.
Procedures:
- Hairline advancement
- Eyebrow lift
- Brow ridge reduction
- Rhinoplasty
- Lip lift
- Chin reduction
- Jawline contouring
- Tracheotomy
Basically, we did everything except for fat grafting onto my cheeks. Bless my cheekbones.
The difference that I have experienced in my life since undergoing FFS has been profound. I see myself in the mirror, I don't get stares when I'm out in public, and I'm very rarely misgendered. Recovery was kind of a nightmare (apparently my experience was much worse than most), but that was partly my fault for thinking that it would be wise to go on a business trip to the other side of the world after less than three weeks. Lesson learned.
One other observation is that I didn't really look much better for at least two months post-op. Initially, the swelling was so significant that I looked far worse. I didn't just look like I'd had surgery, my jawline was actually extremely masculine because it was swollen with fluid! It does get better with time, but I wouldn't go in expecting to have an "aha" moment when you wake up.
Dr. D is a lovely human with excellent bedside manner and his practice has put a lot of effort into making the process feel "luxury". His new office is by far the nicest medical office I think I will ever see in my life, and it really does help lower the anxiety associated with surgery.
Also, when I was being wheeled into the OR, I was greeted by "Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh playing on a nearby radio. It was kind of surreal suddenly hearing classic rock as I was lying on a surgical table getting ready to go under. 10/10.
Edit: I forgot to mention that I also had hair transplants done by Silicon Valley Hair Institute in December, 2018. Despite their excellent reviews online, I had a very bad experience. The transplanted hair was put in at the wrong angle, which is very apparent when the hair is medium length, so I have to keep it long. They also repeatedly misgendered me, tried to upsell me on unnecessary treatments to prevent further hair loss (and couldn't answer my questions about whether such treatments were necessary for someone who no longer had testes!), and the "lunch" they provided during the eight hour procedure was two pieces of cold wheat bread with a single slice of unmelted cheese. Motherfuckers I'm paying you twelve grand give me real food.
Great results, super impressive. Congratulations! :]
I'd love to hear more about your recovery. What was it like for the first 6 months?
When, in your eyes, had everything truly settled and which areas were the slowest to resolve?
Thanks for sharing your experience. As you say, the recovery phase is often overlooked.
Thanks, it's wild to pull up these photos and remember how far I've come!
The first week after was awful. It wasn't even really the pain, but there is just so much damage that your body is trying to adjust around that you can't even think properly. Eating was tremendously difficult because I couldn't feel my lips, so even the liquid diet was difficult to manage and I had to use a mirror to dribble Soylent into my mouth. Most ended up on my shirt and face. Sleeping was impossible for longer than 20 minutes or so, because so much blood would drain down from my sinuses that I would wake up coughing. I could only walk very slowly, with short steps, and for brief periods of time.
Also, everything was numb. I couldn't feel the top of my head, I couldn't feel my forehead, I couldn't feel my nose or lips or chin. Most of my face was numb for months, which was worrying at first. Now, I feel pretty normal except for my chin (still have some tinglies there) and a small spot on the crown of my head that never regained sensation. I rarely notice.
Regarding how my features settled as the recovery process went on, I'll link some photos here with comments.
- 1 Day Post-op : A lot of the swelling actually hadn't kicked in yet, so this is the best I would look for a while.
- 1 Week Post-op : There's that swelling! I've always received compliments about my beaming smile, and I'm trying as hard as I can in this photo to emulate it, but that was the best I could do. It took about three months before the scar tissue along my lower gumline loosened up enough for me to fully smile again.
- 1 Month Post-op : At this point, the swelling in the upper part of my face had gone down dramatically. You can see here that I'm still carrying a lot of fluid in the lower part of my face, though, because...well, that's where it ends up! There's this period of time where it's not super apparent that your swelling is from surgery, something just looks off about your face.
- 2 Months Post-op : This was the first photo that made me excited about my face, and was around when I started to really see myself in the mirror for the first time. At this point, the post-op fluid had pretty much fully drained and the rest of the swelling wasn't immediately apparent.
- 4 Months Post-op ( front and side view): It's funny how the difference between this before/after and the 3 year before/after is like night and day, but I can't quite point to exactly why. Dr. D advises that you should expect to wait up to 6 months for final results on most of the procedures and 9 to 12 months for final results on chin and jaw work, and I feel like this really speaks to that. Even at 4 months, though, I was overjoyed with my results.
- 6 Months Post-op : Bad photo of me, but it provides a great comparison for the shape of my face. Chin and jawline are continuing to go down. The numbness is also starting to resolve in most areas, though that healing would take much longer than any of the rest. I'd say I recovered most sensation within a year, with that continuing to improve for another year or so after.
The difference that I have experienced in my life since undergoing FFS has been profound. I see myself in the mirror, I don't get stares when I'm out in public, and I'm very rarely misgendered.
My exact same experience with pre and post-FFS. (Eventually) the relentless staring stopped, people no longer had a panicked/confused looks on their faces when looking at me, people no longer avoided pronouns around me. FFS has been the best thing I've ever done for myself.
When insurance companies say that it's not "medically necessary", it's all bullshit. It literally stopped all the crushing mental pain that I was constantly feeling around others.
You look stunning, girl 💜
Perfect
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The chin work did involve a sliding genioplasty, yeah! Mine was a fairly minor change since my chin proportions were not too masculine to begin with, but he brought the chin slightly up and forward.
Ok, I was looking at your post because I have a consult with DB in January and I tend to obsess about it. Looking at every single post and on and on. I just read your edit about your hair grafting done in Silicon valley. I had a super similar situation here in Tucson. Tucson hair institute 😡 They charged me $12k, totally screwed up the surgery, caused scar tissue on my forehead from where this bitch surgeon was being nasty to me for being trans. Fed me a piece of turkey on gross stale bread. And then refused to answer my phone calls.
Looking great! Congratulations on your surgery/healing :)
Dr DB is an artist :")
Oh wow. I had a consult with that hair transplant place and yeah the consult went very poorly and I went somewhere else. I'm sorry you had a poor result and experience with them.
Amazing, thanks for sharing such details. Very informative and inspirational. take care :)
Congrats! You had the coronal incision for forehead reconstruction inside your hairline right? Also, you must still have a least some minor numbness of places that don't fully recover? I also got a friend who had FFS with Deschamps-Braly around the same time!
No coronal incision, actually! The only incision was at the hairline. I recovered almost full sensation, though I have a small numb spot on the crown of my head and the nerves in my chin feel a bit off.
Dang wow, magical results then! Congrats!
Wow, I'm really impressed. I wish I could afford FFS with DB.
You kinda look like arrietty’s mom from the gibli film the secret world of arrietty. Hope you’re happier with your face now! Think they didn’t a wonderful job!
Omfg your so pretty hes truly amazing
Hey I'm at about 7 weeks post from FFS with DB at this point. Gosh I'm so sick of the swelling on the jaw neck and chin. It gets better right? I keep looking at my swelling and thinking I made a mistake, makes me feel very dysphoric. Him and Zhanna did a beautiful job on my nose and forehead though 😁
I promise it gets better! Seriously, the swelling in the chin and jaw takes FOREVER to go down. I wasn't happy with my chin and jaw until at least a few months post-op, and I didn't see the final results for over a year.
You'll even have a moment about six months in where you'll think that the swelling is all gone. It's not. You'll keep looking better and better as you heal.
Gosh I can't wait..your results are 🔥. Thanks for the morale boost today :)
You look astounding lady.. I'm booked but it feels l8ike its so far away still..
God that's amazing. Can I ask how long before your swelling settled? I had full FFS with face neck lift 10/21 and still swollen nose chin jaw and neck. Just going so slow. Was yours slow to? Thx
I had FFS in Aug of 2019 (with Dr. Mayer). The major swelling took a 1-3 months, but there was a lot of subtle swelling that people unconsciously picked up on. That took about 6-12 months. My under-chin swelling took a VERY long time to fully go away; there was a tiny amount of lingering swelling that lasted over a year.
🤗🤗🤗 that's a huge relief my Dr said it was normal but dysphoria it's ugly. Thanks you you look great BTW 🥰
OP here! Seconding this. It really did take a long while before I looked good. Over year into recovery, my best friend remarked that he couldn't quite put his finger on the difference, but he felt like my face had recently started to look "right".
😊🥰❤️
This is really cool, I’m super nervous about waiting for the results to show more so then the initial surgery if I’m honest.
Love your piercings! I love the contrast between the one lobe piercing on one ear and then a bunch on the other. Plus nose and lip, love your set up!!
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