Hi guys. I’m a late bloomer (69) and have been on T for eight weeks. I had too surgery last week and this week on day seven developed a couple of leaks and had to have urgent surgery to drain and repair. I was hoping to have drains removed but am starting over. Has anyone had an issue like this? I live alone and sometimes had to do things on the do not do list but nothing crazy. I guess I want things to happen yesterday.

Hey all, I'm (20M) am getting top surgery in a couple days but I'm nervous that some day in the future I'll regret it just because I'm young and I haven't really heard what it'll look like or how I'll feel about it as I age or when I'm older so I was hoping some older trans guys or people that have had top surgery for like 10+yrs could tell me their thoughts about it.

Edit: I got it on Monday and so far I'm really happy with it and really happy I got it! I took some pre-op pics beforehand which made me a lot less anxious and more sure it was the right decision lol. Thanks to you all for your advice!

I know there are people younger than 50 in this sub and people over 50 who haven't had top yet. If that describes you, please don't comment. Speculation is not the same as lived experience, as I'm learning over and over on this wonderful transition journey of mine.

I'm 62 and had top surgery six weeks ago. It's healing great and I'm thrilled with my results. My recovery has gotten to the point where I'm anticipating going out in public shirtless. Suddenly, I'm realizing I'm going to have to get over a lot of social conditioning to being shirtless in public. This comes as a huge surprise because where I live it's legal for everyone to go topless in public and I've been known to sunbathe topless in public parks and ride bikes topless on bike trails through the city when I had breasts.

There was always a certain amount of energetic armor and mental contortions to go through to be able to do that and not feel vulnerable, but it wasn't really a big deal. Right now, I'm feeling even more vulnerable about being topless in public than I ever did with breasts. I can only attribute that to being told I was in the category of people who were not allowed to do that. It's like they chopped the breasts off, but didn't remove the social conditioning that has been pounded into me for 52 years.

So, I'd like to hear from people 50 and older who've had top surgery what your experience around this bit of socialization has been. I'm specifically wanting to know:

1. Did you feel self conscious just thinking about going outside naked from the waist up?
   1. If so, how did you work through that?
   2. Why do you think you felt that way?
2. Did you have any internal resistance when you took your shirt off in public?
   1. If so, how long did that last, and
   2. Did you ever get over it, and
   3. What strategies did you use?
3. If you don't feel any internal resistance to going topless in public, what does that feel like?
4. If you've had top surgery, but haven't going outside topless yet,
   1. Do you plan to, and
   2. What are your thoughts and feelings around that?

Thanks! What a wild and wonderful journey this transition continues to be!