As another facet of my own plan for full transition into womanhood, I recently had some facial surgery to enhance my own natural feminine features. This surgery I would like to add went very well and I'm extremely happy with the results.

I had consultations with several surgeon's including Douglas Ousterhout, and Toby Meltzer. Both surgeons are located on the west coast. Dr. Ousterhout is without a doubt very good but he is also VERY expensive. Toby Meltzer is also very good but not quite as expensive. Both of these surgeons wished to do restructuring on the underlying bone of my face which I was reluctant to do.

Due to several factors my list of qualifications for my final chose were as follows: (1) The surgeon needed to be very good, with lots of patient's that I could talk too. (2) I didn't want any underlying bone work. (3) I didn't really want to travel a long distance if I could possibly help it. (4) Reasonably priced!

As it so happens, I found a surgeon  in Charlotte, NC who fit all my qualifications. Some of my friends who have gone to Dr. Robin Joan Hennessy suggested that I give her a call and have a consultation to see what she could do for me. I did just that in early March '99. At my consultation, Dr. Hennessy examined me in detail and told me what she would suggest to get the most for my money. Also it didn't involve any bone work at all. I really appreciated this approach as I was wanting to get this done and still have enough left for my GRS surgery.

The year's of working out in the weather and underground at my previous job and just the ravages of age had caused a lot of damage to my skin. Dr. Hennessy suggested that I have the following procedure's to help me look more feminine and bring back a more youthful appearance:

Brow Lift

Scalp Advancement

Tip Rhinoplasty (vanity dictated that I get this done. I've always hated the way my nose looked! I just wanted this one!)

Lower Facelift

Laser Resurfacing of the Chin and upper lip (I had a lot of small pitting from my long electrolysis sessions)

The surgery was scheduled for May 20, 1999. My roommate, Amy, took me to Dr. Hennessy's office that morning and would pick me up again that afternoon after my surgery. The surgery was to take almost 9 hours in all. About 45 minutes before we arrived at the office I was instructed to take 3 - 10mg Valium tablets which I did and carried two more which I was supposed to take when instructed by the nurse at the office after arrival. We had arrived about 15 minutes before I was supposed to arrive so Amy and I just sat in her vehicle and talked for a bit. At 7:30am, I remember Amy saying that it was time to go in, I can also remember opening the door of the vehicle and starting to get out. From that time on I have absolutely no recall of any event that happened until the following day! Later I asked Dr. Hennessy about this and she said that short term memory loss was a common effect of higher doses of Valium. Dr. Hennessy said that I was very lucid when I came into the office and had asked her some very pertinent questions but I certainly don’t remember what they were or the answer's to them.

I woke up the next day in a semi-reclining position in which I was supposed to sleep for the next two weeks to keep my swelling to a minimum. I felt somewhat sore and swollen but I wasn't in much pain at all which surprised me quite a bit. I had expected to be in considerable pain that first day. The first look I got of myself in a mirror was horrible! My head was almost completely wrapped in ace bandages and my whole chin and upper lip was covered with a piece of white bandage like material that was supposed to be for burn victims. All in all I looked like I had been in an auto accident but their was actually very little bruising for how swollen I looked. The worst pain I had during my recovery were some very very bad headache's during the first week of my recovery. Dr. Hennessy said that this was common with the scalp advancement due to constriction of the blood vessels. I took a lot of Ibuprofen that first week but after that I felt fine.

The second day I went back to have my first checkup and to have the compress bandage removed. Dr. Hennessy was very surprised when she saw that I had any bruises at all, saying that I evidently had very sensitive skin since she hardly ever had bruising with her work. The bruising I did have were small and limited mostly to under my right eye. Everything looked good to her and she sent me back home to rest and recover. I went back again at the first of the next week for another checkup which also went well.

I am happy to say that I am very satisfied with the way my facial surgery has turned out. I would recommend Dr. Hennessy and her fine staff to anyone. If anyone does wish to contact her, here is her present address and phone number:

Dr. Robin Joan Hennessy

310 Billingsley Road, Suite 210

Charlotte, North Carolina 28211-5020

Phone (704)362-0113