Hello everyone- I am a transgender man, and I am having a double mastectomy relatively soon (potentially this late fall/winter). I am purposefully attempting to schedule this so it does not conflict with the event season, but as it is still a major surgery, and requires 6 weeks off from any physical exercise, I clearly won’t be riding.
I’m guessing COTH doesn’t have many other (0?) trans men in the forums , but does anyone have experience with mastectomies and riding? Normal gym/exercise recovery and strength building guides are easy to find online, but I’m pretty sure riding will be very different, not to mention jumping! I vaguely remember reading about an upper level eventer who had one due to breast cancer?
Any help/ advice is appreciated. Thanks
@Ceylon Star, can you help this man? I was fascinated by the detail you posted on your trans surgeries.
@thathorsekid, Ceylon Star is a transgender man as well. I’m sure there are women here who have also experienced mastectomies, but I thought it would be helpful for someone in similar circumstances to respond.
Rebecca
Welcome to coth! Hopefully Ceylon Star will chime in very soon 
I can with help any general mastectomy questions You May have! I went through a single due to breast cancer just over a year ago, (although I did have reconstruction) and I happily back riding now! I actually didn’t find it a super hard surgery as I had a pectoral nerve block, which really helps with post op pain…I highly recommend this, I only needed Tylenol 3 to control the pain after!! Definitely you won’t be able to do much exercise for 6 weeks, I wasn’t allowed to ride for closer to 9, but I also had expanders which (I hope I’m not being presumptuous) won’t be having so you’ll most likely be allowed back to full exercise after the 6 weeks, once all the incisions are healed. I did start back walking briskly on the treadmill at 3 weeks, and that helped a lot once I got back on my horse.
Your chest muscles may feel a bit weaker, I seem to roll and duck my shoulder forward more over fences…my plastic surgeon said he sees this a lot in mastectomy patients as the chest muscle “contracts” more! I’ve been advised to strengthen my back to compensate for this lack of strength! Otherwise I really didn’t notice any difference at all once I got back on my horse.
You’ll be extremely stiff after surgery, with what I called “t Rex” arms! I started on the stretches at 4 days post op…and my favourite was the “snow angel”, it really helped get full range of motion back by week 4! Once I had the drains removed , after 1.5 weeks…my first shower was heaven, and to stop any cording, I started stretching in the shower (I’m not sure if you’ll experience this, Ceylon Star would be able to advise), but just in case…I’d stand with the warm water running down over my shoulders to loosen the shoulder, and then crawl my arm up the shower wall…the cording stopped dead in its tracks and has never come back!
Good luck…you’ll do great!
Well, I am three years postop of a double mastectomy and have not at this time gotten repaired. I also, unfortunately had to have radiation to the cancerous area so my view is also a bit skewed.
My scars, to this day, will still pull and cause me some back ache. I have to be careful to keep stretching or I get a very sore back!
hey there!
First off, congrats on your upcoming top surgery!!!
Second, please bear with me as I am typing on a tablet in my pony’s stall during a break between teaching, and he is is trying to help me type, haha. grammar and spelling will not be my bst, thats for sure!
There is a link to the extremely long FAQ/thread about my personal journey of my coming out, transition, surgeries (top surgery and hysterectomy/oophorectomy/salpingectomy), and other personal stuff in my signature line. I am in Canada so some things are a bit different for me vs you in regards to the medical part and prerequisites, but you may still find it useful.
As for top surgery specifically, I had a double incision procedure with free nipple grafts. My incisions go from under my arms, to about 1" off the sternum. I had K cups pre-op, and approx 30lbs of tissue was removed in surgery. My surgeon and I opted to place my nipples in my incision line, rather than above it, because this placement worked better for my body compared to where the incision needed to be placed. I really like it, persoally, but other guys might not. There is a link to before and after pictures in one of the last pages of the FAQ thread, but i can repost it here when i get home later tonight.
Surgery itself was a simple day procedure. I went in at 6am and was home by dinnertime. I take a little extra time to wake up fully from anaesthesia otherwise i could have been home by 3pm. surgery was a couple hours long. I did not have any compression wraps, but I did have drains that I had to measure the output and empty several times a day for about a week. I didnt have much discharge but a lot of guys have a fair bit and then need the drains for longer. a week to 10 days seems about average.
I was t-rex arming for a month. I did get some stretching of my incision lines because a week after surgey I had to flip a cast horse when i was alone on the home farm. I was lucky not to do more damage, but i didnt have much choice but to flip the horse…
I could not tighten a girth effectively for about 10 weeks. I was back on walking with a handler after week 4, but my pony is leased to a therapeutic program so i have the luxury of helpers. I was walk/trot at week 10, sitting trot and canter once it was comfortable. My surgeon gave me the clear to wlk at week 4 and trot at week 8, and said to “listen to my body” beyond that. I did not jump for several months, but that was less to do with my chest itself and more to do with having to relearn how to balance after chopping 30lbs off my chest! The first time I got on, pony took a step forwrd, i automatically leaned bak to compensate for my former chesticles, and i ended up flat on my back on his butt and needed my hlper to push me upright. hahaha!!!
The BIG thing is not to lift or strain for the 6 weeks. Nothing more than a gallon of milk. So no picking feet, no tightening girths, no weight lifting, no using your arms to pull yourself up, etc. Your muscles will be weak from not being usd for that long, so after the 6 weeks, start back SLOWLY. take lots of breaks. do short spurts then rest. do poles instead of jumps. and dont go up a division that next season unless you are 2000% ready because your body will not feel like it used to.
Be ind to yourself while you recover and build back up to fitness. This is a hugely excitig time in your life, so celebrate it!!!
Le me know if you have any specific questions, I am always happy to chat!
I had a double mastectomy 25 years ago and was cleared to ride about three weeks later. Had to use a mounting
block to throw the saddle on myself (English). My super spook horse was Mr. Careful with me for months.
I had a double mastectomy almost 2 years ago. I had full range of motion back within two weeks. By 3 weeks I was riding again. I needed a bit of help to saddle and bridle for about a week, but then back to normal. Good luck!!
