Skyla’s Story
Hi, I’m Skyla and here’s my story:
I was always wary of having surgery as I was exposed to many negative tropes such as the typical documentaries of surgery gone wrong; an exposition of horror! I was fortunate in my looks – I didn’t “pass” but I was pretty, and so I decided to be grateful and not risk losing my appeal – in the beginning.
About a year after I received my inheritance (3 years transitioned), I’d had enough of the abuse: derogative questions, patronising & condescension, insinuations & indirect accusations, dirty looks, bitching, sly indifference (people behaving toward me as if I were a boy), mockery, fetishizing, sexual harassment, threats of violence, and fighting, by men and women on the street and even in “safe spaces” I.e. LGBTQ+.
I saw a model on the internet who had undergone FFS and remembered how she looked pre-op. I immediately saw myself and the opportunity my inheritance could grant me. One of the first results from google search was Facialteam. I looked around at a few companies but kept coming back to them after reading reviews, and maybe the softness of the web design, the transparency also, and the clear concise information of surgery, patients, and the doctors. I booked a consultation and was shortly seen by Dr. Raul Bellinga. He told me “with surgery everything has to be right: with the operation, expectation, the environment – hospital, accommodation – but mostly with the surgeon. You have to know that you are in safe hands.”… He told me to research other practices and have many consultations which I pretended to do. I skimmed over a few but came straight back without speaking to any; I knew I wanted Facialteam… it was his objectivity – his unbiased understanding of the feminine form and of beauty, with a decade of experience that made me feel safe. I trusted him. I still do.
The first virtual results came back and I wasn’t happy with the pictures. After further consultation we discussed in finer detail the desired look and I was much happier with the proposal. I will say during that second consultation, Raul, was difficult. I don’t know if he was having a bad morning or was taken out of his comfort zone at the task of giving me a nose tailored to me, as opposed to his “standard procedure”. We made friends again afterward and had a nice talk. I dunno, it made me like him more… you know how it is!
When I finally arrived in Marbella, I was anxious & scared and wasn’t feeling well. I had my first pre-op consultation with Raul, again, and without a word he took my stress away; he has a relaxing confidence. Later that night I tested positive for Covid, and in the morning I went back to England. I was quickly given a new surgery date of the following month, and Facialteam paid for the flights. Even now, I think if I had to wait another six months, I might not be here.
“I wish somebody had warned me of this; you can imagine the trauma of thinking you’re going to die…”
Back in Marbella, everything went smoothly thanks to my co-ordinator, Patricia. She’s small, sassy, sexy, and affectionate! Raul, gave me one last reassurance before surgery, and I went under. When I woke up, I was in Hell! A hangover you can’t imagine! I was dying for water, but I wasn’t allowed to drink for 4 hours! To make things worse, my nose was stuffed with cotton, so I had to breathe through my mouth making me drier! At the same time, I had a urinary catheter giving me the constant anxiety I was going to piss myself! I kept falling asleep and waking up thinking it must have been 4 hours only to be told it had been 5 minutes. And then the worst happened… I was vomiting blood!!! That’s because blood-filled mucus from my nose had been dripping down my throat causing me to regurgitate. I wish somebody had warned me of this; you can imagine the trauma of thinking you’re going to die…
After 4 hours the hangover dropped instantly and I was eating and drinking like a pig. I tried my best not to look at myself but on the way to the bathroom I caught my reflection and thought “shit!”. After my 2 nights in the hospital I left for the villa in good spirits (I was actually shaking my ass in the mirror!) I met the other girls and we had an amazing time bonding – too bad only 2 of us keep in touch.
Back in England, I fluctuated between happiness & pride, and of course… depression. While I was in the healing process I had lost a lot of weight, and it showed in my face. The tissues had not yet properly formed with my skull either, and it gave me a “dead” look. I looked weird, like an alien, and I felt like I was in a horror movie. At its worst I was screaming in the mirror, begging for what they had done to me. But it all passed in time, the muscles regained their movement, my skin found its complexion, and I put on weight.
There are two important aspects of the surgery to be aware of: “passing” and beauty. I still don’t pass. Not completely; but I do feel beautiful. There are many elements to passing as you are aware, and the face is not the most important; but it is the first. After that, they will find something else to pick out, like my hands. It doesn’t happen very often anymore, I can almost always go about my business unharmed, so I guess you could say “I pass down the street”, but when I stop to talk to people their eyes begin to wonder & wander like they’re looking at a blurred image. I get a lot of male attention, some know and don’t care, some don’t know and don’t care if I choose to tell them. But I do get a few men who are horrified when they realize after a moment or two (usually young men – in balaclavas…???), and the fear of finding a trans woman attractive has caused me to run for my life.
“Facialteam are not miracle workers, they will feminize your face, not necessarily make it beautiful.”
Your rate of passing will depend on the starting point of your face; Facialteam are not miracle workers, they will “feminize” your face, not necessarily make it feminine – or beautiful. I have known too many girls who have gone to Facialteam expecting to re-enter the womb and be born like Angelina Jolie! I have known one particular woman who I didn’t realize had undergone FFS; objectively, she looked like a different man. But she was happy with her face! I am happy with mine. People may shout at me, tell me I’m ugly, I may have to dodge a knife or avoid being thrown on the train tracks, and I get angry that I don’t always pass; but I feel beautiful, and I love my face.
My life has moved forward with huge steps: only on rare occasions do I experience transphobia, I feel better, I look better… I’ll share a few photos with you. The first is before surgery, second is after the initial recovery, third is a few hours after my breast augmentation…
Gracias Facialteam,
Te quiero,
Skyla