Experiences with the doctor

I am grateful that everything went well

Anna, May 2025 - My experience having facial feminisation surgery at O2 clinic with dr Frans Noorman van der Dussen. In this post, I would like to document my experience having FFS with dr. Frans Noorman van der Dussen to help others know what to expect and make a decision whether this is the correct step for them at this clinic (too long to read at the bottom).

First of all, the doctor and his PA, Marije, were really welcoming from the start. The doctor explained all possible procedures in detail and also put stress on conserving harmony in the face, explaining why certain procedures must always be performed together. The doctor was open to my questions, but sometimes the answer was not very clear and I had to ask again (he did not mind being interrupted which you should definitely do if you are not sure about something or have specific questions). In my case, he mainly focused on the procedures he had in mind for my face, so if you have any particular comments, suggestions, wishes, questions, or concerns about your face you should definitely ask it. He did not do any AI simulations of predicted outcome or anything as some other doctors do, only drawing on a picture of my face, which was fine for me to understand the procedures which he proposed.

Honestly, I was a bit in doubt of all the proposed procedures (frontal bossing reduction, shaving of lateral and orbital rims, brow and temporal lifting, and coronal hairline reduction) because it sounded like there were going to be many strong changes to my face and about the brow and temporal lifting I was unsure in particular, because I was afraid of quite extreme changes to my facial expression with those. However, he was open to explaining them again and explaining why he wanted to do them from the perspective of facial harmony when I asked about these procedures (a bit later but still pre-operatively). He reassured that he was going for feminisation, no complete makeover to become a beauty model. He also stressed in the initial and also the pre-operative consult that he wants to conserve your character and current facial expression, by only softening the masculine features so that you will not look like another person and still be yourself.

Indeed, he exactly did what he said he would do. None of the procedures resulted in extreme changes or anything I see how all the procedures, including the brow lift and hair-line reduction which I initially doubted, were done subtly enough to preserve my own face whilst softening and reducing masculine features. I already passed as female most of the time and so that did not change very much, but what it mostly did to me was giving my more confidence about my appearance in public, especially with the hair tight back, which may be required in specific situations, such as at work in my case. I confidently wear my hair backwards now and I am grateful for that.

The experience of the surgery itself was good. I remember the waking up and feeling a relief because I was quite afraid of the pain and perhaps also the idea of being under anaesthesia which I had never undergone before, but I felt no pain at all. The first thing I did was touching the brow bone and feeling the immense relief that it was not there because until then I had always felt like it was stuck on my face (like glued on top of it or so). I could feel the forehead was a bit tight and quite cold, because there was a cooling mask on my face. I remember being sometimes awake, sometimes sleeping. I was also quite confused because my eyes seemed to not be aligned (the vision in my right eye was about 10-15 degrees turned counterclockwise).

The first night was a bit rough, but more so because it was uncomfortable to sleep half sitting with the mask on because I still did not feel any pain. It was a bit sleeping, a bit awake and a lot of cycles like that. The next morning came and I felt really sick when I tried to walk which, I figured later, was mostly because of not eating for ~30 h and the double vision which was quite disorienting. Eating the morning after surgery certainly helped the feeling of being sick to go away. Every meal after that was okay but the double vision made me eat very slowly because I couldn’t focus very well on the food.

The aftercare the first three days after surgery in the guesthouse above the clinic was really good. The nurses were really kind and helpful. The guest lady Petra was really sweet and always available for you if you had any requests or questions. She was very caring and I felt in good hands with her. Additionally helpful were the other patients in the guesthouse undergoing the same (or different) procedures and recovery, having people around to share your experience with peers.

The first week after surgery was a bit rough but honestly not quite as bad as I expected. I was off pain medication after about 1.5 weeks after the surgery. I did not have many blue/purple breakouts like you sometimes see on the internet (just a tiny bit yellow and blue around my eyes). I had a quite swollen area around the eyes, but that resolved mostly between 1 and 2 weeks after surgery. Until a few weeks post-op, I had a very oily forehead, but I figured that it was normal since the skin needs to recover as well after being stretched quite a bit. The stitches looked very neatly done. I had little energy, but that is normal after anaesthesia. I felt confident about going home three days after and everything was well when I did.

Now I am about 3 months after the surgery. I have slowly seen the results set. I am really grateful for the results (the confidence, the passing, as I mentioned above). I would be lying if I denied I am a bit relieved that everything ended well. After all, it was a surgery to my face you cannot possibly be a 100% certain everything will go smoothly. Anyway, I am grateful that everything went well.

I still experience two side effects of the surgery:

• My head is still numb (like touching a helmet, so feeling resistance, but no direct contact, mainly annoying with itches and I need to be careful not hitting my head because I cannot feel how hard I hit it). One nerve in my left eye seems to receive some fake/erroneous inputs as it feels like I am touching my left inner eyelid and inner corner whenever I am touching my left brow.
• The 15 degree double vision, which improved slightly, but I still experience it when 1) looking down, 2) using stronly focused vision like reading from paper or screens, and 3) being tired.

According to the doctor, both of which should resolve over the course of time, so I will wait patiently. In general, I am really grateful for the good experience with doctor Frans Noorman van der Dussen, Marije, Petra, the nurses, and all other employees involved at O2 clinic.

Too long to read summary

• The doctor is very clear about the ideas he has for the face but you may have to specifically ask about any doubts and questions you may have, because he will just continue to talk out of passion if you don’t interrupt.
• In my case, the doctor did excellent work with applying procedures which feminised the masculine features I had whilst preserving my facial expression and character
• The care they provide at O2 clinic was a very good experience
• I still experience some side effects which should resolve by themselves over time according to the doctor