#my therapist is helping me find a surgeon for top surgery and i got referred to a pain management specialist by my doc today too
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it looked sooo pretty outside today :)
#the community garden across the street was being cared for (even in winter) by my neighbors#it’s the first day in a long time i came home from work and the sun was up still !!#it was so rosy#got greeted by my dog and my gf and the cat :#life is good even when it’s hard :)#i packed a lunch for me and for lauren and braided her soft hair before bed and sometimes i just want to cry with love#my therapist is helping me find a surgeon for top surgery and i got referred to a pain management specialist by my doc today too#and work was easy and slow today#i can’t sleep rn bc my pain is sooo bad so i’m tucked in the living room knitting w the snoring dog beside me on our tiny green couch#im so sad and so happy lol#personal
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Very sorry if this is invasive but I cannot find any advice elsewhere and you are the only person who tends to respond to asks that i know, how did you initiate the process for getting top surgery? I am at the stage where I am needing to approach surgeons and request it and am having immense trouble wording emails in any reasonable way lol
Hi anon!
The very first thing I did was bring it up with my therapist - she helped me figure out the steps of qualification I would need for the process. For my surgery, I needed a physical, recent bloodwork, a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and a letter from a qualified gender therapist.
When I went in for my physical, I asked my primary doctor to refer me. I also called the Transgender Helpline for my insurance for advice in getting a gender therapist < that's the most important thing.
For my insurance, there were only two therapists available to talk to, and I basically had to prove that my life would get better if I got the procedure. After that, the gender therapist will refer you to the dept. so you can be qualified for surgery.
Then I called mult. times to get an appointment and pre-op with a surgeon. After that I had to wait until there was an opening for the surgery. I eventually got the call earlier than I was told bc someone dropped a surgery last minute.
Then I had to do a final blood test and go in for the procedure.
This whole process took about two years - this was with COVID delays and other personal things.
The key is being persistent and getting that letter from the gender therapist.
#my asks#fishfingersandscarves#anonymous#this was just my experience#trans tag#nonbinary tag#transition
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HELLO everyone i am now ten days out from my tiddy surgery so i think while everything is still fresh-ish in my mind I should get a rough timeline of how things went for me, just so anyone having similar stuff done in the future can have it as reference??
so under the cut is how shit went down, warning we are gonna be tmi about it for Max Information Dissemination, i will be talking about IV placement, Needles, Bleeding, Bruising, Bathroom Stuff In General, etc. so like. Be Warned.
OKAY SO what did i have done and how did i get it:
- i got a bilateral breast reduction with a “T,” “keyhole,” or “anchor-shaped” incision. this procedure, unlike double-incision top surgery, does not detach your nipples at all, but it DOES leave a decent hunk of breast tissue behind to avoid the nip graft. this connecting tissue keeps your nip attached and supplied with enough blood to survive. that means with this one, theres basically a limit to how much they can take off, and it depends on how big you are to start off with.
- i went with the T-incisions because as a NB person, I wanted to sidestep the “gender-confirming surgery�� route with my insurance. technically, I believe it would have been covered if i had gone through the process of talking to a therapist and getting a note that the surgery WOULD help confirm my gender, but i suspect it would have taken much longer, and I was afraid that my doctor and community resources would not have ended up approving me FOR the surgery since I don’t exactly fit the typical trans narrative. and luckily for me i had Massive, Spine-Bending G Cup Tiddies to contend with. so every doc that took a look at me said “yeah, you need those taken care of for medical reasons.” so i thought hey, let’s see how far this will get me!
- i talked to my primary care doc about my back pain and mentioned i’d like to look into a breast reduction, and she referred me to a local surgeon who could do the procedure. at the time i was still entertaining the idea of double-incision, but as it turned out, this surgeon just didnt do that. but i knew for certain my insurance would cover him, his results were good, and he was local, so i said yes to the T-incisions, which he said would likely get me down from a G to at least a C. it wasnt my ideal scenario admittedly, but frankly the back pain was getting to be too much, and i needed it to be addressed sooner rather than later.
- i had a consultation with the surgeon in early december, and they took pictures and measurements to send to my insurance so they could confirm the tits WERE in fact Too Bomb To Live. Doc said that it varies between insurance companies, but most will have a minimum amount of tissue that needs to be taken off, in grams, from each breast. he was like, “your insurance needs at least 1000g total removed, which’ll leave you on the small side, is that cool?” and i was like “My Man, take AS MUCH as you possibly can, im sick of these” and he was like “cool, makes my job easy then.”
- it took my insurance like 1.5 to 2 months to get back to me, but late january the surgery place called me and we set a date for february 5th, 2020!!
PRE-OP:
- before i went into surgery, the hospital made me go over my medical history with them over the phone, informed me of all the risks, and gave me a special scrub kit to shower with at home for the last 2 days before the surgery
- fun fact this soap will make your whole bathroom and body smell strongly and exactly like a hospital and it is gross as hell if you hate hospital smell
- i also had to go to my primary care doc to get the OK that i was healthy enough to go under general anesthesia, and also get some blood tests and a urinalysis done. i fucked up the urinalysis tho (which is a whole other story) so i had to redo that the morning of the surgery when i got to the hospital anyway.
- when i scheduled my surgery they also gave me a list of things i had to NOT DO before i went in. this included stuff like avoiding herbal medications and non-prescription supplements and not drinking any alcohol for like 2 weeks prior to surgery, and not eating anything after midnight the night before surgery.
- then it was SURGERY DAY!!!
- i went in with uhhh a LOT of anxiety about what everything would entail, ngl. i knew i had to do it because staring down the barrel of life with tiddies forever was way scarier than surgery, but yknow whenever you go under general anesthesia they legally do have to let you know that you could die and thats just a lot to consider, PLUS the whole thing involves just, really mangling your torso so like. its a lot! its okay to be scared!
- both my parents went with me for moral support which i appreciated a lot, but i didnt actually see them much since they had to spend a lot of it in the waiting room.
- when i went back with the doc they had me Wash The Tiddy Off with some antiseptic and change into a gown. i got some grippy socks out of the deal which is probably not a universal experience, but this hospital did it so shoutout to them for the socks i guess
- then they asked me all my medical history stuff again and checked me for any like, rashes or open sores or anything. i had some Tit Zits but they did not seem to be worried about that.
- then the surgeon came in and drew lines on me for the incisions. bro when i saw how high up my nips were gonna be i was losing my damn mind. this is one of the really exciting parts, because you finally get to really visualize what your end size is gonna be!!
- once he was satisfied with how everything looked, they started really Prepping Me For Surgery.
- they hooked me up to a blood pressure cuff, a heart monitor, and some compression leg thingies that would inflate and deflate intermittently around my calves to help me not get blood clots. this felt weird but tbh also like kind of a nice massage
- then the iv placement. bro im not lying when i tell you this is the worst part. the nurse numbed me with some lidocaine before placing the needle and let me tell you that shit HURTED. lidocaine Stings and Burns when it hits and this was arguably the most painful part. but the good news about that is it means nothing else after that is all that bad. and i got THREE lidocaine shots because these two nurses could NOT find my blood anywhere. they finally called in their ringer (an EMT named kirk, s/o to kirk) who got that sucker in my arm with NO numbing and NO pain in like, 2 fucking seconds. i pray you all have a kirk. kirk knows where your fucking blood is and hes not gonna fuck around getting to it because he JUST wrestled a drunk dude into an ambulance like an hour ago and compared to that this is nothing. kirk had sleeveless scrubs. im obsessed. anyway.
- then they put a plastic, inflatable, heated blanket over me? it was between two regular blankets so it wasnt as uncomfortable as you might imagine, but it was strange. warm tho so that was nice.
- THEN they wheeled my bed down to surgery. i was having so much anxiety at this point it was like... dreamlike. getting wheeled into the OR was just surreal. i was like, no thoughts head empty, just taking everything in.
- once i got there the surgical team was very cool about keeping me calm tho. they were playing their like, pump-up music and one of the guys was like “hey fyi about halfway thru the surgery we will be turning the lights off and having a rave, just in the interest of full disclosure. promise not to leave any glowsticks in there tho” and i was like what no i would LOVE glowstick tiddies
- i had to kinda roll from my bed onto the operating table, which was significantly harder and smaller. that kinda made things feel real, so i got a little more anxious at that point.
- to help me calm down they had me breathe in some straightup oxygen thru a mask while they hooked my iv to the fluids and such, and the guy was like “WHOA you got some lungs on you dude” and i was like yeah thanks im recovering from hyperventilating
- then they let the anesthesia into the iv, letting me know the whole time what was happening, talking to me until i was just OUT, which was not a lot of conversation time because i was out in like 5 seconds or less. they didnt make me count down or anything, but i promise you it was nigh instantaneous.
POST OP
- it really was instantaneous. i know everyone says that but it really is the truth, it feels like the whole thing takes seconds. like one moment youre laying there in the OR feeling the drugs Hit, and the next youre waking up in the little wake-up room feelin kinda groggy with a nurse talking to you, and youre still druggy so youre just rambling to her about how fucked your voice sounds right now and as soon as shes contented that youre basically lucid they start wheeling you to your room where youll ACTUALLY stay while you recover.
- THE THING I WAS THE LEAST PREPARED FOR WAS MY THROAT
- your throat will Hurt afterwards, but even more than that, you will be producing So Much Mucus. my surgery took about 2 hours and during that time, all my muscles were paralyzed by the anesthesia, including my lungs, so i was on a breathing tube. my throat, understandably, hated this, and started producing Gallons Of Fucking Mucus to protect itself. it then continued to do this for the next two days or so. the nurses were encouraging me to breathe deep and cough Hard to combat this, and avoid getting pneumonia, so i did. but THAT hurt the tiddies. it was really a vicious cycle. but its necessary because god if i had to have pneumonia on top of all the other recovery shit?? god. 0/10 wouldnt recommend. so it might hurt but dont worry your tiddies wont bust open or anything.
- i spent basically the rest of the day still hooked up to all the machines i listed earlier, PLUS a thing that would beep at me if my heart rate went too high, which it did a lot because i have anxiety, but luckily the nurses didnt seem too concerned. it really kept my breathing on track though because if i didnt breathe deep enough my heart would shoot up super fast and it’d beep and god that was just annoying and im pretty sure that was The Point. you kinda have to get used to breathing again, and the beeping trained me.
- they gave me like a bunch of crackers and a huge mug of water to work on at my leisure. i actually had lunch pretty quick after waking up? i know a lot of people have nausea issues from anesthesia but i didnt experience any of that. i DID move like a fucking sloth while i was eating tho. the pain meds and general grogginess of recovery slowed my whole body down sooooo much. my mom was actually like “are you okay??? like neurologically??????” and i was, totally, i was just. on slo-mo.
- anyway i didnt have to get catheterized for this procedure thankfully but they DID make me measure my pee every time i went to the bathroom. like i had to pee in a little bucket attached to the toilet and the nurse had to come check it every time and i felt really weird about that. so idk just be prepared for that i guess lmao
- also idk if it was the pain meds or the anesthesia itself but post-op, i couldnt shit for like a week. the constipation is real so get u some fucking laxatives asap when you get home, this is not a joke lmao
- they also had me put on a belt every time i got up so the nurse could hold onto me in case i decided to fucking biff it. they got me up a couple times throughout the day/night to walk up and down the hallway outside and get my body used to being upright again
- oh speaking of i never got to lie down completely flat, they had my bed locked at like a 30 degree angle minimum to help with... something. im not quite sure what, but im not gonna question it
- when i got up the next morning they had a couple nurses come in and help me un-bandage so i could shower and finally look at what the tiddies looked like for the first time!! and it was exciting but i didnt cry like i expected lmao i think i was too drained and too distracted by the bleeding
- the bleeding wasnt too bad actually, just little beads kinda coming out of parts of the incisions between the stitches. but once i got in the shower obviously stuff started getting diluted in the water and it looked like a lot more than there actually was, so dont be alarmed by that!
- SHOWERING: its a little complicated. youre not supposed to soak the incisions, and youre not supposed to apply direct water pressure or actually touch them at this point. so what i had to do was get a washcloth wet and soapy (with antibacterial soap, i think it was hand soap honestly. hand soap’s what ive been using at home so........) and then just kinda. squeeze it at your collarbone and let it drip down over everything kinda minimally. its kind of a process but it works fine. washing your hair and like, tbh literally everything else is gonna be hard. reaching over your head is hard and scary at this point. i will admit my hair care Suffered the first week.
- then i got bandaged back up and they got me back into my own clothes and ready to go home! they also put a bra on me over the bandages in my new size. i was only there for about 24 hours total, since i didnt really have any complications.
- on the ride home i had to make sure the cross-chest part of the seat belt was NOT touching me. if whoevers driving you hits a pothole, your soul WILL exit your body tits-first for a moment. im sorry if you live somewhere like here in nebraska where the roads are garbage but its not gonna be fun.
ONCE YOU’RE HOME!!
- i live at home with my mom and sister and if you live alone, id try to have a friend basically move in for the first week. you will need Help with things. basic things. you’ll mostly want to sleep because of the pain meds but those made me pretty dizzy so it was cool having my mom around in case i like. fell on the way to the bathroom and died or anything like that.
- changing bandages is really kind of a 2-person affair too, and youll have to do it at least once a day post-shower, so keep that in mind.
- the bleeding is like, not that bad after that first day honestly. i never had to change the bandages more than just the once per day.
- basically from here the procedure is just to take it easy, get up every few hours and walk around a little to keep the blood clots at bay, and enjoy yr new silhouette basically
- worst thing about recovery honestly? im a stomach/side sleeper, and i cant manage anything other than laying flat on my back with my arms at my sides right now, and thats just like.... idk i really cant sleep like that. its not comfy. ive had to set up kind of a pillow fort around me to keep me from rolling over in my sleep bc im afraid i might hurt myself accidentally like that, but idk how well-founded that fear is.
- i will say as someone who did have back problems before this, the difference is IMMEDIATE. i literally had better posture like Day 1. im still a little hunched over because the stitches create a bit of tension in your chest, but like literally it was instantaneous. god. once i got healed to a point that i could like, kinda relax and not be so fucking tense all the time? back pain has basically just been GONE.
- other fun things to notice: i had some pretty significant stretch marks before, and now they are running in a completely different direction. i crossed my arms over my chest the other day and they actually touched my torso for the first time in like, well over a decade. if i close my eyes and try to grab my tiddy from muscle memory, i stop like a full 3 inches from where my tit actually starts now. the size i am now, just like, freeballing it? this is how i looked when i wore a binder before. if i wore a binder now i imagine id be completely flat, and honestly if i layer up at this point you cant really tell that i have anything more than the average chubby dude’s moobs, which as a kinda chubby person is totally fine.
its a trip relearning what i look like and what im supposed to feel like but its just. such a fucking improvement over where i was. absolutely no regrets, regardless of how hard recovery has felt at times. anyway i hope this information is at least interesting and maybe helpful to anybody considering anything similar!!
#words#top surgery#breast reduction#info post#again yall lemme know if you have questions abt anything i didnt cover here i tried to hit all my bases but u never know#teat yeet
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Season 14 Episode 3: Go Big or Go Home
Songs of the Episode:
Hey Mama by Maggie Eckford
Footprint by Molly Kate Kestner
Free Francesca Blanchard
Whatever You Want by Billie + Air
Synopsis:
This week's episode opens with Amelia reviewing her scans, Mer angrily/grumpily cleaning the house, frustrated that no one in the house is taking responsibility, and Bailey making sure the hospital is in tip top shape for the Harper Avery. Deluca wants Amelia to tell her family about the tumor and she shuts him down warning him not to violate HIPAA. We get the pleasure of seeing Alex run through Seattle... ahhh that man is FINEEEE!!! Everyone notices Grey’s new grumpy attitude (even Zola, who woah we actually get to see Mer’s kids this season, yay!)
Back at the hospital, Owen’s sister is healing faster than normal which is amazing, but is making Owen fearful that she’s going to leave soon. Mer is ignoring Nathan, but is glad to see a familiar face (but sadly not under the best circumstances, given he’s a patient) her old therapist Walter. He’s in the hospital due to a huge (nearly record breaking) clot, and all the interns want in on his surgery. Mer jokes that now he’s the one who “needs the tape and glue guy” (season 12 reference to when she was seeing him and just wanted someone to patch her up instead of unpack all of her baggage).
Arizona is in bliss with Carina, while April’s going through a lot at home. Jaggie has a moment where Maggie casually fixes his collar. Harper Avery arrives with everyone on edge and he’s a jerk. Meanwhile, Amelia’s arrogant mentor Tom arrives to remove her tumor, in which he tells her that “she hasn’t been of sound mind in years.” Great guy right? Wrong he’s horrible. Harper calls Jackson, Jackie (what? hope that nickname doesn’t stick) and is downright disrespectful to him.
Mer talks to Walt about her grumpy mood and they try to dissect the root of it. Amelia tells Webber about her tumor and Tom tells her that she’s not to work on any patients in her state. He also says she’s been a danger for years, since the tumor has been growing for over 10 years and has affected her impulses, moods, and planning. He even has the nerve to bring out Herman’s case, in which he faults her for her going blind.
Arizona has a pregnant patient who can’t have an epidural and assigns Warren to keep an eye on the patient because she’s a high risk case. Jolex has a steamy elevator scene!!!! Jolex was paged to a peds case where the kid’s hot air balloon for a hoco pro (homecoming proposal) went awry, and the balloon got burned onto his suit. But he’s dying to know if she said yes to his proposal.
Owen vents about Amelia to Megan when she’s had enough. She gives him some perspective when she tells him all she’s been through and how she’s feeling in comparison to his problems. Across the hospital Deluca tries to slyly tell Maggie about Amelia’s tumor through apologizing for the way things ended between them, but she totally misses the point and accepts his apology and thanks him for manning up. Mer continues to talk it out with Walt and explains how she’s been there for Riggs through everything with Megan, and he points out the love triangle. She says she’s done with them since she’s been a part of them all her life: her hubby (Derek, Mer, Addison), and raised in one (Ellis,Thatcher, Webber). He then asks her if Riggs is in love with her, and on cue he walks in... Maggie and Riggs present a risky new procedure to clear the clot and when they ask him to consult with his family over the major decision, we find out that he lost his wife 10 years ago, one son hates him and he hates the other.
Tom is surprised they didn’t see the signs related to Amelia’s tumor growth and she regrets calling him. April explains what a hoco pro is to Jo and Alex, when the girl Pete (the teen) shows up. They found his homemade sign in his pocket and ask for him, but the girl’s a bit skeptical. Webber tries to relate to Amelia by showing her his tumor from years back. Instead of getting comfort, she tells him that it's not a real tumor, that he is and he gets salty and walks away.
Mer is skeptical about the procedure for Walter and voices her concerns. After, she goes back to Walt and criticizes him for having similar problems. Carina recommends that Arizona’s patient seeks natural pain relief through sexual stimulation and Arizona thinks it's a bit too controversial and won’t let them do it. Back at the meeting with Avery things are not going well and he blames the women in charge for being too personal.
Amelia’s fearful that given how long this tumor has been growing, she may have placed her past patients in danger so she starts reviewing all her charts. Webber offers to take a look, proving that she in fact had a lower mortality rate than her brother Derek even with the tumor. He then tells her how important it is that she tell her family.
Jo and Alex make fun of Kepner over the hoco pro while in surgery together. She takes it to heart and explains that she wants them to maintain their teenage ideals because growing up changes everything. Walt questions Mer as to why she went for Riggs. To which she said that he got her given his situation with Megan and knew he couldn’t replace Derek. Walt is immediately impressed that she talking about her feelings and with himself for her growth before going into cardiac and respiratory distress.
Harper Avery pulls the funding for the hospital and then Bailey stands up to him, explaining herself and her decisions. Which is extremely impressive, but awfully threatening to a man in power, so he fires her and lets the hospital keep its funding. April intervenes when the girl wants to say no to the Hoco Pro. She tells her that “life is too short to care about your social media status!” Amen! YES APRIL! Robbins and Carina share a sensual moment, just as they find out Carina’s method works: baby starts crowning. Amelia finally tells Maggie about the tumor, in which Amelia finally lets her guard down, and cries. She asks Maggie to help her tell Owen and requests that she tell Mer because she can’t since Mer has always said she was crazy and this would prove her right and that’s what hurts her most of all (I mean if that doesn’t make you sob idk what will!) and they cry together. I must say their performance is magnificent!!
Katherine and Bailey try to figure out how to fix things with Harper, but go to find him.. dead. And with relief (I mean this man was mean, disrespectful, and by no means loving) they tell the hospital about his death and accomplishments. Bailey feels like a fraud and feels bad for staying chief, but Warren takes care of that ;). Mer waits for Walt to wake up post op and tells him she figured it out before she confronts Riggs who is packing to leave. She tells him that he betrayed her by betraying the dream they both had of their loved ones returning to them. She tells him to fight.
SUPER CUTE/CHEESY JOLEX MOMENT Jo does a hoco pro by waiting for Alex by his car and asks for him to move back home while holding a Homecoming? sign. I MEAN COME ON THAT’S ADORABLE. Tears of joy... tears of joy (no no not them, me).
Owen’s angry with Amelia, but stops in his tracks when he realizes the tumor on the walls behind her are her own. Maggie tells Mer. Amelia gets admitted with Owen at her side and then Mer jumps into bed to comfort her. They’re all by her side now.
A few additional thoughts:
It broke my heart to see Amelia in pain, especially when she thought she had caused harm to her previous patients. When Webber told her that her mortality rate was lower than Derek’s, not only was I impressed but I was so proud of her. Everyone has always doubted her ability given her past with substance abuse and of course they compare her to her brother, but here she proved herself. But what’s interesting, is that if you’ve watched her journey on both Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy, you’ll realize that we’ve actually never known Amelia without a tumor, given she’s been living with it for ten years. So what does this mean for her if she survives the surgery? Which is a scary statement, you know, the idea that she could die. I love her character and feel she’s grown so much throughout the years, even with the tumor causing some alterations. But that’s just it, if she survives, who will she be? Honestly we will meet a whole new character. But will she be okay? Will she survive the surgery unscathed? Will she still be able to be a surgeon? Really it all comes down to, what does the surgery mean for Amelia? Will she live or will she die? Who will she be at the end of next week's episode? Praying for you Amelia. <3
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I am so proud of Meredith’s development. She’s actually talking about her feelings and then acting on them. She’s growing and healing, which is a beautiful thing. She’s finally expressed her feelings about the way Nathan is handling things with Megan. He gets the opportunity most people only dream of, and as Mer said, he’s wasting it! I’m glad she gave him the push to fight for his love, even through the mess (let’s just hope he takes her advice to heart). Because well that’s what life is about sometimes, things are a little messy before they’re all you’ve ever wanted. There’s never a perfect time to fight for what you want or feel, sometimes you have to just go for it and clean up the mess as you go. This reminds me so much of Mark Sloan, where he tells Avery in season nine just before he dies: “If you love someone, you tell’em even if you’re scared that it’s not the right thing, even if you’re scared it’ll cause problems, even if you’re scared it’ll burn your life to the ground [that parts a bit intense, idk if I’d go that far, but I get his point and miss him so much!], you say it and you say it loud, and then you go from there.” Because honestly at the end of the day, isn’t it better to know and maybe be wrong, heal and move on, than to wonder the rest of your life what could’ve been if you tried?
Finally: JOLEX IS MOVING BACK IN TOGETHER WOO HOOO! I mean did you really think I wouldn’t include them at the end… haha rookie mistake! But as you can see I’m so happy for them and Jo’s hoco pro was absolutely adorable! Their love is just so pure. <3
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10-15-2018: introduction and catch-up
Hi there! For my first post, I’m just going to talk a bit about where I am right now and the steps I took to get there.
I’ve wanted top surgery since I was 16 in the summer of 2015, several months after I figured out my gender. It was mostly a vague idea back then, but I got more and more serious about it as high school went on and my dysphoria got more concrete. By the time I hit senior year in 2017, I was sure that I wanted top surgery--someday.
College stress over the past couple of years, worsening my dysphoria, has pushed that “someday” into a definite “asap.” A month or so ago, in September of 2018, I took all the scattered research I’ve done on top surgery over the years (mostly through the incomparable @transgenderteensurvivalguide) and stuck it in a very rough google doc for fine-tuning. At that time, I also located my nearest top surgeon, Dr. Clifford King in Madison, Wisconsin, and saved his website (topsurgerymidwest.com) for future reference. Then I texted my parents and let them know that I’m serious about this. They were both supportive and offered to help however they could.
A few weeks ago, I made an appointment with a therapist based on-campus and talked to him about trans stuff, knowing at that point that Dr. King requires a letter of support from a mental health professional and the insurance (Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield, through my mom’s work) might too. He said he was more than willing to write me a letter whenever I have more concrete plans and requirements.
Earlier today, I condensed my rough google doc into a nice, concrete to-do list and set of questions for my surgeon (tailored to Dr. King). It looks like I’ll need double-incision or inverted-T. We live close enough to Madison (about a 2-hour drive) that I probably won’t have to stay in a hotel in the area, but that’s something I’ll have to talk to Dr. King about.
My next step from here is to figure out whether my insurance will cover me, and if so, what I have to do to be eligible for coverage. To do that, I’m going to start by calling Dr. King’s office, asking to talk to the billing department, and asking them if they have experience with my insurance and can give me an idea of what will be involved. Then, if necessary, I’ll call the actual insurance people. Mainly I want to find out whether they need a letter with different contents than Dr. King’s, and whether I’ll need to pretend to be a guy or if they’ll cover nonbinary folks.
That might take a while to get around to, because phone calls are scary and I don’t like them, but I have a script written up so fingers crossed.
I’ll get back to you when I’ve made some phone calls and have some insurance information. See y’all next time!
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