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Started by JohnAlex, September 07, 2013, 07:50:58 PM

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MacG

I didn't ask! I had so many other questions. Dr. Hansen was my best option for many other reasons. I'd seen a few results and liked what I saw.

Steve_Chops

Can Confirm that Dr. Hansen at OHSU does an excellent job.

My top surgery was June 8th, and now I'm 1 month post-op and everything is healing fine and looking pretty good. I'm too shy to post pics, so will describe my experience/results with you guys looking for a local doctor for surgery.

My nipples are placed wide enough, a good male position and appearance. I had to get the double incision because I am a larger fellow, but so far my scars are really not bad at all. I still have some of the glue/dark stitches have not all come off yet, places where it has come off, my scar looks very small and light pink, aka healing very well.

When my drains were removed after about 10 days, I did notice I had some swelling like under my arms/my back, was a little worried I'd have terrible "dog ears" but the swelling has gone down a lot and most of that skin that seemed kinda loose/puffy has retracted and I'm very happy about that.

All in all, after only 1 month of healing, my chest is looking very good. I have no real complaints and have confidence it will continue to improve after more time has passed.

The billing department said they usually take 30 days for the bill to come, I'm still waiting for mine. I received noticed that they are a little backed up and that there was a delay in processing. But, when it does arrive my bill should be around $2,650.00, that was their estimate, as my insurance is supposed to pick up 70% of the bill.

(The surgery staff are great, good bedside manner, as I was very much afraid, this being my first surgery, they took really good care of me.)

My only advice I would give is to try and not use your arms much after surgery, and try to sleep on your back, it sucks but I think it makes a big difference in the healing process to give yourself plenty of rest and for your body to heal.

Hope that helps anyone looking for / needing surgery.
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hobbsey11

Hey everyone, I had my surgery with Dr Hansen in April.
I do not have any before pictures to show and all my other pictures need to be cropped. I will get a current picture up soon.
Dr. Hansen is a wonderful human being, very kind. I was very cofident in her skills. I feel she did a great job. I did have to have the surgery at the main hospital because I have apnea. The staff there was wonderful.
I live in Seattle so I had to stay in Oregon overnight. I had the drains in for 6 days with very little drainage. My recovery was very smooth after the drains came out. My nipples healed well.
My insurance covered the surgery and I could not give accurate figures for someone who didn't have sleep apnea and my exact situation.
I highly recommend OSHU and Dr. Hansen.
I would be glad to answer any questions you have.
I will post a picture when I figure out how
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40winx

Quote from: Adam_ on February 23, 2015, 01:56:33 PM
This is the first I've heard about having to pay up front! When I went in for my consult, Dr. Hansen asked how i planned to pay for it and I told her that Providence had told me that it was covered under my plan and that I had a Flexible Spending Account to cover my out of pocket expenses and that was all that was said about it so I'm sure she would have mentioned it at that point if it still applied.

As far as Providence goes, they've been awesome with my entire transition. I was already about a year and a half on t when I got my policy with them and they haven't given me a single fight over anything being covered. If you haven't already, I would suggest calling them and seeing if you can talk with a nurse case manager about gender reassignment surgery. They has a guy named Sean help me through the process with it from start to finish. Everyone is at different points within their transition so it's nice to have someone who knows what they're talking about and knows exactly what order things need to be done in. They can help you get the ball rolling.

I'm not sure if all Providence plans pay for this, I just know mine is for sure because I'm a state employee. But under Oregon State law I think they're legally forced to pay for it so just give them a call and see if it's even covered and if it's not on your plan, what you have to do to get it covered. Like I said before they've been awesome throughout this whole process, even calling me by my preferred name and pronouns. If you have any more questions, feel free to send me a message!

Hey again Adam_!

I am officially moving forward and have a consult with Dr. Hansen, but not for a few months. Do you mind if I toss a few Providence questions your way? We have the Open plan. They talk about how their coverage is for 20% of what's "Customary and Reasonable" but when I called, Providence won't tell me what they consider "Customary and Reasonable" to be in this case. Did you have anything come up with that in dealing with them? I am guessing Dr Hansen's fee is in that realm or it might have come up in the thread beforehand, but I am terrified of finding myself with an extra couple thousand dollars on my bill because of it. :P

Thanks so much for any advice! I hope things are still going awesome with you! :)
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Adam_


Quote from: 40winx on August 11, 2015, 02:01:55 PM
Hey again Adam_!

I am officially moving forward and have a consult with Dr. Hansen, but not for a few months. Do you mind if I toss a few Providence questions your way? We have the Open plan. They talk about how their coverage is for 20% of what's "Customary and Reasonable" but when I called, Providence won't tell me what they consider "Customary and Reasonable" to be in this case. Did you have anything come up with that in dealing with them? I am guessing Dr Hansen's fee is in that realm or it might have come up in the thread beforehand, but I am terrified of finding myself with an extra couple thousand dollars on my bill because of it. :P

Thanks so much for any advice! I hope things are still going awesome with you! :)

I never really had any conversations about prices with Providence. When I called they told me it was a covered procedure and that my only cost would be my $1,500 out of pocket maximum, which I paid the day of surgery to OHSU. I recently got a bill from the anesthesia department for over $16,000, though and Providence still has not paid on it whatsoever even though the rest was paid in May so I guess I'll have to make some phone calls and get to the bottom of that. But they never really gave me a number since it was a totally covered procedure with my plan. Sorry I can't be of more help with your situation!
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EN_PDX

I know it's been almost a year since this post has been active, but I'm gonna ask a question anyway...

For those of you who have had surgery with Dr. Hansen, how long did you have to wait til you found out your surgery date after the consultation? My consultation was 2 months ago. The last update I got was a little over 3 weeks ago regarding my insurance. Scheduling a surgery date is the next step, but I'm still waiting to hear back. Just wondering if it normally takes this long.
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ridleysw

EN_PDX: I had surgery with Dr. Hansen on February 4th (2016).  My consultation was October 28th, 2015.  My insurance (Providence) gave their pre-authorization clearance in mid-November, but I didn't get my surgery date until January 11th. 

She started getting a lot of publicity (both getting known in our community as well as OHSU developing an outreach and marketing program for the transgender-related health care services they are investing in), so her wait times went from a couple months to (the most recent approximation given to someone waiting for their surgery date) now 6-8 months out after the consultation.  After the insurance approval is solidified, you are added to the queue of people waiting for their surgery date.  OHSU's operating room schedule is only posted once a month, generally about a month ahead... I was one of the last people they squeezed into the February schedule, which is why there were only a couple weeks between getting scheduled and the actual date.  But scheduling time aside, I am SO happy with Dr. Hansen - both her surgical work and her amazing patient care/bedside manner.  She's a remarkable human and surgeon!

FOR PROVIDENCE FOLKS: I am extremely, extremely fortunate because it ended up being much less expensive than originally expected.  I was expecting to pay the $3000 out-of-pocket maximum (this quote was given by both OHSU and Providence), but because of how everything was coded in the end, I only paid ~$200 (I had already met my $250 deductible for the year).  This is not par for the course, but it was a huge gift from the Universe for me.  Hansen's office charges insurance before ever sending a bill, so other than my usual visit co-pay for the consultation and pre-op appointment, the final bill wasn't given to me until almost two months after the surgery (because it took that long for insurance to pay them and for them to finalize the bill for me).

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions about Dr. Hansen and/or Providence coverage.  I'm happy to share my experiences.
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EN_PDX

Ridleysw, thanks for all the helpful information!

I feel a little better knowing the wait is normal. However, I need way more time than just 3 weeks to ask for an entire month off from work (I do lots of lifting at my job so I won't be able to return any time soon)...I've been told several times that my date will probably be closer to August. Hopefully I'll hear something at the beginning of July.

Thanks agains!
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Alexthecat

Quote from: EN_PDX on June 08, 2016, 07:18:54 PM
Ridleysw, thanks for all the helpful information!

I feel a little better knowing the wait is normal. However, I need way more time than just 3 weeks to ask for an entire month off from work (I do lots of lifting at my job so I won't be able to return any time soon)...I've been told several times that my date will probably be closer to August. Hopefully I'll hear something at the beginning of July.

Thanks agains!
You could casually mention it to your boss now and say you don't have the dates yet but to just let them know it is coming up.

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Jacqueline

Quote from: EN_PDX on June 07, 2016, 09:35:01 AM
I know it's been almost a year since this post has been active, but I'm gonna ask a question anyway...

For those of you who have had surgery with Dr. Hansen, how long did you have to wait til you found out your surgery date after the consultation? My consultation was 2 months ago. The last update I got was a little over 3 weeks ago regarding my insurance. Scheduling a surgery date is the next step, but I'm still waiting to hear back. Just wondering if it normally takes this long.

EN_PDX,

Welcome to the site. I hope you find what you are looking for.

I wanted to share some links we try to pass along to newly posting members. It is mostly welcome info and the rules of the site. If you have not had a chance to look them over, please do so:

Things that you should read





Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, keep asking questions and join in.

With warmth,

Joanna
1st Therapy: February 2015
First Endo visit & HRT StartJanuary 29, 2016
Jacqueline from Joanna July 18, 2017
Full Time June 1, 2018





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