consult w/ Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner

[Azahara]

Hello everyone! =)  So effective this past July 1st, Maryland State Employee healthcare insurance plans officially eliminated gender identity exclusions from coverage, and incredibly added a "Gender Dysphoria" benefits section that includes HRT, HRT-related labs, and all of the applicable surgeries involved ftm/mtf physical transition, including breast augmentation!

I'm covered under a maryland state employee healthcare plan, and it looks like the only in-network provider who performs mtf SRS is Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner.

She's affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical Center Department of Plastic Surgery in Baltimore, Maryland, but also appears to have a private practice closeby in Baltimore.

I can't find any good info on her or her philosophy on SRS nor the standards of care/ethics she goes by...basically I need to make sure they line up with the "Gender Dysphoria" stipulations in my CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Maryland Point of Service insurance.  Of course these are things that can be brought up during a consult, I suppose.

If anyone is interested in the exact wording of the new coverage/benefits, it was part of public legal settlement that hit state-wide news just 2 weeks ago!  I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post external links or not so to be on the safe side I won't until someone informs me otherwise/has interest.

ANYWAY, has anyone heard of Dr. Bluebond-Langner?  Or had any surgeries with her?

I have a number of questions I'd like to ask Dr. Bluebond when I have the consult 2 weeks from now.  Would anyone have any suggestions, or things that perhaps you wish you would've asked during your consultation?  I feel like I'm gonna have to jam a lot of questions in there, with pretty much nothing online to go by...

I guess it comes down to...once I've been on HRT and had 12 months of living experience I qualify within my insurance plan for the various SRS procedures.  But they're ONLY covered if the physician is in-network...and Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner is it for my entire network area!!

Unless anyone else knows surgeons who perform SRS in Maryland, Washington DC, or Northern Virgina (Fairfax/Arlington area)?

Well this has been a bit of stream of consciousness...sorry if it's come out a bit jumbled.  Any insight or advice would be appreciated!

[suzifrommd]

I'm a fellow Marylander. When I looked into SRS last year, she was not on my radar. I don't think she's been doing it for long.

A lot of Maryland folk go up I-95 to Philly where there are three really experienced surgeons, Sherman Lies, Christine McGinn, and Kathy Rumer. I wasn't impressed with Lies and it was to hard to get in to see McGinn, so I ended up booking with Rumer.

Things to ask her: How long have you been practicing? How many of these have you done? What have you changed to make your technique more successful over the years? What kind of complications do you see most often, and what do you do about it? What have you done to keep up with the latest recommendations, and what have you changed based on that? Also, ask about aftercare arrangements.

Most important - gauge your comfort level with her as a person and as a professional. Do you have confidence in her? Is she attentive to questions?

[cassie.rw]

Hi to the both of you. I too have lived in MD & Ohio most my life, shuttled between Grand parents and my biological mother.  I'm a Surgical PA by profession.  i left MD for the military and most my adult life and returned in 2009 retiring from civilian work and as of this year discharge from my military duty.  I checked around and just the same i was referred to Rachel's medical practice to have a bi-lat orchiectomy (no SRS).  She came highly recommended but i have yet to contact her.  i was given Andrea's phone number (her staff nurse).  besides the VA benefits which I will never submit too, i personally havent carried health insurance since 2009.  i am hoping she takes self payees  .   I am choosing the orchi vs SRS because I personally never had surgery before except at birth (circumcision), i never had a broken bone either albeit i have been involved with or performed surgery on 20K+ individuals from Cardiac to Dermatology.  overall, the orchi procedure is a lot less and performed most in an out-patient facility.  i know this reply might be late in response so please do follow up and tell us about your experience.  i really dont want to travel out of state as others have done.


Cassie, cassie.rw,
splitn2@ymail.com,

[mrs izzy]

I'm a fellow Marylander. When I looked into SRS last year, she was not on my radar. I don't think she's been doing it for long.

A lot of Maryland folk go up I-95 to Philly where there are three really experienced surgeons, Sherman Lies, Christine McGinn, and Kathy Rumer. I wasn't impressed with Lies and it was to hard to get in to see McGinn, so I ended up booking with Rumer.

Things to ask her: How long have you been practicing? How many of these have you done? What have you changed to make your technique more successful over the years? What kind of complications do you see most often, and what do you do about it? What have you done to keep up with the latest recommendations, and what have you changed based on that? Also, ask about aftercare arrangements.

Most important - gauge your comfort level with her as a person and as a professional. Do you have confidence in her? Is she attentive to questions?

Great points. Also ask if she has pictures or references from former GCS patients.

Me I see this network thing as a problem. Now besides all the hoops there is gate keeping on surgeons.

[Jaelithe]

Please do let us know how things went.  She's also my only discovered option in my insurance network.

[rambrose]

Hi everyone. I am scheduled for my consult with Dr. Manger on May 10, 2016. I live in Philadelphia which does have three GRS Surgeon's. In my case I am on Medicare and none of the surgeon's here accept Medicare. Through THEE Trans care practice here, Mazzoni Center, recommended and connected me with Dr. langer. Mazzoni had been my care provider from the beginning of my transition over 8yrs ago, so I trust them and the places they may refer me to. Dr. langer received all her training at world renowned Johns-Hopkins. So she has had the best training there is. My interaction so far, over the phone and in email, with staff there including her assistant, has been great. I'm looking forward to meeting Dr. Langer and the rest of the staff.

Rachel

[Jacqueline]

Hi everyone. I am scheduled for my consult with Dr. Manger on May 10, 2016. I live in Philadelphia which does have three GRS Surgeon's. In my case I am on Medicare and none of the surgeon's here accept Medicare. Through THEE Trans care practice here, Mazzoni Center, recommended and connected me with Dr. langer. Mazzoni had been my care provider from the beginning of my transition over 8yrs ago, so I trust them and the places they may refer me to. Dr. langer received all her training at world renowned Johns-Hopkins. So she has had the best training there is. My interaction so far, over the phone and in email, with staff there including her assistant, has been great. I'm looking forward to meeting Dr. Langer and the rest of the staff.

Rachel

Rachel,

Welcome to the site.

Great to hear you have some good support. Hope the consult goes well. As you may have noticed, this is a very supportive site with members that have a lot of good information.

I also wanted to share some links. They have welcome info as well as the rules of the site. If you have not done so already, please take a moment to go through them:

Things that you should read

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By	Standard Terms & Definitions	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar)
Reputation rules	News posting & quoting guidelines	Photo, avatars, & signature images policy

Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, ask questions and continue to join in. I hope you find what you are looking for here.

With warmth,

Joanna

[andreapdenver]

I am doing my GRS with Dr. Satterwhite in SanFran.  They work with insurance.  I found an article on your proposed doc.  http://baltimorestyle.com/13279/mind-body-connection/

Good Luck!

[NYCTSGirl01]

Does anyone know how this went?

I'm planing a consult with her and would like some feedback.

[Gail20]

I set up a spread sheet in late January and began searching for the right GRS Surgeon for me.  I live in the Midwest but I looked at almost 50 all around the country. I decided that, with decent discounts, travel costs would be about the same everywhere so I did not rule out anyone due to distance.

In the end it was clear that there were quite a few that were experienced and could do a good job. It was also clear, that for the most part, in the end, most are satisfied with the surgeon they use so they recommend them to us here.  I started to look for more nuance in deciding which one to go with.

On April 4th I met with Dr Bluebond-Langner at NYU. She had been doing GRS in Baltimore out of the University of Maryland but was recruited by NYU to start-up a Gender Surgery unit for them. http://nyulangone.org/press-releases/nyu-langone-expands-its-transgender-program-with-recruitment-of-renowned-reconstructive-plastic-surgeon Her educational credentials are absolutely top of her class and predicted she would be an excellent surgeon.

She had been teaming with a Urologist at the University of Maryland and she is doing the same at NYU. They use "robotics" in their surgery; its very accurate and very cutting edge. The team approach makes great sense to me.  You take 2 or more surgeons, who are experts in their discipline, and you put them together!

Yes she's good but she appears to be far and away absolutely #1 in bedside manner. I heard she was nice but this woman is absolutely the nicest doctor I've ever met, and I'm 65. She makes rounds on Saturdays!

Also, while I was there waiting to see her a guy came in and identified himself as the "NYU LGBT Representative".   He said he would be following my case and would be with me before and after surgery to make sure all went well and that I was happy and my needs were being well met!!!

Sooooooooo . . .  the net is I'm having surgery at NYU on August 11th with her and her team. They originally gave me a date of 1/4/18 but called me last week and moved me up to 8/11. . . 

[SaerJoe]

I set up a spread sheet in late January and began searching for the right GRS Surgeon for me.  I live in the Midwest but I looked at almost 50 all around the country. I decided that, with decent discounts, travel costs would be about the same everywhere so I did not rule out anyone due to distance.

In the end it was clear that there were quite a few that were experienced and could do a good job. It was also clear, that for the most part, in the end, most are satisfied with the surgeon they use so they recommend them to us here.  I started to look for more nuance in deciding which one to go with.

On April 4th I met with Dr Bluebond-Langner at NYU. She had been doing GRS in Baltimore out of the University of Maryland but was recruited by NYU to start-up a Gender Surgery unit for them. http://nyulangone.org/press-releases/nyu-langone-expands-its-transgender-program-with-recruitment-of-renowned-reconstructive-plastic-surgeon Her educational credentials are absolutely top of her class and predicted she would be an excellent surgeon.

She had been teaming with a Urologist at the University of Maryland and she is doing the same at NYU. They use "robotics" in their surgery; its very accurate and very cutting edge. The team approach makes great sense to me.  You take 2 or more surgeons, who are experts in their discipline, and you put them together!

Yes she's good but she appears to be far and away absolutely #1 in bedside manner. I heard she was nice but this woman is absolutely the nicest doctor I've ever met, and I'm 65. She makes rounds on Saturdays!

Also, while I was there waiting to see her a guy came in and identified himself as the "NYU LGBT Representative".   He said he would be following my case and would be with me before and after surgery to make sure all went well and that I was happy and my needs were being well met!!!

Sooooooooo . . .  the net is I'm having surgery at NYU on August 11th with her and her team. They originally gave me a date of 1/4/18 but called me last week and moved me up to 8/11. . . 

Hi Gail20,

So thank you so much for your post, and I imagine, if your surgery was just August 11, that you are well in to recovery and we all wish you well.  I just booked a consult with Dr Bluebond-Langner for Dec 4, and am looking forward to it.  My other alternate, the Belgrade Center in Belgrade Serbia, with Dr Miroslav Djordjevic I am still awaiting a response from.  From what I hear from another admin on this forum (FTMax), and from doing some personal research, is that the surgeries in Europe and Asia can often be less expensive, even with travel, than we can find here even with insurance.  That being said, from what research I have done I understand Dr BL is wonderful, although her approach to care is reported to encompass more rounds of surgeries than some others.

Mostly--I wanted to follow up with you and see how you were doing post-op, and surely--to be here in support for you, and this community, as we move and grow toward our very best selves!

SaerJoe

[Gail20]

Dr Bluebond-Langner teams with one of NYU's top Urologists (Dr Zhao) and they use a robot extensively in the surgery.  There is only one surgery; penile inversion. This is cutting edge and I believe this is the future of GCS surgery

Its a teaching hospital so both Dr B's and Dr Zhao's teams visit every morning; weekends too.  These are extremely bright young people. In the end I saw at least a dozen Dr's each day while in the hospital. Nothing gets by them . . .

Their work blows me away. My Clit, Urethra and Vagina already look like they've been there all my life.  Only the stitches in my leg creases and below my Vagina give it away.  No problems with infection of any kind or dead skin. I could not be happier with the results . . . .

NYU-Langone Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the world. They attract the best an brightest talent The care is state of the art. . .

[SaerJoe]

Dr Bluebond-Langner teams with one of NYU's top Urologists (Dr Zhao) and they use a robot extensively in the surgery.  There is only one surgery; penile inversion. This is cutting edge and I believe this is the future of GCS surgery

Its a teaching hospital so both Dr B's and Dr Zhao's teams visit every morning; weekends too.  These are extremely bright young people. In the end I saw at least a dozen Dr's each day while in the hospital. Nothing gets by them . . .

Their work blows me away. My Clit, Urethra and Vagina already look like they've been there all my life.  Only the stitches in my leg creases and below my Vagina give it away.  No problems with infection of any kind or dead skin. I could not be happier with the results . . . .

NYU-Langone Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the world. They attract the best an brightest talent The care is state of the art. . .

Awesome!!!!!!!!!


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[Dee Marshall]

Dr Bluebond-Langner teams with one of NYU's top Urologists (Dr Zhao) and they use a robot extensively in the surgery.  There is only one surgery; penile inversion. This is cutting edge and I believe this is the future of GCS surgery

Its a teaching hospital so both Dr B's and Dr Zhao's teams visit every morning; weekends too.  These are extremely bright young people. In the end I saw at least a dozen Dr's each day while in the hospital. Nothing gets by them . . .

Their work blows me away. My Clit, Urethra and Vagina already look like they've been there all my life.  Only the stitches in my leg creases and below my Vagina give it away.  No problems with infection of any kind or dead skin. I could not be happier with the results . . . .

NYU-Langone Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the world. They attract the best an brightest talent The care is state of the art. . .

This makes me very happy. Dr. Bluebond-Langner is the only Dr. my insurance has in this area.

:

April 22, 2015, the day of my first face to face pass in gender neutral clothes and no makeup. It may be months to the next one, but I'm good with that!

Being transgender is just a phase. It hardly ever starts before conception and always ends promptly at death.

They say the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. I say, climb aboard!

Think outside the voice box!

[Sydney_NYC]

Dr Bluebond-Langner teams with one of NYU's top Urologists (Dr Zhao) and they use a robot extensively in the surgery.  There is only one surgery; penile inversion. This is cutting edge and I believe this is the future of GCS surgery

Its a teaching hospital so both Dr B's and Dr Zhao's teams visit every morning; weekends too.  These are extremely bright young people. In the end I saw at least a dozen Dr's each day while in the hospital. Nothing gets by them . . .

Their work blows me away. My Clit, Urethra and Vagina already look like they've been there all my life.  Only the stitches in my leg creases and below my Vagina give it away.  No problems with infection of any kind or dead skin. I could not be happier with the results . . . .

NYU-Langone Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the world. They attract the best an brightest talent The care is state of the art. . .

I'm very happy to hear and I've seen other results of her work in person including a revision from a botched surgery by another surgeon. I'm scheduled for mine on Nov 2nd in less than 8 weeks and nervous and excited at the same time. Hearing another positive outcome (and no negative ones) certainly makes me more at ease. I'm lucky in that she is local to me but I still had to go out of network (but being treated as in network due to state laws) since no doctors in my network performs this surgery.

[Gail20]

That being said, from what research I have done I understand Dr BL is wonderful, although her approach to care is reported to encompass more rounds of surgeries than some others.

No she does not have additional rounds of surgeries!!  She teams with another surgeon. They use multiple surgeons, not multiple surgeries!!! She teams with one of NYU's top Urology surgeons.  He does all the internal reconstruction work because he does this type of reconstructive surgery everyday.  Dr Bluebond-Langner then takes over and makes it all pretty. . . Its a Team approach where you get two top surgeons working in tandem.  Both use robotics.  This is state of the art and it only involves ONE SURGERY!!!  I see this "team approach" as the future of GCS . . . .

[SaerJoe]

No she does not have additional rounds of surgeries!!  She teams with another surgeon. They use multiple surgeons, not multiple surgeries!!! She teams with one of NYU's top Urology surgeons.  He does all the internal reconstruction work because he does this type of reconstructive surgery everyday.  Dr Bluebond-Langner then takes over and makes it all pretty. . . Its a Team approach where you get two top surgeons working in tandem.  Both use robotics.  This is state of the art and it only involves ONE SURGERY!!!  I see this "team approach" as the future of GCS . . . .

Hi Gail20--and thanks for your comments.  My comments referring to Dr BL and multiple stages are reflective of comments by other FTM's across a handful of forums.  Perhaps FTM v MTF GCS is approached a bit different?  My understanding is that Dr BL likes FTM's to have already had a hysterectomy prior to any phallo surgery, while others combine them.  Depending upon surgeon, glansplasty is often done in a subsequent stage.  The definitive answer for me regarding Dr BL will come Dec 4 when I have a consult with her.  My only other selection of skilled surgeon right now is Dr Miroslav Djordjevic in Serbia for phallo.  My preference is to use the most "practiced" of surgeons, and for that reason am still a bit hesitant with the program at Mt Sinai (Ting), although I've made contact with them.  The best news is that techniques and progress is being made on all fronts in surgical techniques, and that's a very welcome thing -- finally -- in the United States.


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[Gail20]

So sorry SaerJoe, I thought you were referencing MTF not FTM. .. . Yes, she does a lot of the FTM work but I have very little knowledge of it. . . . I can say that I was so, so impressed with NYU-Langone Medical Center.  Its such an enormous teaching facility.  Everything is state of the art. They also have a dedicated LGBT RN liaison (Kevin) who has been in constant contact with me post surgery to mark progress and answer any questions and concerns.  Its a good program. . .

[Sydney_NYC]

They also have a dedicated LGBT RN liaison (Kevin) who has been in constant contact with me post surgery to mark progress and answer any questions and concerns.  Its a good program. . .

Kevin is awesome When a close friend was having her surgery with Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner, my wife and I were there as her support system while here in the NYC area. Kevin was there to make sure everything was as it should be and in the mornings when I couldn't make it to see our friend, he called me with updates. Looks like I will be seeing him again in 6 weeks, 4 days for my surgery with Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner, but who's counting, LOL.

[SaerJoe]

So sorry SaerJoe, I thought you were referencing MTF not FTM. .. . Yes, she does a lot of the FTM work but I have very little knowledge of it. . . . I can say that I was so, so impressed with NYU-Langone Medical Center.  Its such an enormous teaching facility.  Everything is state of the art. They also have a dedicated LGBT RN liaison (Kevin) who has been in constant contact with me post surgery to mark progress and answer any questions and concerns.  Its a good program. . .

Awesome.  I cannot wait for my consult with Dr BL on Dec 4.  I've heard great things, and am so pleased that these programs are finally now growing and improving daily.  Yay!!


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