Hello. I am a post-operative(14 years now)transgendered woman and I'd like to share the experience I had with Dr. Oates and Dr. Slama.
For a number of years, I'd been considering revision surgery to build up my labia;move them closer together; and remove a tiny amount of spongiosum from the mouth of my vaginal canal. The cost of doing so was prohibitive, so it didn't happen. When I found out MassHealth was covering transgender surgeries, I went to my primary care physician and asked how I could go about undergoing surgery covered by MassHealth. My physician at the Fenway Community Health Center immediately referred me to Dr. Robert Oates at the Boston Medical Center. My initial meeting with him took place in July of 2016. He examined me; then, told me to get back to him in February of 2017. In February, I scheduled another appointment and ended up seeing him again in April or May. After this second visit, Oates referred to Dr. Jaromir Slama. It took two months for him to see me because his "transgender coordinator" Supraja was out of the office. When my appointment was made, it was scheduled for the eight o'clock hour in the morning; that's before the hospital is even opened up.
During my interview and examination by Slama, I asked if I'd need to abstain from alcohol before my operation; he said he'd get back to me with a response. He didn't. This can be an issue for anyone planning to undergo any kind of surgery. After waiting for a response for a week; I called his office asking for a response and was told he'd left the country. So I called up Dr. Robert Oates' office with the same question and never got a response from him. Via e-mail and phone messages to his secretary, Erica Baptista(she did get back to me), I must have made five or so contact attempts; to no avail.
Now; I was given a surgery date in October of last year, but I had to cancel it since I wasn't given an answer to my question. I know what it's like to experience complications after these surgeries; orchiectomy in 2001 and full SRS in 2004. One other thing; there was a pre-surgery appointment that was set up for me right before my surgery date with someone named Karen. It was scheduled at least a week in advance for ten o'clock in the morning. Since I rely on public transit in the Greater Boston Area(I live in Marlborough), travelling into Boston can be timely and quite inconvenient at certain times. This ten o'clock appointment was convenient and well planned, but the day before I was called by one of Slama's secretaries and was told to come in in the eight o'clock hour, again. I simply couldn't do it on such short notice.
I was never told that MassHealth pays for these transgender surgeries out of state the entire time. I implore you to read the reviews of Dr. Robert Oates on physicians rating sites before considering him as your SRS surgeon. You will hear nice and not so nice reviews from his cisgendered fertility patients and his transgendered patients. Consider your options.
<Edited by moderator>
