GCS with Dr Bowers on Sept 7

[CrysC]

Holy crap!  it's just a week away!!!!
 
Somehow it feels like it caught me by surprise even though it hasn't. 
For the record I met with Dr Bowers in August 2015 and got on both the wait list and the cancellation list.  My original date was May 2017 but the cancellation list does work if you can be flexible. 
I expect to down there 11 days.  After surgery I have three days in the hospital, three days out, post op, then can fly home a day later. 
The follow up with my doc is a month from the surgery date.
Dilation is 3 times a day for 3 months and then 2 times a day for 9 months. 

My procedure is at Mills Peninsula in Burlingame CA.  I'm staying at the Staybridge Suites nearby. 
I had to stop all my meds, estrogen and spiro, two weeks ahead of time.  Also vitamins and fish oil. 

My various doctors have all seen her work before and say that you can't tell it apart from the 'real' thing.  I'm definitely looking forward to not seeing what I do now though feel oddly sentimental about it going away. 

My main worry is where to dilate in the middle of the day.  I don't have a good place at work to do this.  There are no private places I can lock up except perhaps some single person bathrooms. 

Anyhow, shout out with any questions you might have about the experience and wish me luck. 

[KimSails]

Congratulations and good luck!  My surgery is a few weeks after yours.  We will just miss each other.

regarding meds, this is the information I received:
Reduce your estrogen dosage <Dosages Not Allowed> two weeks prior to surgery. At the same time, stop Progesterone, Anti­androgens, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, herbal supplements, blood thinners. YOU MUST STOP ANY BLOOD THINNING PRODUCTS. Call if you are taking any additional medications or have questions.


So, based on this you should still be taking some estrogen up until you need to stop everything but clear liquids the day before surgery.

I will be very interested in seeing updates here if and when you are up for it!

Moderator Edit

[Devlyn]

Yays on getting in early!    I've seen Dr Bowers work, I expect that you'll be pleased.

Hugs, Devlyn

[Rachel]

Congratulations.

[kaitylynn]

OMG, that is awesome news!  Best of energy for you and cannot wait to here how you are doing post

[CrysC]

Thanks all for the well wishes.  I will totally update with a follow up.

Congratulations and good luck!  My surgery is a few weeks after yours.  We will just miss each other.

regarding meds, this is the information I received:
Reduce your estrogen dosage <Dosages Not Allowed> two weeks prior to surgery. At the same time, stop Progesterone, Anti­androgens, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, herbal supplements, blood thinners. YOU MUST STOP ANY BLOOD THINNING PRODUCTS. Call if you are taking any additional medications or have questions.


So, based on this you should still be taking some estrogen up until you need to stop everything but clear liquids the day before surgery.

I will be very interested in seeing updates here if and when you are up for it!

Hi Kim, Sorry I will miss you!  I will try to update right afterwards with my experience.

The information on their site indeed has you reduce your estrogen dosage and cut out the rest.  I should have been a bit clearer but honestly I didn't think of it until you asked.  My medical doctor added onto the advice from Dr Bowers her own recommendation that I cut it all the way out to reduce the chance of blood clots.  While the chance of problems are low, they are lower yet if you cut it all the way out.  She even says that I should make sure I am ambulatory after surgery before resuming hormones.  I miss my wonderful blue pills but I can survive two weeks to help avoid issues.  (Why are they blue?  Seems like they should be pink.)

[Jettin Jenni]

Hey CrysC,

Congrats on getting a surgery date 8 months early!! If I may ask, how far in advance were you contacted about the new surgery date of Sept 7? I myself am on the "wait-list/Cancel list"  and everyday I hope to get the life changing call. I'd like to get an idea of how much advance notice to expect if I'm lucky enough to get an earlier surgery date too.

Thanks in advance for any insight...

Jenni

[CrysC]

Hi Jenni,
In my case I got the call about an opening in the last week of July.  Normally it sounds like you get more like 3 months notice but sometimes stuff happens. I was lucky enough to be able to make my schedule accommodate this date on short notice.  What helps is that my insurance stuff was complete and approved.

I totally know that feeling on waiting for the call.  Every day I would wake up and wonder if today was the day.  I'm just real glad that my employer was so accommodating as to let me do this on short notice.  It screwed up things I had been committed on forcing other people to pick up my work. 
Good luck!  I hope you get the call soon but if you are like me, you'll also feel bad for the poor girl that canceled. 

[KimSails]

Hi Jenni,

I will add another data point for you:  I set my original surgery date of 2/14/17 in late May 2015.  I was contacted mid-July (the 18th?), about possible dates for September 8th and 27th -- about two months out.  The 27th worked better for my schedule. 

[Jettin Jenni]

Thank you so much CrysC and KimSails for your insight. It's very much appreciated.

My surgery date is currently scheduled for Jan of 2018. Ugh, It hurts my soul to even type that date. My insurance approval is all said and done but my prior authorization expires in Nov of this year. It freaks me out to think about having to get another authorization after all the trials and tribulations I went through to finally get this approval.

That being said, I must admit that although it saddens me to think about anyone having to cancel their surgery for any reason, I'd be completely dishonest if I said I didn't hope for an earlier opening, even if it came via a cancellation.

So, until that day when I get the call, I'll continue to keep my arms, legs, fingers and toes crossed for an earlier surgery date.

Thanks again ladies..

Jenni

[KimSails]

That being said, I must admit that although it saddens me to think about anyone having to cancel their surgery for any reason, I'd be completely dishonest if I said I didn't hope for an earlier opening, even if it came via a cancellation.

I understand that sentiment. I'm not sure it is entirely like that though. First, I will say that I have no special knowledge of Dr. Bowers scheduling process. But once your backlog is at the two to three year point, I have to imagine that there are open dates left in her schedule so that she doesn't have to schedule vacations and conferences and such that far out. So I would guess that most patients will have moved up to an earlier date for their surgery.  So, I would be surprised if your surgery doesn't get pulled ahead to less than a year from today.

[karenpayneoregon]

The Staybridge Suites is wonderful in that the people who work there understand post-op trans people. If you need to go some place they will drive you to and from a location. The hospital staff are great too, when I returned home all the nurses sent me a best wishes card which they all signed.

In short, you are in great hands from start to finish.

[CrysC]

I arrived in the area on Sunday and we enjoyed SF on Monday.  The BART was annoying as a section of the rail was closed and they shuttled us around that via bus.  The weather though has been fantastic.  It has been sunny and not much wind.  Supposedly it will be like this into October.
I met with Dr Bowers yesterday.  The folks at Staybridge gave us a shuttle ride over which was very helpful.  After meeting with Dr Bowers I got my prescriptions and walked over to Walgreens.  Some of the awesome girls here for the same thing as me gave us a ride to the hospital which saved me from learning how to use Uber for the first time.  It took a little while to get my pre-op processing completed.  It's mostly forms, detailed Q&A and then they pulled some blood. 
To get back to the hotel we walked to the BART station and took that back.  It's a bit annoying though so I would call the hotel next time instead and get a shuttle.  After we got back it was time for the bowel prep.  I rather hated this stuff but used ginger ale to get it down a bit better. 
Anyhow, I go to the hospital this morning. 

[Devlyn]

Best wishes! 

Hugs, Devlyn

[KimSails]

Sending positive thoughts your way!! I expect you are in surgery right now. :-) :-)

[CrysC]

Wow.  I did it. The people are great here.  My voice sounds male though again due to tube and anesthesia side effects.
Pain is being managed. The catheter is odd. Sad to have that 6 days it so but I will deal with it
While trying to sleep the pain faded a bit and I instead felt pleasure for a short while. That was a surprise
Going to try and rest.

No regrets. Uncomfortable but happy.

[SadieBlake]

Happy news! Congratulations :-)

[Beth Andrea]

Congratulations! 

[jujubes1986]

Wow.  I did it. The people are great here.  My voice sounds male though again due to tube and anesthesia side effects.
Pain is being managed. The catheter is odd. Sad to have that 6 days it so but I will deal with it
While trying to sleep the pain faded a bit and I instead felt pleasure for a short while. That was a surprise
Going to try and rest.

No regrets. Uncomfortable but happy.

Congrats

[islandgirl]

Congrats! Rest is good! Look forward to hear how your recovery goes.