Orchiectomy cost and concerns

[Laurie]

Keep moving forward soldier! Advance and never retreat!

Laurie

[Devlyn]

Dee, nice pic!  Florida?

I have an appointment next Monday night for the second mental health letter. I have a previously scheduled physical and hormone recheck on Tuesday. The ducks are starting to form a line. 

Hugs, Devlyn

[Dee Marshall]

Dee, nice pic!  Florida?

I have an appointment next Monday night for the second mental health letter. I have a previously scheduled physical and hormone recheck on Tuesday. The ducks are starting to form a line. 

Hugs, Devlyn

Cocoa Beach at the end of, I kid you not, "I Dream of Jeannie Drive."

Happy for you!

:

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!

[Devlyn]

Good news: I got the draft of the letter today and OK'd it.

Bad news: I understand now, and appreciate why she warned me about it ahead of time. I feel like I'm reading someone else's therapy report.

Every silver cloud has a dark lining.

[Devlyn]

Forgot to post it, but I got my second letter Monday night. I can schedule the surgery whenever I'm ready. Will update again when I know the date.

Hugs, Devlyn

[Paige]

Forgot to post it, but I got my second letter Monday night. I can schedule the surgery whenever I'm ready. Will update again when I know the date.

Hugs, Devlyn

Congrats Devlyn.

Paige

[Chris8080]

No posts for the last three weeks.  Curious minds just gotta know.

Seems a difference in the way these letters are written. My therapist used a lot of the language that according to her is required to satisfy the standards set. My psychologist wrote a much more direct and easy to understand letter. The surgeon scheduled a surgery date the day he got the letter from the psychologist.

His letter was four paragraphs, the very first sentence was . . .

"I am writing in support of my clients request for an orchiectomy."

In the third paragraph he wrote . . .

"I confidently affirm that Ms. (name) is an appropriate candidate for the surgery".

Last sentence of the letter says . . .

"I believe it would be psychologically beneficial for her to undergo an orchiectomy."

I also would be interested in what the cost might be. I'm fairly confident the insurance will cover it, they have everything else so far but until I hear from them I'm saving my pennies. Surgery is scheduled for September 26th.

[Dena]

Last we heard, she is gone for surgery and she is taking break from the site. We have specific orders to tell her to go away if we see her back on the site. I having figured out if that means I can ban her 

[Chris8080]

Na, we don't want to ban her. With my orchi 4 weeks from today needless to say I am quite curious about her experience. Any idea when she will be back? Seems from my perspective she got a quick surgery date, took me 4 months just for the first appointment with the Urologist and another 2 1/2 months after that to the surgery date. 672 hours from now but hey, who's counting?

[Dena]

She said sometime in September but didn't give an exact date. I suspect it will be early in the month because the surgery  isn't that major and should only require about a two week recovery period though you  could use the computer before that. I think she was a couple of months between first appointment and surgery as well with the major hangup being all the paper work.

[Devlyn]

Surgery was performed this morning. Nothing but good things to say about Dr Oates and his team. The local anesthetic is wearing off and my scrotum is  as big as a baseball and really sore. I'll update again after I get some rest

Hugs, Devlyn

[Paige]

Surgery was performed this morning. Nothing but good things to say about Dr Oates and his team. The local anesthetic is wearing off and my scrotum is  as big as a baseball and really sore. I'll update again after I get some rest

Hugs, Devlyn

Hoping you have a quick recovery Devlyn.
All the best,
Paige

[Chris8080]

Congratulations Devlyn Marie, I'm really happy for you. Strange as it probably sounds I am really looking forward to that soreness. The soreness is something that will heal up in short order and so far I haven't been able to convince myself that it will be any worse or more painful than living with the evil twins. It will also be confirmation that the 60 year nightmare is finally over and they really are gone. 18 days from this morning for me and time is moving so slowly. Looking forward to hearing more about your experience.

[Ashley3]

Surgery was performed this morning. Nothing but good things to say about Dr Oates and his team. The local anesthetic is wearing off and my scrotum is  as big as a baseball and really sore. I'll update again after I get some rest

Hugs, Devlyn

Congratulations Devlyn! ... I just caught this thread so didn't know of this until today. I hope you have a wonderful recovery... enjoy your time off and new you!

FWIW, my letters for surgeries had similar language... as you've seen it's what a therapist or letter-writing care provider must do to successfully fit into the boxes within the system... to me it's just boxy stuff based on where we're at. It doesn't define you...

Anyway... Congrats again... feel better...  hugs, Ashley

[Devlyn]

Thanks, Paige, Chris, and Ashley! First orchiectomy for me, I'm a bit surprised by the extent of the bruising. Last night it looked like both inguinal canals were defined by black and blues, this morning the whole pubic area is bruised. The entire shaft of my penis is purple, that may be pooling blood (yay gravity). Pain level is manageable, I  need to be careful getting up and down. Better to roll on my side and let the hip do the cushioning.

Finally got a cup of coffee. 

Hugs,  Devlyn

[SadieBlake]

Woot Dev! I'd not realized you'd been, congratulations, V.happy for you :-)

[Chris8080]

On another site I recently viewed a series of photos of a girl that had an orchie, day before, day of, day after and then weekly for a month. The amount of black and blue was a bit surprising but the pics were quite interesting and informative for anyone about to have the surgery. Took two weeks for most of the bruising to be gone and the month for all of it. She said the first week was pretty sore but manageable and after that wasn't much of an issue. She didn't appear to have much swelling, a little though.

17 days for me from right now. Can't describe how anxious I am, hours seem like days and days seem like weeks.

Yeah the coffee is a must, caffeine is my drug of choice. Take care, mend quickly and enjoy your new life. 

[Devlyn]

On another site I recently viewed a series of photos of a girl that had an orchie, day before, day of, day after and then weekly for a month. The amount of black and blue was a bit surprising but the pics were quite interesting and informative for anyone about to have the surgery. Took two weeks for most of the bruising to be gone and the month for all of it. She said the first week was pretty sore but manageable and after that wasn't much of an issue. She didn't appear to have much swelling, a little though.

17 days for me from right now. Can't describe how anxious I am, hours seem like days and days seem like weeks.

Yeah the coffee is a must, caffeine is my drug of choice. Take care, mend quickly and enjoy your new life. 

Thanks, Chris! I was a wreck getting the IV put in. She did a great job and knew about my needle phobia, I just had a really bad time with this one. After that it was smooth sailing. They put the rails up on the bed and said "Hugs and kisses time" and I told John I'll see you on the other side and that is absolutely the last thing I remember. Then I woke up and lifted my head and someone brought me cookies and a drink!

Woot Dev! I'd not realized you'd been, congratulations, V.happy for you :-)

Thanks, Sadie! I would have updated more, but apparently Dena somehow "accidentally" banned me. 

Seriously, I took some time away from Susan's and the internet in general to be in top form for the surgery and healing. No distractions, no politics, and as little news as possible. I'm back now, though. Brace yourselves! 

Hugs, Devlyn

[Chris8080]

Ah, you had general anesthesia. I'm getting it with a local which I am grateful for, may not be able to see what they are doing but will able to hear them, should be interesting. I have no needle phobia's, I've had so many blood tests and needles in my life that one more is meaningless. Also I've been told that the recovery from a local is easier. I've had three surgeries where I was put under, two were not a problem in the slightest but for the last one I had a really bad reaction to the anesthetics, hard to believe ya can be that sick and live. Also they told me that with a local they keep an eye on ya for an hour or two and if there are no problems they discharge you. With the general it's an overnight stay that radically effects the cost. I think my insurance is covering this but not yet positive so the cost could be a huge factor. It'll be a local for me. Surgery on the 26th that will end a 60 year nightmare, I still haven't convinced myself that this isn't just a dream and I will wake up on the 26th.

[Devlyn]

I was under general anesthesia and they applied a local after I was out so the pain would be controlled upon waking. I could definitely feel it wearing off on the ride home.   

I was discharged within an hour or two of surgery, we were headed out of Boston at 2:30PM.

Hugs, Devlyn