Consultation with Dr. Ting on 4/2/18

[Dee]

It's all starting to come together. A little less than a year ago, I registered as a new patient at Mount Sinai, and have worked to get letters from their staff, as well as from my therapist from when I first came out (lived in another city for the first 4 or so years of my transition). After fighting some discriminatory policy language from my work's health insurance plan, I was able to finally secure a consult date this past fall, for April 2nd. Holy holy holy this is exciting- it's now 6 weeks out!

I have realized, however, that in the past year or so I've really become quite the lurker on forums like this. I've stayed so focused on work, as a means to keep all transition eggs in a row, that maybe I've bottled up my excitement a little much and it's manifesting in some odd, stressful ways? So I apologize if this post seems like a bit of a word salad- but I think I need to let the pressure out, so to speak.

Is this a common feeling? Its so exciting to think of a consultation being so close, and by proxy, surgery that much closer. But those manifestations I allude to sometimes get me caught in a whirlwind of paranoia that my boss will find "some reason" to let me go. Or a company reorg, and *poof* my position is gone! In another world, I could live with that, being promoted to a position I don't get much satisfaction from. But given the circumstance, I'm not interested in any career changes.

Dr. Ting is also a man in high demand in this area- I've heard whispers that it can be up to a year from consult to operating room. I could live with that. After all, it feels awfully fortunate to have this covered by health insurance- and TO BE covered by health insurance, after spending my entire adult life self-employed.

So I'm curious, what have some folks's experiences been, from consultation to surgery? How long did you have to wait? If anyone has gone through Mount Sinai, I'd really love to hear your experiences.

[Rachel]

I had gone to see Dr. McGinn about a year before Jenner came out so her waiting list to see her was 3 months. I was looking for procedures in compromise in order to stay married. When the compromise was taken back I then decided to go full time and schedule GCS and a BA with Dr. McGinn in 1 year. I started genital electrolysis at the time I scheduled GCS so I would be done 5 months before GCS.  I had FFS with Dr. Siegel 2 months prior to GCS due to his waiting list. I also scheduled hair grafts 2 months post GCS.

GCS consultation appointments were 5 during the 1 year wait. Dr. McGinn said she thought she could do GCS on me but then listed all the potential issues. I had micro penis and small genitals. There was not much material for the graft and I would not have a labia minora. Also, there was a good chance the graft would fail.

I had a clitoral hood made 6 months post op and I will have a second operation 4/4/18 to correct scar tissue where the graft died ( it had low vascular support), remove a scar ring and finish off the bottom of my vagina. Also, the left side of the labia majora will be reworked. I had to date 13 post op exams and 5 pre-op exams for GCS.

Dr. McGinn has supported me extremely well. She has been awesome and I could not ask for more.

The experience has been pretty awesome. I hated my penis and genitals and now they are gone as well as my dysphoria. My insurance with the exception of FFS ( level 2 appeal being made today) has been fantastic for all my transition needs. I am an extremely lucky girl.

[Sydney_NYC]

I went to Dr Rachael Bluebond-Langner at nearby NYU Langone. My initial consult was April 2017 and was given a surgical date of May 3rd, 2018. However I asked to be put on the waiting list in case there was a cancelation since I live locally and I'm self-employed, it's easy to adjust my schedule as long as I have at least a 4 week notice as I would have anyway since you have to be off HRT for 4 weeks prior to surgery. All I have to do was finish my genital electrolysis which I didn't think would be too long since I never had a lot of hair down there.

I received a phone call one day in late May 2017 that there was an opening in mid-July of 2017, but I had to decline as my genital electrolysis wasn't going to be finished until October at the latest. (It ended up being finished in late September.) Then in late-August I received another phone call with another date of Nov 2, 2017, and I took it and everything worked out beautifully in both the surgery and the timing. Especially since I had already met my max out of pocket expense for the year (between my wife having surgery and an emergency room visit earlier in the year for pink eye and therapist visits earlier in the year. So my deductable ended up being $0. Whereas if it had been in 2018, it could have been $1500.

[steph2.0]

It's all starting to come together. A little less than a year ago, I registered as a new patient at Mount Sinai ... I was able to finally secure a consult date this past fall, for April 2nd. Holy holy holy this is exciting- it's now 6 weeks out!

Dr. Ting is also a man in high demand in this area- I've heard whispers that it can be up to a year from consult to operating room. I could live with that. After all, it feels awfully fortunate to have this covered by health insurance- and TO BE covered by health insurance, after spending my entire adult life self-employed.

So I'm curious, what have some folks's experiences been, from consultation to surgery? How long did you have to wait? If anyone has gone through Mount Sinai, I'd really love to hear your experiences. [emoji4]

Hi Dee,

I'm listening closely, too. I have a consultation appointment at Mt Sinai on March 16th - or should I say, appointments. They have you meet with a social worker, a mental health professional, and a member of the medical team. Getting an appointment with those people wasn't too hard, but when I asked to meet with Dr. Ting on the same day, they said the soonest they could schedule everyone - including the doctor - for the same day, would be in September. If we're willing to make another trip to see the doctor separately, they can schedule me to see him sooner than that. Considering that we're coming from Florida, that's not a cheap proposition, but I went ahead and scheduled for the 16th.

The reason I scheduled anyway is I feel that I have to get GCS this year. My personal paranoia is a little different from yours: I'm deathly afraid that I'm going to lose my insurance coverage next year. As I understand it, right now insurance companies are required by law to cover GCS. With the current hostile political climate, I worry that requirement may be dropped. How many insurance companies will scramble to drop coverage if that happens? I have no idea, but the current proposal to remove requirements to cover pre-existing conditions could be an indicator.

I'd be interested in knowing what your experience has been, Dee. Maybe it's easier for you, being a patient already, and local. I hope so, because for me it's become obvious that Mt. Sinai works on the "Don't call us, we'll call you" principle. If I miss their call, good luck getting through when I call back. And I have tried to get the answers to very simple questions via five separate emails, and have not received the courtesy of even an acknowledgement for any of them, much less any answers. Apparently they are busy enough that my call is not important to them. If they weren't the only place doing the procedure that is so attractive to me, I would have already jumped ship for someone who shows more respect for their patients.

The trip is probably going to cost us $1000 with airfare, hotel, and incidentals. I sure hope I get the answers I'm looking for. If so, it'll all be worth it, and I won't mind a second trip to met the doctor. Despite my grumbling above, I'm really am trying to keep a positive outlook.

I'll report back after my appointment. Hopefully I'll have some insights for you.

Stephanie

PS: Will you be seeing Dr. Ting at your appointment?