I just had my telephone consult with a Kaiser surgeon for FFS. But because I live in Orange County and there is no trained craniofacial surgeon here yet, I was referred to Dr. Yuan Liu in San Diego County. He has very impressive academic cred and has done a lot of surgical work for trans folk.
Now the bad news. Kaiser's current policy is that it will take a CAT scan of your head, the surgeon will look at your skull, and Kaiser will pay for the removal of all bone that grew as a result of testosterone poisoning. Kaiser will also cover hairline advancement, because receding hair is caused by testosterone.
Which means I am going to get a full forehead reconstruction, hairline advancement, and minimal work to my (fortunately) small jaw. And Kaiser will pay for one night in the hospital for recovery. But, no soft tissue work, no rhinoplasty on my big, bumpy Roman honker, and nothing for my saggy upper eyelids.
So the game plan for me is to get Kaiser to do all the heavy stuff, then go the Beverly Hills housewife route for my nose and eyelids.
It is not quite what I wanted or expected (I thought the big deal was going to be fixing my nose) but getting my forehead and hairline fully done is a really nice gift—despite the kick in the pants of knowing I will have to shell out $10,000 for a Beverly Hills rhinoplasty at a later date.
And please do not suggest I go overseas for the rest of the cosmetic work to save money. My wife will not hear of me recovering from surgery in a foreign country and I want to stay married.
