Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hello everyone! =)  So effective this past July 1st, Maryland State Employee healthcare insurance plans officially eliminated gender identity exclusions from coverage, and incredibly added a "Gender Dysphoria" benefits section that includes HRT, HRT-related labs, and all of the applicable surgeries involved ftm/mtf physical transition, including breast augmentation!

I'm covered under a maryland state employee healthcare plan, and it looks like the only in-network provider who performs mtf SRS is Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner.

She's affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical Center Department of Plastic Surgery in Baltimore, Maryland, but also appears to have a private practice closeby in Baltimore.

I can't find any good info on her or her philosophy on SRS nor the standards of care/ethics she goes by...basically I need to make sure they line up with the "Gender Dysphoria" stipulations in my CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Maryland Point of Service insurance.  Of course these are things that can be brought up during a consult, I suppose.

If anyone is interested in the exact wording of the new coverage/benefits, it was part of public legal settlement that hit state-wide news just 2 weeks ago!  I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post external links or not so to be on the safe side I won't until someone informs me otherwise/has interest.

ANYWAY, has anyone heard of Dr. Bluebond-Langner?  Or had any surgeries with her?

I have a number of questions I'd like to ask Dr. Bluebond when I have the consult 2 weeks from now.  Would anyone have any suggestions, or things that perhaps you wish you would've asked during your consultation?  I feel like I'm gonna have to jam a lot of questions in there, with pretty much nothing online to go by...

I guess it comes down to...once I've been on HRT and had 12 months of living experience I qualify within my insurance plan for the various SRS procedures.  But they're ONLY covered if the physician is in-network...and Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner is it for my entire network area!!

Unless anyone else knows surgeons who perform SRS in Maryland, Washington DC, or Northern Virgina (Fairfax/Arlington area)?

Well this has been a bit of stream of consciousness...sorry if it's come out a bit jumbled.  Any insight or advice would be appreciated!

I'm a fellow Marylander. When I looked into SRS last year, she was not on my radar. I don't think she's been doing it for long.

A lot of Maryland folk go up I-95 to Philly where there are three really experienced surgeons, Sherman Lies, Christine McGinn, and Kathy Rumer. I wasn't impressed with Lies and it was to hard to get in to see McGinn, so I ended up booking with Rumer.

Things to ask her: How long have you been practicing? How many of these have you done? What have you changed to make your technique more successful over the years? What kind of complications do you see most often, and what do you do about it? What have you done to keep up with the latest recommendations, and what have you changed based on that? Also, ask about aftercare arrangements.

Most important - gauge your comfort level with her as a person and as a professional. Do you have confidence in her? Is she attentive to questions?

Hi to the both of you. I too have lived in MD & Ohio most my life, shuttled between Grand parents and my biological mother.  I'm a Surgical PA by profession.  i left MD for the military and most my adult life and returned in 2009 retiring from civilian work and as of this year discharge from my military duty.  I checked around and just the same i was referred to Rachel's medical practice to have a bi-lat orchiectomy (no SRS).  She came highly recommended but i have yet to contact her.  i was given Andrea's phone number (her staff nurse).  besides the VA benefits which I will never submit too, i personally havent carried health insurance since 2009.  i am hoping she takes self payees  ;D.   I am choosing the orchi vs SRS because I personally never had surgery before except at birth (circumcision), i never had a broken bone either albeit i have been involved with or performed surgery on 20K+ individuals from Cardiac to Dermatology.  overall, the orchi procedure is a lot less and performed most in an out-patient facility.  i know this reply might be late in response so please do follow up and tell us about your experience.  i really dont want to travel out of state as others have done.


Cassie, cassie.rw,
splitn2@ymail.com,

Quote from: suzifrommd on August 02, 2014, 08:29:22 PM
I'm a fellow Marylander. When I looked into SRS last year, she was not on my radar. I don't think she's been doing it for long.

A lot of Maryland folk go up I-95 to Philly where there are three really experienced surgeons, Sherman Lies, Christine McGinn, and Kathy Rumer. I wasn't impressed with Lies and it was to hard to get in to see McGinn, so I ended up booking with Rumer.

Things to ask her: How long have you been practicing? How many of these have you done? What have you changed to make your technique more successful over the years? What kind of complications do you see most often, and what do you do about it? What have you done to keep up with the latest recommendations, and what have you changed based on that? Also, ask about aftercare arrangements.

Most important - gauge your comfort level with her as a person and as a professional. Do you have confidence in her? Is she attentive to questions?

Great points. Also ask if she has pictures or references from former GCS patients.

Me I see this network thing as a problem. Now besides all the hoops there is gate keeping on surgeons.

Please do let us know how things went.  She's also my only discovered option in my insurance network.

Hi everyone. I am scheduled for my consult with Dr. Manger on May 10, 2016. I live in Philadelphia which does have three GRS Surgeon's. In my case I am on Medicare and none of the surgeon's here accept Medicare. Through THEE Trans care practice here, Mazzoni Center, recommended and connected me with Dr. langer. Mazzoni had been my care provider from the beginning of my transition over 8yrs ago, so I trust them and the places they may refer me to. Dr. langer received all her training at world renowned Johns-Hopkins. So she has had the best training there is. My interaction so far, over the phone and in email, with staff there including her assistant, has been great. I'm looking forward to meeting Dr. Langer and the rest of the staff.

Rachel

Quote from: rambrose on March 30, 2016, 09:10:14 AM
Hi everyone. I am scheduled for my consult with Dr. Manger on May 10, 2016. I live in Philadelphia which does have three GRS Surgeon's. In my case I am on Medicare and none of the surgeon's here accept Medicare. Through THEE Trans care practice here, Mazzoni Center, recommended and connected me with Dr. langer. Mazzoni had been my care provider from the beginning of my transition over 8yrs ago, so I trust them and the places they may refer me to. Dr. langer received all her training at world renowned Johns-Hopkins. So she has had the best training there is. My interaction so far, over the phone and in email, with staff there including her assistant, has been great. I'm looking forward to meeting Dr. Langer and the rest of the staff.

Rachel

Rachel,

Welcome to the site.

Great to hear you have some good support. Hope the consult goes well. As you may have noticed, this is a very supportive site with members that have a lot of good information.

I also wanted to share some links. They have welcome info as well as the rules of the site. If you have not done so already, please take a moment to go through them:

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,2.0.html)	Standard Terms & Definitions (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,54369.0.html)	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar) (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,114.0.html.)
Reputation rules (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,18960.0.html)	News posting & quoting guidelines (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,174951.0.html)	Photo, avatars, & signature images policy (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,59974.msg383866.html#msg383866)

Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, ask questions and continue to join in. I hope you find what you are looking for here.

With warmth,

Joanna

I am doing my GRS with Dr. Satterwhite in SanFran.  They work with insurance.  I found an article on your proposed doc.  http://baltimorestyle.com/13279/mind-body-connection/

Good Luck!

Does anyone know how this went?

I'm planing a consult with her and would like some feedback.

I set up a spread sheet in late January and began searching for the right GRS Surgeon for me.  I live in the Midwest but I looked at almost 50 all around the country. I decided that, with decent discounts, travel costs would be about the same everywhere so I did not rule out anyone due to distance.

In the end it was clear that there were quite a few that were experienced and could do a good job. It was also clear, that for the most part, in the end, most are satisfied with the surgeon they use so they recommend them to us here.  I started to look for more nuance in deciding which one to go with.

On April 4th I met with Dr Bluebond-Langner at NYU. She had been doing GRS in Baltimore out of the University of Maryland but was recruited by NYU to start-up a Gender Surgery unit for them. http://nyulangone.org/press-releases/nyu-langone-expands-its-transgender-program-with-recruitment-of-renowned-reconstructive-plastic-surgeon (http://nyulangone.org/press-releases/nyu-langone-expands-its-transgender-program-with-recruitment-of-renowned-reconstructive-plastic-surgeon) Her educational credentials are absolutely top of her class and predicted she would be an excellent surgeon.

She had been teaming with a Urologist at the University of Maryland and she is doing the same at NYU. They use "robotics" in their surgery; its very accurate and very cutting edge. The team approach makes great sense to me.  You take 2 or more surgeons, who are experts in their discipline, and you put them together!

Yes she's good but she appears to be far and away absolutely #1 in bedside manner. I heard she was nice but this woman is absolutely the nicest doctor I've ever met, and I'm 65. She makes rounds on Saturdays!

Also, while I was there waiting to see her a guy came in and identified himself as the "NYU LGBT Representative".   He said he would be following my case and would be with me before and after surgery to make sure all went well and that I was happy and my needs were being well met!!!

Sooooooooo . . .  the net is I'm having surgery at NYU on August 11th with her and her team. They originally gave me a date of 1/4/18 but called me last week and moved me up to 8/11. . .  :)

Quote from: Gail20 on May 31, 2017, 04:13:52 PM
I set up a spread sheet in late January and began searching for the right GRS Surgeon for me.  I live in the Midwest but I looked at almost 50 all around the country. I decided that, with decent discounts, travel costs would be about the same everywhere so I did not rule out anyone due to distance.

In the end it was clear that there were quite a few that were experienced and could do a good job. It was also clear, that for the most part, in the end, most are satisfied with the surgeon they use so they recommend them to us here.  I started to look for more nuance in deciding which one to go with.

On April 4th I met with Dr Bluebond-Langner at NYU. She had been doing GRS in Baltimore out of the University of Maryland but was recruited by NYU to start-up a Gender Surgery unit for them. http://nyulangone.org/press-releases/nyu-langone-expands-its-transgender-program-with-recruitment-of-renowned-reconstructive-plastic-surgeon (http://nyulangone.org/press-releases/nyu-langone-expands-its-transgender-program-with-recruitment-of-renowned-reconstructive-plastic-surgeon) Her educational credentials are absolutely top of her class and predicted she would be an excellent surgeon.

She had been teaming with a Urologist at the University of Maryland and she is doing the same at NYU. They use "robotics" in their surgery; its very accurate and very cutting edge. The team approach makes great sense to me.  You take 2 or more surgeons, who are experts in their discipline, and you put them together!

Yes she's good but she appears to be far and away absolutely #1 in bedside manner. I heard she was nice but this woman is absolutely the nicest doctor I've ever met, and I'm 65. She makes rounds on Saturdays!

Also, while I was there waiting to see her a guy came in and identified himself as the "NYU LGBT Representative".   He said he would be following my case and would be with me before and after surgery to make sure all went well and that I was happy and my needs were being well met!!!

Sooooooooo . . .  the net is I'm having surgery at NYU on August 11th with her and her team. They originally gave me a date of 1/4/18 but called me last week and moved me up to 8/11. . .  :)

Hi Gail20,

So thank you so much for your post, and I imagine, if your surgery was just August 11, that you are well in to recovery and we all wish you well.  I just booked a consult with Dr Bluebond-Langner for Dec 4, and am looking forward to it.  My other alternate, the Belgrade Center in Belgrade Serbia, with Dr Miroslav Djordjevic I am still awaiting a response from.  From what I hear from another admin on this forum (FTMax), and from doing some personal research, is that the surgeries in Europe and Asia can often be less expensive, even with travel, than we can find here even with insurance.  That being said, from what research I have done I understand Dr BL is wonderful, although her approach to care is reported to encompass more rounds of surgeries than some others.

Mostly--I wanted to follow up with you and see how you were doing post-op, and surely--to be here in support for you, and this community, as we move and grow toward our very best selves!

SaerJoe

Dr Bluebond-Langner teams with one of NYU's top Urologists (Dr Zhao) and they use a robot extensively in the surgery.  There is only one surgery; penile inversion. This is cutting edge and I believe this is the future of GCS surgery

Its a teaching hospital so both Dr B's and Dr Zhao's teams visit every morning; weekends too.  These are extremely bright young people. In the end I saw at least a dozen Dr's each day while in the hospital. Nothing gets by them . . .

Their work blows me away. My Clit, Urethra and Vagina already look like they've been there all my life.  Only the stitches in my leg creases and below my Vagina give it away.  No problems with infection of any kind or dead skin. I could not be happier with the results . . . .

NYU-Langone Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the world. They attract the best an brightest talent The care is state of the art. . .

Quote from: Gail20 on September 10, 2017, 01:01:11 PM
Dr Bluebond-Langner teams with one of NYU's top Urologists (Dr Zhao) and they use a robot extensively in the surgery.  There is only one surgery; penile inversion. This is cutting edge and I believe this is the future of GCS surgery

Its a teaching hospital so both Dr B's and Dr Zhao's teams visit every morning; weekends too.  These are extremely bright young people. In the end I saw at least a dozen Dr's each day while in the hospital. Nothing gets by them . . .

Their work blows me away. My Clit, Urethra and Vagina already look like they've been there all my life.  Only the stitches in my leg creases and below my Vagina give it away.  No problems with infection of any kind or dead skin. I could not be happier with the results . . . .

NYU-Langone Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the world. They attract the best an brightest talent The care is state of the art. . .

Awesome!!!!!!!!!


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Quote from: Gail20 on September 10, 2017, 01:01:11 PM
Dr Bluebond-Langner teams with one of NYU's top Urologists (Dr Zhao) and they use a robot extensively in the surgery.  There is only one surgery; penile inversion. This is cutting edge and I believe this is the future of GCS surgery

Its a teaching hospital so both Dr B's and Dr Zhao's teams visit every morning; weekends too.  These are extremely bright young people. In the end I saw at least a dozen Dr's each day while in the hospital. Nothing gets by them . . .

Their work blows me away. My Clit, Urethra and Vagina already look like they've been there all my life.  Only the stitches in my leg creases and below my Vagina give it away.  No problems with infection of any kind or dead skin. I could not be happier with the results . . . .

NYU-Langone Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the world. They attract the best an brightest talent The care is state of the art. . .

This makes me very happy. Dr. Bluebond-Langner is the only Dr. my insurance has in this area.

:

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!

Quote from: Gail20 on September 10, 2017, 01:01:11 PM
Dr Bluebond-Langner teams with one of NYU's top Urologists (Dr Zhao) and they use a robot extensively in the surgery.  There is only one surgery; penile inversion. This is cutting edge and I believe this is the future of GCS surgery

Its a teaching hospital so both Dr B's and Dr Zhao's teams visit every morning; weekends too.  These are extremely bright young people. In the end I saw at least a dozen Dr's each day while in the hospital. Nothing gets by them . . .

Their work blows me away. My Clit, Urethra and Vagina already look like they've been there all my life.  Only the stitches in my leg creases and below my Vagina give it away.  No problems with infection of any kind or dead skin. I could not be happier with the results . . . .

NYU-Langone Medical Center is one of the top hospitals in the world. They attract the best an brightest talent The care is state of the art. . .

I'm very happy to hear and I've seen other results of her work in person including a revision from a botched surgery by another surgeon. I'm scheduled for mine on Nov 2nd in less than 8 weeks and nervous and excited at the same time. Hearing another positive outcome (and no negative ones) certainly makes me more at ease. I'm lucky in that she is local to me but I still had to go out of network (but being treated as in network due to state laws) since no doctors in my network performs this surgery.

Quote from: SaerJoe on September 08, 2017, 07:14:03 PM
That being said, from what research I have done I understand Dr BL is wonderful, although her approach to care is reported to encompass more rounds of surgeries than some others.

No she does not have additional rounds of surgeries!!  She teams with another surgeon. They use multiple surgeons, not multiple surgeries!!! She teams with one of NYU's top Urology surgeons.  He does all the internal reconstruction work because he does this type of reconstructive surgery everyday.  Dr Bluebond-Langner then takes over and makes it all pretty. . . Its a Team approach where you get two top surgeons working in tandem.  Both use robotics.  This is state of the art and it only involves ONE SURGERY!!!  I see this "team approach" as the future of GCS . . . .

Quote from: Gail20 on September 15, 2017, 04:36:45 PM
No she does not have additional rounds of surgeries!!  She teams with another surgeon. They use multiple surgeons, not multiple surgeries!!! She teams with one of NYU's top Urology surgeons.  He does all the internal reconstruction work because he does this type of reconstructive surgery everyday.  Dr Bluebond-Langner then takes over and makes it all pretty. . . Its a Team approach where you get two top surgeons working in tandem.  Both use robotics.  This is state of the art and it only involves ONE SURGERY!!!  I see this "team approach" as the future of GCS . . . .

Hi Gail20--and thanks for your comments.  My comments referring to Dr BL and multiple stages are reflective of comments by other FTM's across a handful of forums.  Perhaps FTM v MTF GCS is approached a bit different?  My understanding is that Dr BL likes FTM's to have already had a hysterectomy prior to any phallo surgery, while others combine them.  Depending upon surgeon, glansplasty is often done in a subsequent stage.  The definitive answer for me regarding Dr BL will come Dec 4 when I have a consult with her.  My only other selection of skilled surgeon right now is Dr Miroslav Djordjevic in Serbia for phallo.  My preference is to use the most "practiced" of surgeons, and for that reason am still a bit hesitant with the program at Mt Sinai (Ting), although I've made contact with them.  The best news is that techniques and progress is being made on all fronts in surgical techniques, and that's a very welcome thing -- finally -- in the United States.


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So sorry SaerJoe, I thought you were referencing MTF not FTM. .. . Yes, she does a lot of the FTM work but I have very little knowledge of it. . . . I can say that I was so, so impressed with NYU-Langone Medical Center.  Its such an enormous teaching facility.  Everything is state of the art. They also have a dedicated LGBT RN liaison (Kevin) who has been in constant contact with me post surgery to mark progress and answer any questions and concerns.  Its a good program. . .

Quote from: Gail20 on September 17, 2017, 12:38:46 PM
They also have a dedicated LGBT RN liaison (Kevin) who has been in constant contact with me post surgery to mark progress and answer any questions and concerns.  Its a good program. . .

Kevin is awesome :) When a close friend was having her surgery with Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner, my wife and I were there as her support system while here in the NYC area. Kevin was there to make sure everything was as it should be and in the mornings when I couldn't make it to see our friend, he called me with updates. Looks like I will be seeing him again in 6 weeks, 4 days for my surgery with Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner, but who's counting, LOL.

Quote from: Gail20 on September 17, 2017, 12:38:46 PM
So sorry SaerJoe, I thought you were referencing MTF not FTM. .. . Yes, she does a lot of the FTM work but I have very little knowledge of it. . . . I can say that I was so, so impressed with NYU-Langone Medical Center.  Its such an enormous teaching facility.  Everything is state of the art. They also have a dedicated LGBT RN liaison (Kevin) who has been in constant contact with me post surgery to mark progress and answer any questions and concerns.  Its a good program. . .

Awesome.  I cannot wait for my consult with Dr BL on Dec 4.  I've heard great things, and am so pleased that these programs are finally now growing and improving daily.  Yay!!


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My consultation with Dr BL is on Nov 7!

Yippeee!!!!!

;D

Does anyone know the waitlist for her as of lately?

Quote from: PrincessPatience on November 12, 2017, 09:53:06 AM
Does anyone know the waitlist for her as of lately?

Her waiting list is a little over a year, but if you have a flexible schedule it's possible to get an earlier date due to a cancelation which is what happened to me. My consult with her was in April 2017 and I was given a surgical date of May 3rd, 2018, but in late August I got a call of a cancelation and a surgical date of November 2nd, 2017 was available and I took it. She is local to me and I'm self employed, so it was easier for me to reschedule my surgery plans and I'm very happy that I did.

Quote from: Sydney_NYC on November 12, 2017, 10:50:36 AM
Her waiting list is a little over a year, but if you have a flexible schedule it's possible to get an earlier date due to a cancelation which is what happened to me. My consult with her was in April 2017 and I was given a surgical date of May 3rd, 2018, but in late August I got a call of a cancelation and a surgical date of November 2nd, 2017 was available and I took it. She is local to me and I'm self employed, so it was easier for me to reschedule my surgery plans and I'm very happy that I did.

Okay thank you. Do you know if she does phone consultations?

Quote from: PrincessPatience on November 12, 2017, 11:44:11 AM
Okay thank you. Do you know if she does phone consultations?

I'm not sure, but you could call her office and ask.

A followup from yesterday's office follow up visit.....

Dr Bluebond-Langner was extremely happy with the way I'm healing and I was told I could start my HRT (at half dose) again (yay, no more hot flashes!) The car ride through NYC traffic was a lot easier this time than when I left the hospital and I was even able to walk well from the parking garage to her office.

Everyday gets easier doing things and I've even manage to do some work on my laptop from home.

Glad you are healing well Sydney. Any Surgery always need time to heal properly. Congratulations and happy for you.

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Quote from: Meghan on November 15, 2017, 10:44:08 PM
Glad you are healing well Sydney. Any Surgery always need time to heal properly. Congratulations and happy for you.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Oops, I posted that in the wrong thread, but Oh well. I'll put it there too.

I am sorry to report that my consult on Nov 7 with Dr. BL and Dr. Zhao wasn't very positive.

For starter, I waited 25 minutes in the reception before anyone saw me. I arrived 15 minutes early as instructed in the email. I brought all my forms pre-filled out. I even "checked-in" online by filling out my medical history online. When I gave my forms to the young lady at the reception desk all pre-filled out, she said, "You have no idea how much time you've saved." I responded "well I read the instructions in the email."

As I noticed that my waiting time was getting close to 30 mins, I mentioned to the young lady in the front desk that I had an appointment with Dr. Zhao in 5 mins and hadn't seen Dr. BL yet. She said, "I know".

My consultation lasted only a few minutes. It went as follows: a Nurse Practitioner came in and asked me series of questions. He was very friendly. He then left and first brought in Dr. Zhao. He spoke with me for a few minutes then left and brought in Dr B L. She spoke very fast and I got the sense that they had another appointment immediately afterwards.

She asked me to put on a medical gown (left the room so I could change). She returned with the Nurse Practitioner and after examining me said, "I can get 5 1/2 - 6 in depth".

I wonder if my experience was a mixed bag because I didn't have my letters with me from a licensed therapist. I figured that I would bring them once I had decided on a doctor. I mentioned that I met with Mt Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and was evaluated by a therapist, so I do have letters.

When asked about a caregiver I said I would have to discuss with my ex-bf. Maybe I gave the the impression that I wasn't serious? I don't know. Maybe it was a busy day at her office? It was election day in NYC.

When meeting with a doctor, do you ladies have the entire Letter of Support or do you meet to learn more about the doctor and get a feel for him/her?

Just asking because I want to consider other doctors and want the meeting to be more productive by better preparation from me, if that is what was missing.

Quote from: Nina_NYC on November 20, 2017, 06:44:22 PM
I am sorry to report that my consult on Nov 7 with Dr. BL and Dr. Zhao wasn't very positive.

For starter, I waited 25 minutes in the reception before anyone saw me. I arrived 15 minutes early as instructed in the email. I brought all my forms pre-filled out. I even "checked-in" online by filling out my medical history online. When I gave my forms to the young lady at the reception desk all pre-filled out, she said, "You have no idea how much time you've saved." I responded "well I read the instructions in the email."

As I noticed that my waiting time was getting close to 30 mins, I mentioned to the young lady in the front desk that I had an appointment with Dr. Zhao in 5 mins and hadn't seen Dr. BL yet. She said, "I know".

My consultation lasted only a few minutes. It went as follows: a Nurse Practitioner came in and asked me series of questions. He was very friendly. He then left and first brought in Dr. Zhao. He spoke with me for a few minutes then left and brought in Dr B L. She spoke very fast and I got the sense that they had another appointment immediately afterwards.

She asked me to put on a medical gown (left the room so I could change). She returned with the Nurse Practitioner and after examining me said, "I can get 5 1/2 - 6 in depth".

I wonder if my experience was a mixed bag because I didn't have my letters with me from a licensed therapist. I figured that I would bring them once I had decided on a doctor. I mentioned that I met with Mt Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and was evaluated by a therapist, so I do have letters.

When asked about a caregiver I said I would have to discuss with my ex-bf. Maybe I gave the the impression that I wasn't serious? I don't know. Maybe it was a busy day at her office? It was election day in NYC.

When meeting with a doctor, do you ladies have the entire Letter of Support or do you meet to learn more about the doctor and get a feel for him/her?

Just asking because I want to consider other doctors and want the meeting to be more productive by better preparation from me, if that is what was missing.

Hi Nina, I'm sorry to hear it wasn't very positive, but I can say that Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner was very busy that day. I saw her and Dr Zhao that morning as they had removed the packing from my surgery on Nov 7 in the hospital and she was telling me how crazy that day was for her. When I was in the hospital she took the time every day to check up on me even though her surgical team had already checked up on me earlier. On my follow up appointments (I see her again tomorrow/today on the 21st) she always stops in to see me even if I'm only scheduled with a nurse practitioner. Sometimes (especially on Tuesdays) her waiting room can get a little backed up, but her office and staff have always been very nice.

When I had my initial consult it was the first appointment of the day. I did have all of my letters and my wife was with me as my support system so that was not even questioned. Like you I had everything already filled out and like you was thanked for saving them a lot of time. I was also told 5½ - 6" in depth but donor skin was going to be needed. I'm happy to say that I have over 6" in depth. I'm extremely happy with my results :)

Hi Sydney: thanks for your note. I did suspect that maybe it was turning out to be a very busy day for Dr. BL. She has a terrific reputation not only for her competency but also for her bedside manner.

I am so happy that you are thrilled with your results. Thanks for the suggestion of having the Letters of support + caretaker firmly identified at the medical consultation.

Wishing you the very best in your recovery and to a new beginning!

xo

Quote from: Sydney_NYC on November 12, 2017, 02:53:27 PM
I'm not sure, but you could call her office and ask.

I'm trying but her office has never contacted me back. It's been 2wks now and I'm trying to find out has anyone else had this problem? Is there a quicker way to reach her office or speak to someone? I sent her a submission for a consultant that was recommended to do on her website but nothing.

My experience is that waiting 15 or 20 minutes is the norm for almost any Doctor, especially Specialists, so I try to always book early morning appts when they are less likely to get behind.  They never know when a patient may take more that 15 or 20 minuets. It only takes one to put them behind for the day. .

Most of my appts with Dr BL have been for about 15 minutes and I did feel rushed at times but I know her time is valuable so I always come with a list of questions. Keven is the NP and I've found him to be really responsive, especially after surgery when I had questions regarding various recovery issues. . .

The office people are really, really hard to get responses from. Fortunately, I haven't needed to work with them since before my surgery on 8/18/17.  They were all nice and I KNOW they care but they seem to be really understaffed and haven't been able to find a new person with the qualifications they need. . .

Dr BL and Dr Zhao are team and I believe its the only way to approach this surgery; with experts in both Urology and Plastic Surgery working together.  NYU is a Teaching Hospital and it was really impressive every morning when the 2 teams with 5 scary bright Interns each in tow, came in to see you every morning. Nothing was going to get past all these people. . .

Quote from: PrincessPatience on November 29, 2017, 11:44:19 PM
I'm trying but her office has never contacted me back. It's been 2wks now and I'm trying to find out has anyone else had this problem? Is there a quicker way to reach her office or speak to someone? I sent her a submission for a consultant that was recommended to do on her website but nothing.

Tuesdays are her normal office visit days (sometimes on Mondays too) and that is the best day to call as her full staff is usually there on those days, but other days can be hit or miss for calling them and having someone answer the phone.

Quote from: Gail20 on November 30, 2017, 05:21:16 PM

Dr BL and Dr Zhao are team and I believe its the only way to approach this surgery; with experts in both Urology and Plastic Surgery working together.  NYU is a Teaching Hospital and it was really impressive every morning when the 2 teams with 5 scary bright Interns each in tow, came in to see you every morning. Nothing was going to get past all these people. . .

I totally agree with you. Every morning (including Sunday morning) around 7-7:30am  the two teams came in to inspect everything. I felt like the feature presentation of the morning, LOL, but it was a good thing and I felt well taken care of. Plus every day Dr BL came in separately to see how I was doing. One time right before she was leaving for the Gender East conference on Nov 3rd.