Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hello all. I wanted to share my experience with Dr. Daniel Dugi at OHSU, who I saw back in October. I had seen online that OHSU was now offering SRS, but I sort of wrote it off as Dr. Dugi was brand new and I read about a complication he had had in his first few surgeries. However, it's only a 10 minute drive and he takes my insurance (Medicare, which leaves me few options for SRS surgeons in general) so I figured I would at least go see him.

I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised. I found him to be extremely intelligent, direct, and accommodating. He spent quite a lot of time with me listening to my needs, and he was able to answer all of my questions thoroughly. I expressed to Dr. Dugi that I was strongly leading towards a "cosmetic SRS" due to having had a previous orchiectomy over a decade ago (which led to some scarring and shrinkage of donor material) as well as the fact that having a deep vagina simply isn't a huge priority for myself or my future husband, and he didn't bat an eye and confirmed that he did indeed do that procedure and had done several. He did ask that my letters of recommendation mention specifically that variation of the procedure and that I understood it. I also asked him about hair removal, and since I won't have a deep vaginal canal he said it wasn't strictly necessary but he did recommend electrolysis on a small area just to be safe (I believe he requires electrolysis for anyone undergoing full SRS.) I took his recommendation and am undergoing electrolysis of the area in question now.

When I asked Dr. Dugi what could go wrong he was very forthcoming on all the problems that could occur. As a urologist he was especially concerned with avoiding urinary problems. He also went into detail about his technique and how he tried to minimize the use of certain kinds of cautery to ensure as little nerve damage as possible took place as so to preserve sexual sensation. I saw a few before/after pics, but they were only a month or so out so things were pretty swollen and red still. However, I think the end result will be pretty good. He does do a two-stage procedure and talked about how he got insurance to authorize both ahead of time, with the second labiaplasty being done at least 3 months after the initial SRS.

I walked into the office expecting to be underwhelmed but left feeling like I had met with a capable surgeon who I would definitely trust for my procedure. He's already done at least 25 surgeries by now (a few a week) so is rapidly getting experience. By the time my surgery date arrives in about 6 months (he could get me in sooner, but I want to get as much electrolysis clearing as possible in) he will have done many more and I will not feel like I am in the hands of a "newbie." It will be nice to have surgery in my own hometown where my friends can visit me in the hospital, instead of traveling thousands of miles away or something. I also look forward to being able to go home to my own bed instead of a hotel or something when I am discharged. Dr. Dugi and my insurance require two letters of recommendation from mental health professionals before they can schedule surgery. Because I had transitioned a decade ago it's been years since I saw a therapist, but Amy (the head of OHSU's transgender program) gave me some names and I will have one letter this week and the next one by mid-December, so I can go ahead and book. As a side note, the transgender center also has a plastic surgeon, Dr. Berli, doing FFS and breast augmentation. I am looking into having breast augmentation done before my SRS. I am very lucky to have insurance that will pay for trans surgery, even though they don't make it easy to get covered.

My experience so far with OHSU's trangender program has been exceptional, and I look forward to my surgery and to finally tying up "loose ends" so to speak. Though I'm very well accepted socially as a woman and don't think I NEED surgery to be complete, I do think having this final procedure will allow me to move on and put the last of my past behind me. There isn't much about Dr. Dugi on the Internet (yet!) so I will be sure to document my surgery and recovery to help anybody else considering him. My therapist told me he had sent several patients to Dr. Dugi for surgery and they were "very pleased," so I consider that a good sign.

Welcome to Susan's Place. There are big name in transgender treatment that everybody tends to flock to but there are lesser known names that are just as capable. In my case, I had a local reconstructive plastic surgeon do my nose and my voice surgery was with Dr Haben instead of Korea. As always, doing your home work is important but your result could be just as good without traveling half away around the earth.

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Thanks for the welcome! I am guessing Dr. Dugi will one day be one of the "big names" but right now he's just starting out, so we shall see  :laugh: