To me, anyway. When I saw Dr. Dugi at OHSU back in October, his waiting list extended out to February. I had to spend a few months getting my letters done (I had transitioned years ago and it had been ages since I saw a therapist) and when I called today to make sure they had arrived, it turns out he is booked until March 2018! The waiting list went from four months to thirteen months in the past four months! I had planned on getting surgery done before my wedding in October, and when I saw the doctor he said that should be easy to manage. So I've spent a lot of time and money having the necessary electrolysis, getting in to see therapists, etc. and planning on getting it over and done with so I could move on with my life, only to find out that it's now at LEAST another year and then some.
Even worse, I've been relying on the fact that Medicare and my insurance will pay for SRS. However, with the shift in political power, I am scared that by that time they will have found a way to get Medicare to stop paying for transgender services and I won't be able to have it at all. I honestly don't know if I can go another year being halfway done. I was so happy and optimistic, but now it's like I am back to square one.
Does anybody know how much of a waiting list Brassard and the Montreal group has? I don't know if I could manage to take out a loan, but my fiance probably could and then I wouldn't have to wait so long. I have all the letters and am mostly done with the electrolysis, so I can go pretty much any time.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Why don't you try to contact them and find out? Www.grsmontreal.com
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I believe brassard list is like 6 months if that when I was thinking of going that route but I'm just going to hit it elsewhere
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You may want to ask about being a stand-by for a cancellation.
I doubt Medicare would pay for surgery in Canada!!
I think brassard has only a few month wait list. And if you do go with brassard you actually don't need the hair removal he just cauterizes it all for you. I would suggest a cancellation list and as long as you really flexible I'm sure you could get it much sooner
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Brassard's wait list is generally about 4-6 months. (My friend who went about 3 months ago had around a 4-month wait.) And the Canadian dollar is weak right now, so it's cheaper... However, Brassard does prefer that if you do electro - and he counsels against it - you wait at least six months after the last clearing, or else it's harder for him to find and scrape the follicles.
Quote from: mszoey on February 15, 2017, 08:44:25 PM
I think brassard has only a few month wait list. And if you do go with brassard you actually don't need the hair removal he just cauterizes it all for you. I would suggest a cancellation list and as long as you really flexible I'm sure you could get it much sooner
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I wish that was so about the cancellation/waiting list. The scheduler basically told me not to even bother because, as Dr. Dugi does take Medicare, they almost never get any cancellations. I told them I could come in at the drop of a hat and will basically beg them when they call and confirm a date, so we will see.
Medicare would not pay for SRS in Canada, but as I understand it Dr. Brassard's fees are much more reasonable than most of what you will find in the US. I could afford 16K with a loan and some sacrifice, maybe, but 30K plus for surgery in the states would be totally impossible. Obviously I would MUCH prefer to make the 10 minute drive from my house to OHSU for surgery, and come recover in my own bed, but unfortunately I just don't think I can wait the extra years it now seems it would take to get in.
(BTW, Brassard's Canadian dollar cost is $19K, but even three months ago, that was about $14K US. I was jealous, since the dollar was basically 1:1 with the CA dollar when I went. :) )
But if you come to brassard you get a week of recovery with nurses full time around you which in my opinion is the best part of all of this. I'm am not looking forward to leaving here tmo. :(
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And then there is also the part that brassard is arguably the best surgeon in the world at this which for me was the reason I came here
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I'm shocked at dugi list tho but I do know he gets a lot of Apple care from Washington state going to him for the orchie surge. Apple still just contract with bowers tho for the whole grs. I wonder how many srs dugi has done now
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