I may be starting this a little late, but better now than never.  My plan is to update this as things are get closer.

FFS for me will be, I hope, an anxiety reducer.  I assume everyone who looks at me knows I'm transgender.  Sometimes (usually) I'm right.

My FFS journey started in March of 2017.  I found a surgeon who was/is local and has a good time reputation, Dr Loren Schechter in Chicago. 

I set up an initial appointment and met an immediate issue.  He was switching affiliations and it took forever to get that straightened out, months.  I'm a patient person and that was okay with me. 

The initial consultation was fine, I really didn't have a laundry list of things to do but went in with the marching orders of "when I walk into a room, I want there to be no doubt of gender.

His list was, after researching, complete. 

The next step was for a full skull CT.  With prescription in hand I headed to Rush Hospital.  What I found there was interesting.  New facility and a new CT machine that the technician was just learning it's quirks. 

It took quite a while to get the scans necessary because I couldn't hold still.  The pulse/heartbeat was enough to blur the image.  We probably tried 6 or 7 times and finally got a good one.

Then the nightmare starts.  Insurance declined my surgery. Appeal declined; appeal declined; final appeal declined, my personal appeal declined.  Totally pissed off I contacted my HR department with, my next phone call with be a lawyer and no body wants that.

The next day I got a call from HR that BCBS was reevaluating the request.  48 hours later it was approved after an internal review by a doctor.  Funny, 5 rejections by "accountants".  Lesson learned, ask for a peer-to-peer review right from the beginning.

Fast forward to about two months ago.  I had a consult with Dr Walton who will be the primary surgeon and Schechter with be secondary (from what I can tell).  He decided that the time for brow, nose, trach was enough for one day.  My brow bone is too thin to shave so they have more intensive work to do.  Therefore the jaw work I want will have to wait. [emoji26] But as I said, I'm patient.

Now it's getting real.  I had my pre surgical physical (it was kinda funny... Not very thorough as the Dr said I'm probably one of his healthiest patients.  So now I'm at the hospital getting blood work, EKG... Just to make sure I'm healthy enough for surgery.

Final consult with surgeons in two weeks.

29 days and counting...

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Congratulations, and best wishes for amazing results😊

Wow Denise, that is exciting for sure! I can't wait to see your results after you have some time to heal. A girl who lives close to me went to Zukowski. I kind of think he over dose the nose jobs, but now that she is healed up she looks amazing.

Best wishes ....you already look very femme.... look forward to your results 🤨

Quote from: Denise on August 27, 2018, 10:21:30 AM
...I assume everyone who looks at me knows I'm transgender.  Sometimes (usually) I'm right...

I say this about myself, too. ha!

Good luck on the surg!  I wrestled with my insurance, too, and they finally relented.  Mine is in Oct.  I started the process in Feb...  I am a patient person, too. 

Congrats Denise! I'm gonna try to get my insurance to do the same but I have a few surgeons in mind I want to have consultations with before I decide. I know not every insurance covers every surgeon...
Well, I'm glad you've got your date! Hope all goes well

Monday I went to my GP for my Physical.  The pre-surgical physical was quick and easy. I got a prescription to take to the hospital for blood work, Chest x-ray and EKG (the surgeon wanted it).  On Thursday I got a call from the Dr office, the hospital never sent the lab results, x-ray or EKG which took a few phone calls but straightened out.

Tuesday the hospital called to go over some logistics such as transportation, support after surgery and if I wanted a second bed in my recovery room for the two nights I'm expected to be in the hospital.  My support person, RA, said yes, she'll stay and Yes she wanted the second bed.

Things are getting real now that it's just 25 days away.  But first... Vacation to go SCUBA diving.

Let me start with this was not about nor referring to Dr Loren Schechter.  It was a different surgeon.

8 days prior to surgery (yesterday) I had a final appointment with the surgeon.  The first thing he says is "I'm not accepting insurance any more."

After an explanation, I understood his position but was still a little upset.  The receptionist came in and we chatted and it got worse.  Details not required here but the bottom line was $10,000 USD was coming out of my empty pockets.

Obviously I was not happy.  As I walked out I mentioned to the people in the waiting room "I recommend going somewhere else." 

5 minutes later they called me back into the office and they said they reconsidered and they will take mine but I'm the last one.

I'm not sure if it was my "getting a lawyer" or "social media" comment or the comment to the people in the office but that has been cleared up.  I did contact my personal account rep at BCBS to ensure he'll be paid.

7 days and counting.

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@Denise:
Dear Denise:
Wow... this is wonderful news for you.... let's recap, you went from paying $10K out of pocket ... to now having your insurance cover some/most/all of the surgery and hospital charges.   You should definitely be rejoicing for sure.

It was wise to contact your insurance company to verify that they will be paying their contract amount for your procedure.   You definitely don't want any surprises when the bill comes due.

So, 7 days from now is the big day...  you will be in my thoughts on September 25th Tuesday morning.
I imagine that you are getting quite excited as you should be.

Please continue to keep us updated.   I will be following your thread and looking for your posts around the various Forum threads....

Hugs and well wishes, as always.
Danielle

Quote from: Denise on September 18, 2018, 05:24:35 PM
Let me start with this was not about nor referring to Dr Loren Schechter.  It was a different surgeon.

8 days prior to surgery (yesterday) I had a final appointment with the surgeon.  The first thing he says is "I'm not accepting insurance any more."

After an explanation, I understood his position but was still a little upset.  The receptionist came in and we chatted and it got worse.  Details not required here but the bottom line was $10,000 USD was coming out of my empty pockets.

Obviously I was not happy.  As I walked out I mentioned to the people in the waiting room "I recommend going somewhere else." 

5 minutes later they called me back into the office and they said they reconsidered and they will take mine but I'm the last one.

I'm not sure if it was my "getting a lawyer" or "social media" comment or the comment to the people in the office but that has been cleared up.  I did contact my personal account rep at BCBS to ensure he'll be paid.

7 days and counting.

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Wonderful 😊👍👌

Today's the day.

It's 4:38am here in Chicago and I need to be at the hospital before 5:30.  It's just under 2 miles and it's a nice day so I'm about to walk to get some air and enjoy the nice weather while we still have it.  I doubt I'll be doing much in the way of getting out on the town for a week or three.

I'll post an update when some of the drugs have worn off and I'm not so loopy.  I'll shoot for late Wednesday or Thursday.

Love to you all, Denise

Denise, best wishes!!  All the best.

Quote from: Denise on September 25, 2018, 04:41:22 AM
Today's the day.

It's 4:38am here in Chicago and I need to be at the hospital before 5:30.  It's just under 2 miles and it's a nice day so I'm about to walk to get some air and enjoy the nice weather while we still have it.  I doubt I'll be doing much in the way of getting out on the town for a week or three.

I'll post an update when some of the drugs have worn off and I'm not so loopy.  I'll shoot for late Wednesday or Thursday.

Love to you all, Denise

So happy for you, Denise! Can't wait to see the results!


Stephanie

I'm trying to think of something positive and uplifting to type .. that's not my style though ..
We're rootin' for you?
nah
Good luck
nah
Can't wait for the improvment
OMG no, you look great now

I suppose I should stick with the safer "Best Wishes" and "Can't wait" as per @Stephanie
Waiting in anticipation 

swift recovery honey

I hope you have a Fast recovery Denise. Can't wait to see the new you!

Thank you all for your kind words.

About 11 hours of surgery was Tuesday, today is Thursday and I still feel like I got hit by a truck.  I'm only 1/2 surprised by that as others have indicated that recovery from FFS is not fun.  They are right.

The results are looking good so far but with so much swelling it's tough to tell.

I'll post pictures later when I'm not totally gross.

Love you all very much.

Denise

As each day goes by that truck gets smaller and given enough time completely vanishes in the mirror.  And then you're there! 

Quote from: Denise on September 27, 2018, 11:05:03 AM
Thank you all for your kind words.

About 11 hours of surgery was Tuesday, today is Thursday and I still feel like I got hit by a truck.  I'm only 1/2 surprised by that as others have indicated that recovery from FFS is not fun.  They are right.

The results are looking good so far but with so much swelling it's tough to tell.

I'll post pictures later when I'm not totally gross.

Love you all very much.

Denise

Wow, 11 hours! Well, as Kendra told me, it isn't pleasant by any means, but it only amounts to a blip on your timeline, and you get to enjoy the benefits the rest of your life.

Take care and heal well.


Stephanie

Hi Denise, sorry I missed this since I was so caught up in stuff the past couple of days.. Wow, sounds like you have a lot of resting, relaxing and healing to do! It sounds very painful.
Hope you have a fast recovery[emoji173] we're all anticipating the results, but it does take time so we understand!

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