The consult

So the consult went really well.  I was nothing but pleased with their whole office.  We got there yesterday morning and sat in the waiting room drinking tea.  Then the actual surgeon came out and greeted us.  She took us on a tour of their entire facility and explained in depth what is done there and the kind of results they have had.  Then we were directed into a little office and given all sorts of paperwork to fill out. I had brought with me copies of all my medical history and my recommendation letter, but I still had to complete all their documents.  They offered more tea and then left Guy and me alone to work on it.

When we finished we met back up with the surgeon and we went into her office.  We talked to her for more than an hour, with her asking question and verifying things in the paperwork.  She was VERY thorough, which seemed like a great quality.

She seemed surprised to learn that I hadn’t already had some feminization surgeries and confirmed what I had already heard: that starting hormones as a teenager makes a huge difference.  I turn 21 in a couple weeks and she told me even if I had started hormones right now, I would likely not see anywhere near the successes that I have.  I have C-cup breasts and she said it’s something like 1 in 1000 that someone will develop breasts that size on just hormones.  Lucky me.

She told me that she chooses candidates for surgery based on many criteria that her experience has shown lead to fewer complications.  One was that the person be in good physical shape and a non-smoker.  She actually gave me a mini-physical and even drew blood.  But I already know I’m in good health.  I told her that I run everyday and that I swim regularly and she liked that.  She told me I’d need to take a month or so off from that after the surgery though.

She said that technically one year of full-immersion into the new gender along with hormone treatment is the minimum requirement for having surgery, but she prefers people who have several years of history.  My almost three years, considering my young age, is a very positive for her.

Also, she said that she considers it a huge positive that I am in a monogamous long-term relationship, and she actually suggested that guy seek some therapy in how best to deal with his feelings for my new body.

I gave her my recommendation letter and she said she would scrutinize and verify it, but said she actually requires two letters for surgery.  That shouldn’t be a problem for me, I’m sure the doctor that has been giving me hormones all this time would write me a letter.  But it was the one thing I didn’t have to make my preparation complete.  

She said she normally schedules surgeries about 6-9 months after consultation.  She said she wouldn’t actually schedule anything with me until she got my second letter, but she would suggest either October of this year of January of next year since she doesn’t recommend surgery around the holidays.

I guess I would probably lean towards January.  I’m definitely eager to have this done, but I don’t want to feel like I’m rushing anything.

The whole experience was great and I left really excited about the place.  I think I should probably talk to another surgeon just to have a second opinion, but I couldn’t be happier with this first choice.

Vaginoplasty involves a minimum two week stay in their facility and is not a minor surgery.  I have to keep that in mind and not make any quick decisions.