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I'm jealous. And I want to know how it goes.
I'll keep everything updated! Not like I have much better to do laying here with a catheter and drains lmao
This is who I'll end up going to due to insurance coverage.
I know it's way too early to tell but I would be interested in hearing about your opinions on aesthetics and function once you've healed! :)
For sure! So far so good here! The staff has been amazing.
This guy?
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/martinez-jorge-jorys-m-d/bio-20130400
I made a list of questions in the wiki if you'd like to answer any of them.
That guy! A lot of the questions are too early to tell atm but I'll keep updating the post as things progress. I can say there were no intraoperative complications and the pain has been manageable. I'll maybe add some more about him now that I'm awake again, been in and out of sleeping a fair bit :P
There's almost nothing on him in the wiki so anything you can add will be a big contribution that I'm sure would be valued by those who follow you.
Think of all the things you'd like to have known before getting this far, and write them down.
For sure. I was really antsy about going to someone unknown so I'll make sure to document as much as possible!
I have a lot more pain than you seem to have, but nevertheless, 100% the catheter is the worst.
Omfg I know right, fuck the catheter. This might be the most chronic pain I've had, but it's nowhere near the worst.
Can I ask what kind of srs you had done?
As far as I'm aware there are a few different techniques, right?
Penile inversion with scrotal grafting. Dr. Martinez uses the same exact technique as Dr. Brassard and hasn't changed anything he said.
Do they have mayo to go with the hospital food? Last time I was hospitalized, they didn't and it sucked.
If the mayo clinic doesn't have mayo, I'm convinced that mayonnaise is considered contraband in all medical facilities.
Lmao I'll have to check! Edit: I can confirm that Mayo has mayo. :P
Can I ask how your experience has been with the nursing staff in general?
Another girl posted her experience at Mayo a year ago, and she said it was frustrating dealing with nurses at times because they were hard to get a hold of, sometimes forgetful, etc.
I discovered she had her surgery the same week Mayo switched to a new health records system (same company I used to work for), and it's inevitably chaotic around that time. Just wanted to see if things were better now- thanks!!
I had my consult right around the time that they were changing their systems over and yeah, it was a bit of a clusterfuck then lol.
Now though? They've been amazing. I can say that this has thusfar been my best hospital stay ever. Everyone that I've had care for me has been great.
Good to know- I kinda wanted to write off the issues related to the system change, but nice to confirm!!
One should mention that the hospitals used by the Mayo Clinic (they don't own a hospital) are either St. Mary's or Rochester Methodist. I had three surgeries done at St. Mary's, and have nothing to complain about the nursing staff. The food was not that great (in my opinion, but I am picky).
The food was seriously so bland lol. I was so damn sick of that menu by the time I was out of there!
My partner brought my lunch in every day. This way I had at least one meal a day I liked! But to be fair, they have to meet the taste and food requirements of many people, and if one has a little more discriminating taste in food, their food will seem to be absolutely boring!
Found out that they do the GRS in Methodist. I don't know much about them, I just used their sleep lab once for sleep study.
During my working life, I did some co-research with some people from St. Mary's, but never worked with Methodist either.
Congrats! I am 3 days post op (with Bowers), so I feel your pain about the catheter haha. SO ANNOYING.
So my question is what did they recommend for hormones post op? I've been on a higher dose of injection E to keep my T low, but Bowers wants me to go to a very low dose of E pills now, which I really don't like the idea of. So I'm curious what your surgeon is recommending.
OMG yeah screw the cath. The cath must die. Hormone-wise I didn't have to stop pre-op at all as I was a low blood clot risk. Post-op my hrt should stay the same but I'm a really weird case in that regard. My T has been sufficiently suppressed without any AA and a relatively low e-valerate injection. That's to say I only take 4-6mg weekly and that shouldn't change. I personally would also not want to go on oral. In your position I'd just stick with my primary provider once I was through the shitty end of surgery. That's just my 2c though!
Also CONGRATS TO YOU TOO!
Good advice! And thank you!!! 😁 Congruence is an amazing thing. 💜
You are aware that you just had an orchiectomy, aren't you ? Your T will be pretty soon lower than that of an average cis woman, E is not needed for this. Your endocrinologist will very likely adjust you to the E level of an average woman your age, I am adjusted to the level of a woman on day 10 of her ovulation period. Which means, I take two little E pills every day.
Update:
I am now in "the hands" of the endocrinology group of the Gender Reassignment Department of the Mayo Clinic. They took me of the oral estrogen and put me onto injections. The want to increase my estrogen level without increasing the risk of DVT. I am accepted for surgery and have my place in line on the waiting list.
Thank you for sharing! So, so much! I started HRT through Mayo back in October, and have been watching intently for any and all feedback regarding their surgical results.
You mentioned you may at some point down the road share results, maybe under a different username. If you do, and if you're comfortable, I'd be very interested in the follow-up. The few reports I've come across have left me...less than enthused, and thinking I'll be jumping ship from Mayo when the time for GCS rolls around. But if things improve, especially aesthetically, I'm of course keeping an open mind.
Personally, depth isn't super important, but aesthetics probably top the list, with sensory preservation a hair's breadth behind, so I'll definitely be following whatever progress you decide to share. :)
Thanks for being so willing to share your story! I live in the Twin Cities and I want to go to Mayo for the surgery because of them not requiring hair removal beforehand (I hope that still holds true). About how many consultations and pre-op appointments did you need to go through? If it’s not too invasive, what was your BMI when you had your consultation? I had a consultation with Dr. Kim in the cities and it was basically useless because he said I needed to lose weight and come in for another consultation.
god a lot of consultations... i think about 6 in total lol. I definitely think if you've been denied because of BMI you'll need to lose weight anywhere you go. My BMI is pretty comfortably normal at about 20. To have a good result you are going to want to be as close to your ideal weight as absolutely possible honestly.
Oh wow yeah that’s a lot! How did you get the whole process started? I’m def working on losing weight but I was hoping to get the process started with the appointments where weight wouldn’t matter
i just called them up and said I wanted SRS haha. I'd already gotten my letter ahead of time, and their social worker provided the second one to insurance.
Awesome, thanks for your replies :)
I jumped ship from Kim to the Mayo, his waiting times are way to long. The only positive for me is that he uses Fairview (I did my initial surgical training there, but have doubts that any of the people I knew are still there).
Mayo does not require shaving as long as your bush does not resemble a jungle. I needed to see endocrinology, psychology, the heart people, and the surgical team. I don't know if there will be more consultations once the give me my surgical date. Currently they tell me it is 8 to 10 months away.
Concerning your weight, any surgeon wants their patients to be as lean as possible, because fatty tissue will not heal well and can be the source of wound infections. Additionally, most common wound closing systems do not work well in fatty tissue because they tend to tear out from it.
We always told our patients to be as lean as possible when they have elective surgery. I think they want a little body fat with GRS, because they need to build up the outer labia and the mounds pubis.
Mayo Clinic is amazing! I was there for a non-trans related thing and it was world class service. There's a reason they're #1 in the main in so many things. I'm glad I'm an hour away!
I've been really pleased with my stay so far! And even though I'm in pain and recovering and stuff... I am so happy that I have had this done. Gosh I knew that I would be happy about SRS after recovery but it was seriously just like, immediate dysphoria relief the second I first stood up.
You can Kik me if you like.
Do you have any updates? I will see the endocrinology department for my first consultation in early August. Do you have any hints and tips, what I should ask/look out for?
Everything's healing up really good! I am really happy with my decision and I am getting back to my normal routine again. I guess if you have any specific questions I can answer them for you lol. As far as anything generally speaking... Try to group your appointments together as much as possible because they require a ton of them.
That's honestly my biggest hit against Mayo. My care throughout surgery was awesome, and I'm pretty much totally satisfied with my results, but goddamn do they want to see you a lot. I cancelled all their subsequent post op appointments and am only going to my surgeon follow ups now. Good luck with everything!
Thanks for the answer! I do all my health stuff at the Mayo anyway (for about 30 years now), i know everything about the appointment system. But they try to bundle them, if possible and you ask for it. I have my first three appointments all budded with other heath stuff. Was your surgery at St. Mary's? And for how long did you have to stay in the hospital (and I assume the food is still bad?)
Okay good! I stayed in the Methodist building for 5 days, though they said that 5-7 is typical for SRS. And ugh yeah the food isn't great. I was soooo sick of that menu by the end hahahaha
I have my first meetings with the endo department early august. Can you tell a little more about your outcome?
I am also to meet with dr. Kim of the U of MN
Do you have any idea why they keep you so long in the hospital? When I was there for spinal surgery, they kept me 3 days only
I have allways all my medical stuff done at the Mayo, and I am pretty good in getting everything done in a budle. I am there for the first two weeks in August, and my endo appointments are all inside the entire package I need to get done there. I have two endo dep appointments with an unknown provider, would that be the surgeon who does the surgery? It is scheduled after my appointment with a social worker.
They have you intake with the endo dept so they can basically do a physical and assess your surgery needs. Who you see in there can vary.
After SRS you're gonna have blood drain(s), a catheter, packing sewn onto you, and packing sewn into your vagina too. They keep you there until basically all that comes off and you can pee on your own, though sometimes people can need to take the catheter home with them.
What specifically do you want to know about my result? I can show you what it looks like if that's what you want lol. It looks good and feeling is coming back and I haven't had any complications haha
If you could PM me pics, it would great! I wonder if they do a lot of the initial detail stuff with me, because all my medical records of about 30 years are there already. I have to point that out in my telephone interview. I know all the medical stuff, cause I am one of those med people myself. It is good that you had no complications, because that indicates that they did not work sloppy (typical top Mayo quality of surgical work).
I can't hardly wait, until I can say that the feeling comes back! How long did it take between your intake stuff and the actual surgery?
I have all the initial Mayo stuff behind me now, and I am accepted for surgery, and have my place in line. I had to stay 5 weeks up north (I now live in Florida), because they added new and different tests. Most were not gender related, except my voice. I live full time as a woman for quite a few years now, and had a normal female sounding voice, until I got a bronchitis and laryngitis about 3 month ago. Now my voice sounds like the female version of a chain saw. My local Nose Ear and Throat doc said to just sit it out, but the Mayo people helped me, and now I sound like a lady again!
Anyway, I am accepted for surgery and have my place in line!
How are you doing these days? You should be able to do any wild dancing by now!
Pleasee be so kind and provide an update!
Thanks
Take care
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I'm 29 and have had HRT for ten years. What specifically do you mean regarding changes?
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Yeah I hear you... I think we always wish we could have started earlier no matter when we did, unless it was like before puberty or something. I know I wish I started younger too anyway.
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