Upcoming vaginoplasty with Dr. Antti Mikkola [r/transnord crosspost]

7
u/plathhs
Mon Oct 11 11:24:23 2021 UTC
(13 comments)

Crosspost from r/transnord in hope of getting more replies.

TL;DR: Looking for accounts and/or pictures of vaginoplasty as performed by Dr. Antti Mikkola, in preparation for my upcoming surgery with him in less than two one week s !

I'm currently scheduled for MTF GRS/SRS (vaginoplasty) with Dr. Antti Mikkola at Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset Solna on October 18th. I've been on the waiting list since around July 2018, and now it's less than two one week s left … (I had originally accepted to get it done in September of last year, but had to cancel due to too much other stuff going on in my life at that time, and then came the 2nd wave of covid-19, etc.) I'm excited for sure, but mostly just really nervous and scared.

I haven't been able to locate any first hand accounts of the procedure as performed by Dr. Mikkola, and would be more than grateful if anyone here could share—either their own experience—and/or links to any anecdote about having the surgery done by this specific surgeon. Also, if there are pictures of results somewhere to be found, or clues as to where one could obtain such pictures, that would be even better.

According to Dr. Mikkola during the consultation I had with him in August, the procedure they now perform at Karolinska in Solna, is (AFAICR) a single stage variant on the penile inversion technique, with some borrowings/adaptations from either Dr. Johan Thorfinn's so called "preputial flap" (Sw. förhudslambå ) previously performed in Linköping, and/or "inspired" by Thai techniques. Could someone here confirm whether this is correct?

Having the patience/opportunity to wait and save up the money required for surgery abroad (i.e. Thailand) seems very unlikely for me in my current situation, so I've decided to go with getting it done ASAP for FREE here in Sweden instead. But I'd still want to know a bit more about what I can expect, before taking the leap.

Thank you!

all 13 comments


2
u/EmilieBird
Mon Oct 11 19:38:00 2021 UTC
(8 children)

I run the largest network for trans people in scandinavia, and I've never heard of this surgeon. I don't think you are likely to find any results from him, and I can almost guarantee you that he isn't very experienced.

2
Tue May 14 16:26:53 2024 UTC
(1 child)

"Huh, most of the results I've seen from Sweden on here are from Dr. Antti Mikkola and-"

Oh right, this comment is three years old haha

1
Wed May 15 15:31:57 2024 UTC
(0 children)

slow clap

0
OP
Mon Oct 11 21:01:34 2021 UTC
(1 child)

Yeah, all of this is quite … alarming. I'm starting to feel more uncertain by the day now. I'd really just want to get this done, but still, it feels plain wrong to let a surgeon of unknown credentials perform this one-time-only thing on me.

1
Tue Oct 12 09:55:34 2021 UTC
(0 children)

I think that's something most of us can agree with, but unfortunately we don't really have many other options here in Scandinavia, unless we can save the money to have surgery ourselves.

1
Mon Oct 11 19:54:52 2021 UTC
(3 children)

Can you add anything to the wiki here? Links?

1
Mon Oct 11 20:27:50 2021 UTC
(2 children)

I think you have the surgery side of things covered, but aside that here's the link to the network.

1
Mon Oct 11 22:08:45 2021 UTC
(1 child)

Thanks, I'll add it in the next update.

Is there anymore information in these private groups? What is the standards of these surgeons like compared to other countries?

1
Tue Oct 12 09:53:54 2021 UTC
(0 children)

I'd say there is more niche information than what usually gets posted on this subreddit or the r/transnord subreddit, but the broad strokes that most people look for are generally the same.

From what I know anbout the nordic surgeons, the quality of surgeries in Denmark, Norway and Sweden is generally the same. I'd say it matches that of the generic american surgeon who isn't well known and only get chosen because it's the only one that a given persons insurance covers.
Quality is okay, but not top of the line, and complications are more common since they don't have a large patient flow. I don't think any Scandinavian surgeon does more than 50 GRS surgeries a year, and to my knowledge neither of the Swedish or Danish (possibly Norwegian as well) surgeons have been operating for more than 5 years with their current methods.
My guesstimate for the Danish surgeons is that they've done 50-75 GRS surgeries in the past 3 years, and I'd assume it to be similar or lower numbers for the Swedish and Norwegian ones.

Feel free to ask more questions if you have them, either here or in my DMs, and I'll try to answer them the best I can.

1
u/HiddenStill
Mon Oct 11 19:10:50 2021 UTC
(3 children)

This is all I have on Sweden

https://www.reddit.com/r/TransSurgeriesWiki/wiki/srs/europe#wiki_sweden

Nothing on your surgeon. How many of these surgeries has he performed?

1
OP
Mon Oct 11 20:55:52 2021 UTC
(2 children)

Thanks. I don't know how experienced he is, and I'm still scrambling to find anything at all on him really.

1
Mon Oct 11 22:02:46 2021 UTC
(0 children)

Presumably less experienced than the ones you can find info on. However are the results you have found for other surgeons satisfactory? Because if not then its unlikely to be any better.

1
Sat Dec 10 16:10:35 2022 UTC
(0 children)

There’s new photos up on the forum btw