Consult with Dr. Chen (BrownsteinCrane) Mar 11..have place to stay..thanks. Bowers is out of town when I'm in Bay area and I scheduled phone consult but now rethinking, I'd rather see her in person so will make trip back maybe April. Want to have surgery in Dec...

Slight change of consult scheduling. Had consult with Bowers last week and Chen is now in May. Liked Dr. Bowers alot she was very attentive to my wife and really talked extensively with her. Even though my wife (16 yrs) have always lived our married life in a very binary genderized life (with two kids, she's bio-mom) she is struggling with my transition. Bowers recognized it immediately and tho' she answered all of our questions, she acknowledged how difficult on any relationship. I liked everything outlined as possibilities for ring metiodioplasty. Gonna see how next month consult goes with Chen and then decide but I also don't want to lose my wife...So hard

Slight change of consult scheduling. Had consult with Bowers last week and Chen is now in May. Liked Dr. Bowers alot she was very attentive to my wife and really talked extensively with her. Even though my wife (16 yrs) have always lived our married life in a very binary genderized life (with two kids, she's bio-mom) she is struggling with my transition. Bowers recognized it immediately and tho' she answered all of our questions, she acknowledged how difficult on any relationship. I liked everything outlined as possibilities for ring metiodioplasty. Gonna see how next month consult goes with Chen and then decide but I also don't want to lose my wife...So hard

Wow, that sounds like a lot going on. Not knowing you or your wife it seems like from where I'm standing some type of counseling could be really helpful. Does your wife articulate what some of her feelings are around your transition?

Yes, transition is tough on partners and relationships. My GF and I have been together for almost 20 years, and she's certainly had concerns about bottom surgery, coming from a place of concern and caring. She's fully behind it now because she can see how important it is to me and because she's learned a lot about the procedures.

I hope this works out for you both!

ps. The counseling suggestion is a good one. My GF had one session with a FTM therapist that she found a bit helpful, and a long phone conversation with another SOFFA that she found very helpful.

Thank you both for your comments and suggestions. Transitioning is hard and we'll work at this for sure. She'll come with me to the consult with Chen next month. So she's opening herself up to recognizing where I need and want to be..in fact, since we've been together. She knows that I'd like to have RM procedure with the hysto too.
Thanks guys...

Hey Lucas,
Circling back again. My surg (meta, UL, V-rectomy, Scrot) is scheduled for April 2017 with Dr. Chen. Are there any suggestions for healing, etc. that you'd suggest? I am getting excited, nervous too as I read much about complications. I know there is no guarantee to avoid those and Chen is forthcoming about stuff for sure. I am just hoping to be prepared mentally and physically for a good outcome.
Thanks
Jay

I've posted here before about my meta surgery. Just to check in...now, nearly two weeks out from surgery with Dr. Chen who performed meta, scrotoplasty, and v-nectomy. I'm doing okay and healing well but definitely working to manage the pain and just general discomfort. Yet, I feel super happy and even with my swollen junk looks like I've always imagined it to be.
Chen and I spent a great deal of time chatting about my original desire to have UL but really it came down to how much available tissue I had. Almost none to provide a better than UL 50-50 STP outcome but plenty for scrotoplasty. So literally, the morning of surgery, I opted to forgo UL given the liklihood for increased complications.
Using neosporin and medihoney. Eating well and taking a range of good supplements to help with healing too. Have two more follow-ups with Dr. Chen, this week and next.
If anyone has any good advice or wants more information, send my way.
Jay

I've posted here before about my meta surgery. Just to check in...now, nearly two weeks out from surgery with Dr. Chen who performed meta, scrotoplasty, and v-nectomy. I'm doing okay and healing well but definitely working to manage the pain and just general discomfort. Yet, I feel super happy and even with my swollen junk looks like I've always imagined it to be.
Chen and I spent a great deal of time chatting about my original desire to have UL but really it came down to how much available tissue I had. Almost none to provide a better than UL 50-50 STP outcome but plenty for scrotoplasty. So literally, the morning of surgery, I opted to forgo UL given the liklihood for increased complications.
Using neosporin and medihoney. Eating well and taking a range of good supplements to help with healing too. Have two more follow-ups with Dr. Chen, this week and next.
If anyone has any good advice or wants more information, send my way.
Jay

Hey Jay!
Congrats on your surgery and I hope your healing has been coming along well. Appreciate you sharing your experience.

I am wondering if you could speak to what went into your decision for Dr Chen. I think you mentioned you also consulted with Bowers? I heard Bowers speak at Philly Trans conference last year and perhaps it was because of that, but I've been thinking I'd want her. However I never see any of her results ANYwhere on transbucket or individual blogs. I think I've seen one. I also know she is an OBGYN and I've heard some chatter about how Crane is a urologist and maybe also plastic(?) and so maybe that fares better? Any perspective you would be willing to share on your decision making process would be great.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did consider Dr. Bowers and really did like her bedside manner. It came down to making the decision what kind of surgery I wanted since I was also back and forth as to whether or not to have phallo or meta. So procedurally, I began to rule out Bowers for those reasons alone. Then, when I finally decided on meta, with or without UL and wanting the vaginectomy with scrotoplasty both my wife and I had met with Dr. Chen (she also met Dr. Bowers with me) and we both thought we'd go with Dr. Chen.

I liked Dr.Bowers but it just came down to deciding what procedure I wanted and who did I think would provide me with the best outcome based upon the information, photos, and my gut feeling. I also bucked the prevailing trending surgeon for my top surgery and am quite happy with that outcome.

Bottom line, it will come down to what you want and feeling most comfortable with who will give you the best results. Good luck and feel free to hit me up with more questions.

I did consider Dr. Bowers and really did like her bedside manner. It came down to making the decision what kind of surgery I wanted since I was also back and forth as to whether or not to have phallo or meta. So procedurally, I began to rule out Bowers for those reasons alone. Then, when I finally decided on meta, with or without UL and wanting the vaginectomy with scrotoplasty both my wife and I had met with Dr. Chen (she also met Dr. Bowers with me) and we both thought we'd go with Dr. Chen.

I liked Dr.Bowers but it just came down to deciding what procedure I wanted and who did I think would provide me with the best outcome based upon the information, photos, and my gut feeling. I also bucked the prevailing trending surgeon for my top surgery and am quite happy with that outcome.

Bottom line, it will come down to what you want and feeling most comfortable with who will give you the best results. Good luck and feel free to hit me up with more questions.

Thanks for you response!

To clarify, when you say it came down to what procedure you wanted and you ruled out Bowers for that reason, doesn't Bowers offer meta? Maybe I'm reading that wrong. All your other comments make sense and I appreciate the feedback. Was it a long time period that you had to go through to have multiple consults? I suppose Bowers and Chen are both in SF.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk