Number 82

I've Got a Surgery Date!

For the past two years, I have been engaged in a variety of activities associated with the gender confirmation process. No surprises there. I've got two years worth of blog entries telling you all about such things.  As a metacognitive metaphor, I like to think that everything I've been doing is a little bit like water circling the drain. Of course my overall goal is not an empty tub. Rather it is the surgical procedure euphemistically known as "bottom surgery." For the less coy among you, it's also called vaginoplasty. Again, this has been discussed in previous posts.

This entire process has been an extraordinary exercise in patience. I think I have, for the most part, acquitted myself pretty well. But there have been plenty of times I wanted to scream, cry, yell, or in many other ways just totally lose my shit over how slowly things were happening. As I inched closer and closer, it became harder and harder to remain patient and calm. Every morning as I stepped out of the shower and got dressed for the day my feelings of dysphoria regarding my archaic genitalia has became especially challenging.

In December I cleared a giant hurdle when my surgeon OK'ed me for surgery. Then I had to wait five weeks to receive 'prior authorization' approval from my insurance company. But of course it wasn't that easy. The University of MN hospital where the surgery will be done was considered 'out of network' even though the other University hospital was considered 'in network.' It took two weeks to work that out, but finally the insurance company gave their complete approval.

Time to schedule the surgery, right? Nope. First my surgeon needed to review my case, and only then would he forward it to the person who schedules surgeries. For the last two weeks, I've been staring at my phone waiting for it to ring. This afternoon, it finally did. The phone call I've been waiting over two years to receive finally came.

July 16th may be five months away, but I've got a date! No more wondering and waiting and then more wondering and waiting and then even more wondering and waiting. Having an actual date makes being patient a ton easier. And I'm first in line if a surgery date becomes available sooner than that (which the scheduler suggested was a 50/50 proposition). No matter, though, because I've got a date!