zackyftm2916-blog

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Phalloplasty is in 8 Days

Yes you read that right. Sorry I haven’t updated in a while I’m not on tumblr much but I figured I should update before I forget again lol. I got my date for surgery on November 9,2017. My surgery is Janurary 29th! 8 more days. I’ve been counting for 75 days and it’s almost time!

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Phalloplasty: The Final Appointments

It's been a while since I updated so what better time than the present. It has been a crazy month for me. Working, waiting for appointments, and getting more appointments. So let's have a catch up. The last I posted I was meeting Dr. Diamond in the urology department of Boston Children's Hospital. I got my appointment switched and had it 4 days earlier than originally scheduled. That appointment went great and he made me very well informed about his part in the surgery. Towards the end of the appointment he told me I would have to see a team of mental health and gender specialists known as the GeMS Program. I was bummed because I thought I was there. I thought it was time to get my date. So I went home and waited for a call. 3 days later I get a call for my appointments. 2 appointments on July 6th. It wasn't that far away. Only a few weeks. So I was excited and I knew it would soon be time for me to get my date. Then heart break again. I got a call the day before and had the appointments rescheduled to August 8th. I was not happy. The next day I get a call from a woman in the GeMS program who helped so much. She put me on a cancellation list and I got my appointment switched multiple times and was told I didn't even need one of them. I didn't need it because my surgeons office had just gained a mental health specialist/social worker named Elizabeth. So now I have 2 appointments left. 1st one is tomorrow 7/26/17 at 12pm with Elizabeth. 2nd appointment is Thursday 7/27/17 at 8am. Then after that appointment the authorization will be sent and finally things will be in motion. I've been waiting so long for this and I'm almost done. Here's to the almost end of the appointments saga and the next blogs will be for surgery.

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The Road to Phalloplasty (RFF) Consults Part 1

8 Days from now I’ll be in Boston for my final consult for bottom surgery with Dr. Diamond the head of urology at Boston Children's Hospital. But let me start at the beginning.

My top surgeons nurse (I’ll make a separate top surgery and hysto post) told me of a surgeon in Boston named Oren Ganor. She gave me his email and I emailed him. I set up my appointment for May 9th 2017 not knowing what to expect. I wasn’t sure what procedures he performed, how many surgeries he had done, I didn’t even know if he would be able to help me. Oh was I wrong.

May 9th,2017. The day that my journey began. I was in my moms back seat shitting bricks not knowing what was ahead. I had so many questions and so many things to ask him. I went into my consult with no expectations. I went in with hopes. I hoped he offered phalloplasty. I hoped he had done it before. I had other hopes also. I hoped if he couldn’t help he could point me to someone who could. My mind was racing and I was so anxious and scared. All I knew was this man could change my life or tell me who could. 11:30am. I met Samantha. His nurse. I was supposed to be there for 11:15 but got lost in the hospital. Samantha is super nice and absolutely amazing. I filled out my paperwork and sat in the waiting room. 10 minutes went by and then I hear “Zack Hogle”. I look up to see my surgeon Dr. Ganor for the first time. I was at a loss for words. I went into his office and talked with him. Told him what I knew about phallo and bottom surgeries and what I want out of it. He smiled and that is when everything changed. He told me he does Phalloplasty and that it was newer at that hospital but they still perform it. He showed me his results. I was blown away. That is what I wanted. It looked exactly like what I wanted. So I told him I wanted to undergo Radial Forearm Free Flap Phalloplasty, RFF Phallo for short, with him. He told me I would have a few more appointments but by summers end I would have my surgery. I left that appointment the happiest man alive. Now fast forward to the following week.

May 17, 2017 Back in Boston at Boston Children’s Hospital for appointment #2. This time I met Dr. Taghinia. Dr. Ganors other head surgeon on my phallo team. He was super nice and just as informative as Dr. Ganor. Dr. Ganor gave him background on my previous appointment and let me tell him what I wanted. Then we all decided that it was time to get everything set up for phallo. I wanted to cry. I was told I would have to see urology before getting a date for surgery. That brings us to today. June 21, 2017. 8 days away from my final consult. In either 8 days or 11 I will officially have a date for Phalloplasty. I will update on that appointment when the time comes. Here is to stage 1 being so close. I got this. Patience is a virtue that is finally setting me free.

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Phalloplasty with Dr. Oren Ganor

I am having RFF Phalloplasty with Dr. Oren Ganor in Boston Massachusetts. I want to be able to document and blog about my experience with him and my journey to Phalloplasty. I hope everyone enjoys my posts and you can ask any questions. I'm very open.