FTM Bottom Surgery Journey: Metoidioplasty Blues Part 1

This series of posts include less detail than I would like. I believe that as a result of the traumatic nature of my metoidioplasty, I have fewer memories than I normally would.

In the fall of 2013, I began exploring options for a metoidioplasty and advocating for a change to my employer's health insurance policy, which explicitly excluded SRS. So, why then? The simple explanation is that I had a significant amount of swelling in my genital area after my hysterectomy and that was the first time that my genitals felt phallus-like in nature.

Why Medalie?
The largest factor in my decision-making is that I wanted to retain my front genital opening. It was something that brought me pleasure and I didn't want to compromise that. I joined a few yahoo groups and did some google-powered research to find that this preference would likely not go hand-in-hand with a urethral lengthening. It can be done, but that increases the complication rates and, for many, shrinks the size of that opening. I was also confident that I wanted testicular implants.

Taking urethral lengthening off of the table allowed me to include a greater diversity of surgeons on my list. After looking at various results on Transbucket and the yahoo groups, I was most attracted to the results of Dr. Curtis Crane (in SF then), Dr. Daniel Medalie (Cleveland, OH), and Dr. Christine McGinn (Philadelphia, PA). I arranged for an in-person consultation with Medalie (in October 2013) and McGinn (scheduled for Feb 2013). I was leaning towards McGinn and Medalie since they were both within driving distance, which made me feel more comfortable.

I drove 9 1/2-10 hours to/from my consultation and had what felt like an informative conversation with Medalie. He answered all of my questions, provided me with contact info to talk to other post-op guys (which I did) and would be able to schedule my surgery for the following May. I think my favorite part about Medalie's process (which I now regret) is that his technique was very simple and less invasive than others. He released the clitoris, wraps it in the tissue from the inner labia, and uses a pubic lift method to pull the genitals forward. Instead of surgically constructing a scrotum, he plops the testicles right into the outer labia. To me, this seemed like a modest next step. I didn't want to jump in the deep end of the pool, so this was me taking the stairs into the shallow end.

Before deciding to go with Medalie, I got a phone call from McGinn's office saying they had to reschedule my consult and that McGinn wasn't scheduling any metoidioplasties until 2015 at the earliest. It was only December 2013. I did not want to wait that long. By then I was emailing with a guy who was post-op and really pleased with his results and I had talked with another on the phone. I thought, why not? These other guys seemed super happy. I canceled my pending phone consultation with Crane and scheduled surgery with Medalie.

The Surgery
In May 2014 I underwent a metoidioplasty, scrotoplasty with testicular implants, pubic lift, and inner/outer thigh lipo with Dr. Daniel Medalie in Cleveland, OH. I spent about a week at a local La Quinta Inn and my partner drove us home after the post-op appointment. I was still draining fluids, so I had to take out my own drain a few days later (that was cool!), and I had to wear a compression garment (with the crotch cut out to free my new willie) for a handful of weeks. See photos below.