Ryan had the metoidioplasty with the works completed in Belgrade, Serbia on May 7th, 2008, and also had revisions completed on December 4th, 2010.
On May 7th, 2008, I completed the last part of my surgical transition (or so I thought prior to deciding to go back in December of 2010 for a mons resection). I want to emphasize, that I do not see the physical steps one takes in a transition to be necessary for everyone, nor do I believe that your gender is defined by what is between your legs, but I do know, for me, having the metoidioplasty completed was something I needed to be physically comfortable as me.
If you have been following my journey, then you know that coming to this decision was a huge risk for me due to financial costs and my romantic relationship, but due to the amount of time I obsessed about the surgery I felt comfortable taking the risks involved and moving forward.
I scheduled my surgery by contacting Dr. Miroslav Djordjevicon Oct. 3rd, 2007 via email. I had spoken with him two years before when I first began seriously looking into the surgery. Once we picked a date I was in contact with Dr. Korac, the anesthesiologist, and Dr. Marta, Dr. Djordjevic’s assistant.
Below is the timetable showing my financial expenses.
NEW! Ryan’s Lower Surgery Recovery Journal
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- Standing outside the apartment a day before surgery.
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- Living room in apartment.
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- Kitchen. A grocery store is across the street from the apartment.
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- Dining area.
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- The TV plays US stations/shows in English.
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- There is a huge tub in the bathroom along with a washing machine for clothes. You hang the clothes up to dry.
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- Scary, but cool, stairs in apartment.
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- Upstairs bedroom.
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- Day 1 after surgery. I thought I was dying.
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- Day 2: Feeling better but still felt like I was dying.
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- Day 3: Started walking around my room, felt comfort in knowing that I wasn’t dying, just in a lot of pain.
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- Day 4: I returned back to the apartment for the next ten days of healing before flying back to the states.
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- Day 5: This is what I did the next ten days.
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- Day 9: Miro and the other docs took us out to dinner.
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- Another dinner with the docs.
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- For my surgery in 2008 I was in an old hospital, for my revision in 2010, I was in this plastic surgery center.
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- An exam room in St. Medica.
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- One of the recovery rooms.
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- The TV has a DV player attached to it in the recovery room.
It is important for everyone in the U.S. to know that you can medically deduct most of your healthcare expenses that are related to your transition on your taxes. This became official on February 2, 2010 after the High Tax Court Ruled in favor of a case that had been in the courts for 10 years.
Items that you can deduct include:
- Hormone Therapy
- Mental Health Therapy
- Chest Surgery
- Lower Surgery
Items that one may not be able to deduct include breast augmentations for trans women due to the fact that breast buds do development from the use of estrogen. Another item that may be more likely to be audited is facial feminization surgery (but I know trans women who have been successful in deducting these expenses on their taxes.)
To learn more about how you can go about doing a deduction click here.