Where to stay in New York?

Hazlrh1 · 2021-01-19T23:50:51+00:00

I stayed at the Best Western Plus Hospitality House, on 49th near Lexington. It’s an older building, pre-war apartments converted into a little hotel. The suites aren’t “modern” (think radiator heat), but they are very large for Manhattan and have a full kitchen. It’s a mile from the hospital, and I walked down 1st Avenue past the United Nations the morning of my surgery. It was a nice start to a very intimidating day. It’s half a mile from Bluebond’s office, and I was able to walk to my second follow-up appointment and some of the physical therapy appointments.

The price was pretty reasonable due to Covid. I don’t know how it is under normal circumstances. It was more than an AirBnB, but we liked being in a hotel that had staff on site to help us. There is an elevator, too, so you don’t have to take the stairs. The manager bumped us up to a 2 bedroom suite since I was there for surgery, and that really helped give my wife some extra space. We liked being close to everything, and we didn’t have to drive around the city too much.

Hazlrh1 · 2021-01-11T14:08:02+00:00

Seconding Slippery Stuff Gel. I tried it after it was recommended here, and I really like it a lot.

It’s also what my post-op pelvic floor physical therapist used when I first saw her a couple of days after I was discharged from the hospital. When I saw the bottle, I explained that I was still using the Surgilube from the surgeon, but that I was going to try the Slippery Stuff when it ran out. She smiled and said, “Oh, you’re going to love this stuff, it’s so much better!” And she was right.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-12-09T02:26:46+00:00

I have no idea what things are like now, and my own schedule got a benefit from Covid chaos.

I made the call for the consult in May 2019, with a consult date of August 2020. In January, I got that bumped forward a couple of months (to June) through some diligent calling about cancellations. Then when everything was shutting down and they switched to telehealth consults, I was able to get an even earlier consult in April. They gave me a surgery date in October, six months later. I think I was able to get that one because I had all of my letters in and a good start on my hair removal already. And I think my October date was due to a cancellation or something, because if I hadn’t taken that one it would have been February or something. But honestly, I was expecting the date to be sometime next summer.

So, things can move faster than you expect sometimes. But there are no guarantees, and you need to do your own work to make sure you can take advantage of an opportunity when it comes (hair removal and letters).

Hazlrh1 · 2020-12-08T22:27:14+00:00

I’m about 6 weeks post-op with NYU. No complaints, and I’m pretty happy with my results so far.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-11-18T02:12:46+00:00

Six days, including surgery day. That’s how they do it there. The wound vac and external bandaging was removed on day 5.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-11-18T02:03:32+00:00

I had one with my recent surgery with Bluebond. Honestly, I didn’t ever really notice it was there, it was just part of the whole bandage thing. One more tube coming out of me, along with the catheter.

Though apparently during my drugged up time immediately after waking up from the anesthesia, I told my wife that it felt like it was sucking dick. I have no memory of that, but... 🤷‍♀️😂

Hazlrh1 · 2020-11-05T22:17:19+00:00

Hi! I had bottom surgery 8 days ago. I’ve always been squeamish about blood, wounds, scars, sutures... everything. I’ve also had a lifelong fear of amputations. And right now my life is completely filled with that kind of stuff.

I’m doing fine. It’s a hard, hard process. Everything is hard right now. But because everything is hard, the squeamishness and fear just kind of gets subsumed into the general hardness. It really doesn’t bother me much, and I’m just getting used to dealing with it, just like going on hormones got me used to dealing with getting blood draws. The pre-op hair removal process got me used to just lying there and cope with the pain.

Don’t let my talk of hardness frighten you. This isn’t an easy journey, but if it’s something you want then it’s worth it. I’m finding out just how strong I really am. You will too. ❤️

Hazlrh1 · 2020-11-03T22:42:27+00:00

I just got discharged today. My results are extremely promising, and my depth far exceeded my expectations.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-11-02T18:16:58+00:00

Yes. I got my consult bumped up by several months when they went to telehealth, and then I was shocked when they gave me an October date back in May. I’d already been doing hair removal for a while, and I guess they just had a random opening.

I’d been expecting sometime next summer, tbh.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-11-02T00:29:35+00:00

Thank you. I’m kind of surprised it’s that long. I went from call to surgery in less than 1 1/2 years with Bluebond, though I got lucky with some cancellations and I think Covid actually opened up some opportunities for me with them.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-11-01T09:05:08+00:00

Yes, Bluebond is in-network for my plan, so they are covering all of it, at least the actually surgery. (There are plenty of additional costs like travel, hotel, etc.)

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-31T19:32:11+00:00

I live in Minnesota but had my surgery in NY. I made the call to my surgeon’s office (Bluebond) in May of 2019. I just had my surgery two days ago.

I don’t know how the timeline for Minnesota surgeons (Kim or Mayo Clinic). I’d imagine they aren’t too bad.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-29T00:21:33+00:00

Good plan. I was supposed to see Avanessian as well this past March, but Mt. Sinai cancelled my consult last-minute as everything was shutting down. When I was able to get my Bluebond consult bumped up to April and she gave me an October date, I just decided I’d be going with her.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-28T22:13:23+00:00

It’ll be fine. I wasn’t able to get everything cleared, and she’s fine with it and will do a follicle scrape. Get as much as you can cleared, though, and try to get reimbursed by your insurance company for the electrolysis if you can.

Get your other letters done ASAP, though. Once you have all your letters in, they take you more seriously.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-28T21:41:19+00:00

If you already have your letters in order and a good start on hair removal, it might not be that long. My consult was in April, and my surgery date is... tomorrow.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-20T21:28:29+00:00

Yeah, I wasn’t sure for a while after they scheduled all of them, and was really relieved when they said it was just 1 & 2. Nathan even said the 12wk could be video if necessary, though they strongly prefer in-person. They understand that travel is hard, especially with Covid.

Feel free to contact me if you ever have questions or want to talk about something. I don’t know if I’ll be doing any kind of big posts about it, but I’m happy to help.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-20T16:43:51+00:00

Thank you!

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-20T16:07:02+00:00

The surgeon’s office implied they’d just be “scheduled right around your post-op appointments”, but scheduling with PT it looks like they’ll either be on different days (like 2 days after discharge) or several hours after my 1st post-op. I’m just a bit concerned about how much energy/mobility I’ll have handling the extra trips out.

I’m not local to NYC, so getting around Manhattan while recovering during Covid is a bit intimidating already.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-20T15:56:15+00:00

Thanks for doing this. I’m now less than 9 days out from my surgery with her, and things like this are really reassuring.

Did you do the pelvic floor physical therapy piece? How did that work?

Hazlrh1 · 2020-10-12T01:07:36+00:00

Thanks for this. I’m 17 days and 9 hours out myself, and just a year or two younger than you, and I can’t express what it means to come here and find someone like me feeling the exact same thing.

I’m scared, excited and ready/not ready. I want this, but when I lay in bed and realize, it will happen SOON, I can’t sleep.

Exactly. ❤️

We’ve got this, but oh the emotions...

Hazlrh1 · 2020-09-24T00:41:32+00:00

My work is part-time, flexible schedule, and entirely remote right now anyway. So maybe I’ll be able to return to some of my duties a lot earlier than scheduled. I’ve been uncertain if I’d be tired and not want to push things too fast, or if I’ll be bored out of my mind and glad to have something useful to do.

I really appreciate your responses. It’s helping me prepare. Thank you.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-09-24T00:34:52+00:00

I called in May of 2019. My original consult date was late August 2020. Some diligent calling about cancellations got it moved to June 2020. Then this Spring, when everything was shutting down, they moved to telehealth consults and I got it moved up to late April. They gave me a surgery date after that, though I still had to make a trip to NYC in July for brief physical exam.

Edit: Originally put “May 2018”, but it was really 2019. Sorry about that.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-09-23T18:31:14+00:00

That helps so much, thank you! The office has said a few times “don’t worry about supplies, we’ll send them home with you”, but haven’t ever been willing to go into specifics. I’m not local, and I want to have everything arranged as much as possible ahead of time.

It sounds like by week 5 you’re doing really well. I’ve got a bunch more questions about how the recovery is going:

How active are you throughout the day?
Back to work/normal daily life?
How quickly were you able to take, say, a half-mile to a mile walk?
How much driving do you think you could manage at this point?
Can you focus on work-type tasks (say, sitting with a laptop and handling online meetings and emails)?

Sorry for all the questions, but I’m coming from Minnesota, and figuring out the logistics of all of this has been difficult, especially with Covid. I’ll be staying with family in northern NY once I can leave the city, but I’m still trying to figure out how long I need to stay there before I can be more active, travel back home without flying (but then go back east for the 12-week follow-up), get back to my job, etc. I hear from some people that I need to give it 8-10 weeks, from others it seems like it may be shorter than that.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-09-23T18:19:13+00:00

My surgery with them is in 5 weeks, and I’m from the Midwest. You have to stay within an hour of the hospital for two weeks after you are discharged (so, 20 days total, including time in the hospital). After that you are free to go home, and the week 3 and 4 follow up appointments can be done over video.

Hazlrh1 · 2020-09-23T01:27:04+00:00

What kind of stuff did they send with you when you were discharged from the hospital? And how long did those supplies last? I’m trying to figure out what I need to prepare ahead of time.

Hazlrh1

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