This is in regards to Dr. Morrison in Seattle, WA
Hi y’all! It’s been a pretty emotional ride and I have wanted to take some time before posting this, but I think I’m ready. This is in regards to the new plastic surgeon Dr. Morrison at Harborview medical center...
I want to warn folks before going to this program for phalloplasty or just give people the information they need to make an informed decision before opting for surgery with this team.
As trans people sometimes we don’t believe we deserve a lot when it comes to the medical system. We know how history has treated us and sometimes we just need to get things done in order to feel right in our bodies. BUT we do deserve better, and there are actually a lot of surgeons around the country that believe this or have heard us and have changed the way they provided care for us.
The only things I have to say about Dr. Morrison and his team is that he chose to put me through a very traumatic experience after I came out of surgery and what feels like to only get his first surgery under his belt. The three main things I have to say about him is…
- He did not tell me I was going to be his first patient ever under his current team as well as the hospital. He was given ample opportunity, and chose to not disclose that information to me. As far as I know, I am now the first documented trans person to have phalloplasty in the state of Washington. Not because I consented to that, but because he withheld that information. He was the only surgeon out of him, the urologist, and the micro surgeon to have touched a trans masc body for bottom surgery. I am now thankful I chose to not have UL.
- None of the nursing staff was trained whatsoever before I came into the hospital. No one knew what was going on with my body, or knew what phalloplasty was, and what it entailed. Because it was a learning experience that I was unaware of. They were people oogling at me all week as well as wanting to see my dick to the point where we had to tell them if it wasn’t medically necessary, they had to go away. My friend, who is an experienced phalloplasty caregiver saved my life in this entire situation, because he was able to stay with me every night and advocate for me when I was on drugs.
- Lastly, a lot of people do not think that we deserve private rooms because of hospital capacities, etc. but we do and in most cases most surgeons around the country definitely offer private rooms because this is such a private and sensitive surgery. My first four days I was put in a shared room with a random stranger that was withdrawing from heroin and had night terrors. He also was blasting his music, combative with nurses, and was caught vaping at one point in the room with me. It wasn’t until my friend and me demanded they put me in a private room that the nurses tried their best to change my situation. They were just as upset as we were that we had been put in the situation. The nurses felt like they had been cornered because they were not given the opportunity to learn about my situation beforehand. On the second to last day, they finally fought for me to get a private room because they knew how traumatizing and important it was.
And in the end we have still had to fight for postop appointments to be scheduled. My surgeon has yet to actually schedule a postop with me in the system so right now we just have word of mouth that I might have an appointment with him on 2/3. My surgery was on 1/9. I currently do not have skin on my arm because they chose to wait 2 weeks after surgery to do my skin graft. I don’t have a wound VAC on my arm because they did not submit it to my insurance in time. Currently they are making me and my friend change my dressings twice a day for an advanced wound care situation..
There’s so much more I could say about the situation and a mountain more things they did wrong but for right now, this is my shortest version of what I have gone through with this hospital. If you have a consultation with them coming up or you have questions about how this program feel free to shoot me a private message and we can talk more about how to protect yourself, or give you the information you need to make an informed decision.