What to cover in a consultation

[sysm29]

I'm going to have consultations with FFS surgeons in less two weeks and I am a little nervous.  I want to make sure that I communicate to them what I want.  What I'm afraid of is that the ones I'll be speaking to (that's Drs. Zukowski, Spiegel, and possibly Ousterhout) may just want to take over and not listen to me.  I've heard good things and not so good things about every FFS surgeon.  Some people love one doctor and a few people will tell you don't ever go to that doctor because their experience was bad.  This all makes me scared because its not a guarantee.  Who knows if it will even work?  If the first surgery doesn't quite cut it, where do you go from there?  Do you have another one?

I'm a bundle of nerves anyway but the consultations worry me.  I really want to make my choice soon.  I want to get exact prices from them.  SHould I go with a list of questions?  Should I bring my vision that I have to them in writing? 

What happens in consultations?  Mine will be at a conference, in a hotel so it won't be in their office.  If I were to choose one of them would I have to travel to their city first before the surgery for another consultation? 

Is there anybody that's been through this that can give me some advice?  Thank you 

[Jeneva]

Make a list.   Seriously this sound dumb, but it is all to easy to get sidetracked and then forget (especially if the Dr is high energy).

Also you may want to ask them to explain why they suggest X when you don't think it is needed.  A perfect example is my chin.  I had no interest in chin work because I was happy enough with mine already.  However since Dr Z was including a trachea shave if needed I let him do my chin.  Now that I'm starting to recover I understand that I didn't realize what he was suggesting at all.  He didn't mean my actual CHIN as in bone work, he meant what I'd be more likely to call the neck, or a second chin and its ugly fat I have hanging from it, but that was a total disconnect between us.

Some stuff they will say and you will say NOPE, but sometimes they actually are talking about something just a bit differently.

You are going to be paying them a ton.  Make sure they answer all your questions, but even if they offer something extra ask them to explain why.

[atheuona]

Having just been through the process you're going through now I can definately sympathise.

My consultations were conducted by email and over the phone, I live in Australia so travelling a long way just for a face to face consultation was a bit impractical.  I know with Dr Zukowski you wont need to go have another consultation with him (I only met him when I arrived in chicago for surgery).The consultations I had pretty much went like this.  I sent them pictures (front, sides etc...) and they sent back a list of procedures they'd recommend that I get done.  I then emailed questions, had phone conversations etc...

Some surgeons will have revision policies, definately ask each surgeon you consult what their policy is if something goes wrong or you don't like something etc....

Going in with a bunch of questions is a good idea, here's a few I asked:
how long do I have to stop taking hormones?
What is the recovery time (i.e going back to work, going back home from surgery)
what is the waiting time to get surgery (Dr zukowski was ~3 months, DiMaggio ~9 months)
Revision Policy
Cost

Of the three surgeons you've listed I only consulted with Dr Z, he definitely tried to talk over the top of me and just take over.  That being said he did say "it's your choice, but I recommend..." and if there was a particular procedure I didn't want he wouldn't do it.  Try to stand your ground with him (it's difficult, I know) and know what you want and why you want it.  I was skeptical of a few procedures that he thought I should get, he made his case for why I should get it and then said the decision was in my hands.

Each surgeon I consulted also gave my prices up front, I didn't even need to ask them so that part was easy.

One thing I noticed was that each surgeon was quite gung ho, saying they'd make me stunning and that they could do better work than any others etc... try to take this with a grain of salt. I think to be a surgeon you have to be quite confident, thus the whole self assurance thing.  Remember you're paying the surgeon to change your face, not to be your best friend.

If you haven't already you should explore the ffs yahoogroup, they've got a lot of useful information (as well as a lot of crap info too!).  I also used the Virtual ffs thing, but didn't find it all that helpful.