The Best Time To Schedule A Top Surgery Consultation?

[spacerace]

I wonder if I could email Dr. Garramone first without having to schedule a top surgery consultation.

Are you just wanting him to look at pictures to get an idea of what to expect with the man sculpture stuff, or what do you want to ask him? About pricing for your specific situation?  Is there a reason you think it would be drastically different then the prices quoted on his page?

Honestly - if the savings amount under your avatar is correct, and you currently are looking for a job - you may be really be jumping the gun on this. I know how hard it is to wait, and that you want to do everything you can now, but it may really be too soon to talk to him.

My advice is to put this on hold until you know more about when you would actually be able to schedule the surgery. This may mean waiting until you have consistent income.

I know I need at least 10k for surgery with travel - and I am not getting man sculpture. When do you realistically think you could have even half this amount? That is when to call him, IMO.

[aleon515]

Are you just wanting him to look at pictures to get an idea of what to expect with the man sculpture stuff, or what do you want to ask him? About pricing for your specific situation?  Is there a reason you think it would be drastically different then the prices quoted on his page?

Honestly - if the savings amount under your avatar is correct, and you currently are looking for a job - you may be really be jumping the gun on this. I know how hard it is to wait, and that you want to do everything you can now, but it may really be too soon to talk to him.

My advice is to put this on hold until you know more about when you would actually be able to schedule the surgery. This may mean waiting until you have consistent income.

I know I need at least 10k for surgery with travel - and I am not getting man sculpture. When do you realistically think you could have even half this amount? That is when to call him, IMO.

You can call his office and they will help you as much as they can. They won't answer specific question having to do with you, of course. But general questions are fine. I agree with the amts of money above. It might be plus or minus a bit, but that's about right. I didn't really go about it until I thought I was kind of close to the money that I would need.

The webpage is very good in terms of general and some specific info.

My understanding is that the only $ amt that varies (except if his rates go up) is the mansculpture fee. I believe that the more you have done the more expensive. Keep in mind the mansculpture is really going to add to the pain and discomfort. My understanding is that the pain of top surgery is considerably more if you need lipo in the sides (to prevent dog ears). Lipo is what mansculpture is. So if you have extensive mansculpture you are adding to the amt of time in recovery and so on.
Besides not being able to move your arms much, you will have trouble moving your trunk.


--Jay

[Darrin Scott]

I plan on going to Dr. Garramone.  I don't have a regular income at this moment but I'm taking driving lessons in in order to get a job (the place I want to apply at requires a driver's license).

If you don't have regular income to put away, maybe focus on getting that job and your license. THEN focus on surgery. With irregular income and no idea when you'd have a date for surgery it might be a waste of your time to talk to him now. My surgeon wanted to know a date as to when I'd have it and I needed a downpayment of $500. One cool thing about my surgeon is I can make payments as I go. That might work for you if Garramone dows that after you get a job.

[aleon515]

If you don't have regular income to put away, maybe focus on getting that job and your license. THEN focus on surgery. With irregular income and no idea when you'd have a date for surgery it might be a waste of your time to talk to him now. My surgeon wanted to know a date as to when I'd have it and I needed a downpayment of $500. One cool thing about my surgeon is I can make payments as I go. That might work for you if Garramone dows that after you get a job.

You are able to do this with Dr. G, up until I think a month before surgery.
I think this is a good idea btw.

--Jay

[King Malachite]

Thank you for your suggestions, guys.  After thinking about it some more, I think I probably was jumping the gun some and the best thing for me to do is to wait until I get a stable income.  it really does suck to be in the "waiting" stage, but hey, you can't blame a guy for dreaming lol.

[King Malachite]

UPDATE:

Sorry to revive my own thread after about a year, but this question has been going through my mind lately, with updates.  I have a job now (still no license though) and I have been working throughout the summer to save some, and even though my "official" top surgery fund that you see under my avatar hasn't even reached 2 grand yet, I've decided that I'm going to use the money from my job and my life savings to help pay for it.  I just don't put those earnings in my official top surgery fund amount due to having to use that money from time to time.  With that being said, I'm about $2,500 (give or take) away from having the money to book for the surgery and my lodging.  I've also decided against getting the mansculpure so that greatly lessened my costs.  It is my plan to book about 6 or 7 months in advance, that way I can had an adequate amount of time to save for the other miscellaneous costs.

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to book a consultation and a date when I have about $500-$1000 left to save.  It is my plan to book about 6 or 7 months in advance, that way I can have an adequate amount of time to save for the other miscellaneous costs.  I can also take that time to pay the rest of what I would owe.  I figure that at that amount, I'll be even more determined to get the extra money since I will actually have a deadline, and it would be motivation, to see myself actually go forward with this. 

What do you guys think?  Should I book when I have about $500-$1,000 left to save, or at that much, should I just wait until I have it and pay it all off at the same time so I wouldn't have to worry about it?

Mods please feel free to move this to the top surgery forum at your discretion.  When I first made this thread, that forum didn't exist.

[Ayden]

I booked when I had my surgery fees and airline ticket saved, but I hadn't had the money for my lodging. I'm not sure how your credit card is set up, but due to extra security stuff on my account I wasn't able to pay it off all at once. Instead I paid it off at the end of one billing cycle and then at the beginning of the next. I think there was 9 days between payments. The office is really easy to work with in regards to paying as long as its 3 weeks prior to surgery.

I would say that if there a specific month you want, or a certain week that you are leaning toward, you'll have your choice of days if you book 3-4 months out. You said you want a 6 month window, so you won't have a hard time getting a date. One of the advantages to booking early is that you'll be given priority for your surgery time, which is not given to you until preop. That worked great for me since I took a while to come out of anesthesia (I was just waking up two hours after I was put in recovery) and I was the first surgery of the day.

If you are positive you will have all of your money by three weeks out when you book, I don't see a reason that you have to wait. But, since you don't have to book that far out in general you can also wait until you have everything else set up. So, if you know you'll have all the money you need and a license and car (you're driving from one of the Carolinas, right?) then you can book when you feel comfortable. Keep in mind that once you pay, you can't get a refund unless you meet certain medical reasons and even then I don't know that you get everything back.

[Bimmer Guy]

I would say that if there a specific month you want, or a certain week that you are leaning toward, you'll have your choice of days if you book 3-4 months out. You said you want a 6 month window, so you won't have a hard time getting a date. One of the advantages to booking early is that you'll be given priority for your surgery time, which is not given to you until preop. That worked great for me since I took a while to come out of anesthesia (I was just waking up two hours after I was put in recovery) and I was the first surgery of the day.

Ayden, my understanding is that the order of surgeries each day is based on how complicated/how much time it will take in the surgery room for each patient.  He always does his patients who do man sculpture first (if he has any that day), and then you see it scale down by breast size/possible complications from the first to the last.  At least, this was his approach 10 months ago.  This is why he doesn't give you your surgery time until your preop appt.  I was #4 and I saw the progression from heaviest guys to smallest guy during the time I was there (I had to wait 4 hours after I got there because one guy took longer than expected).  #5 of the day was this tall skinny guy!  I saw all the guys at the pre op appt. in the waiting room and indeed the order of surgeries for the day followed this approach.  'Course he may adjust it if you request to be first for some reason.   

[aleon515]

Dr G requires you to pay by credit card, so that if you have a limited amt on credit (you can sometimes get this covered), you need to pay a little at once. NOt sure if there is another way to pay.

--Jay

[Ayden]

Ayden, my understanding is that the order of surgeries each day is based on how complicated/how much time it will take in the surgery room for each patient.  He always does his patients who do man sculpture first (if he has any that day), and then you see it scale down by breast size/possible complications from the first to the last.  At least, this was his approach 10 months ago.  This is why he doesn't give you your surgery time until your preop appt.  I was #4 and I saw the progression from heaviest guys to smallest guy during the time I was there (I had to wait 4 hours after I got there because one guy took longer than expected).  #5 of the day was this tall skinny guy!  I saw all the guys at the pre op appt. in the waiting room and indeed the order of surgeries for the day followed this approach.  'Course he may adjust it if you request to be first for some reason.

You could be right. I obviously didn't ask for clarification, I just assumed. The guy who went after me was probably about 40 pounds heavier with the guy after him being super thin. (I was in recovery for a long time). Maybe it's because I was international? I'm not sure.

[King Malachite]

A lot of great information, guys!  If he does the surgeries by sizes, then it's likely that I'll have mine closer to the morning.  I'm not quite sure about the specifics of my credit card so I'm going to have to ask.  My boss just set me up a bank account at Wells Fargo so I use that.