Scheduling with Brassard

[Ginny]

Hey everyone,
Just had my last letter of reccomendation filled out the day before Thanksgiving and mail tracking showed me my package arrived to Dr Brassard's office last Tuesday.  Does anyone know how long it takes to hear back from them to schedule?  Even though it's been 11mo for me, i am very excited and anxtious for this, knowing that scheduling about this time looks to be Sept-Oct next year from what i saw from some recent people posts.

So far all i have sent in are my letters from PsyD, therapist, and endo; as well as my contact information.  Will there be any other things I need to fill out before scheduling?  Also do you just pay via VISA? If so then i'll apply for a 0% foreign fee while waiting :

Thank you

[ainsley]

So, I went through this recently. 

I sent in:

The Primary Physician letter regarding my hormone treatment.
The Letter from my Therapist (Masters level).
The letter from my Psychologist (PhD level).
The medical history form I received from Suzanne.
The requested photo of me.
(note: I emailed everything.  Scanned originals in and sent pdf files.)

I asked for next August for a date.
Suzanne replied within a couple days with my date (8/31/2015 ...yay!).
She then said I would get my confirmation letter next Spring.  A bit disconcerting, but I trust her.
I then asked if I could pay some of the fee now and she said yes.  She said to send a certified check or money order.
I asked if I could bank wire the funds and she sent me all the bank info for the clinic and I had my bank wire a third of the fee for grs two weeks ago.
I emailed Suzanne and she said she received it.

Now, just plowing through this winter and looking forward to Spring and the approach of my date.

Hang in there, it takes time, is tedious, and you need to stay on top of everything (Suzanne is nice, but I didn't feel like I got a lot of direction from her).  Don't hesitate to email Suzanne, though, if you feel something is missing or if you should have heard from her.

Hope this helps!

-Ainsley

[sam79]

I might just mention for anyone else looking to book with Dr Brassard, you now need both letters of recommendation before being able to schedule a date. At some point in the past, I think the first letter was fine to schedule with the second letter still required before surgery.

I wasn't aware of this, but apparently this was the reason I didn't hear back at all after posting everything else over a month ago. It was only through emails just days ago that I found out. It is fine, just taking longer than I like for my appointment for the second letter since I wasn't expecting that I would need it so soon.

[mrs izzy]

The office staff is always slow to respond.

Just remember there is at least 9 people that goes through there system every week.

Keeps them busy plus all the other non GCS patients.

Now it's the holiday so might also ad to the delay.

If you do not hear after first of year call the office (514) 288-2097.

I also think they require a deposit before they schedule?

[ainsley]

The office staff is always slow to respond.

Just remember there is at least 9 people that goes through there system every week.

Keeps them busy plus all the other non GCS patients.

Now it's the holiday so might also ad to the delay.

If you do not hear after first of year call the office (514) 288-2097.

I also think they require a deposit before they schedule?

Yes, they are slow to respond, but they will eventually respond.  They do close for the holidays.  I got this in my last email with Suzanne:
Please note that we will be closed for the holidays from December 19 to January 4, 2015
I was scheduled before sending any money.  The info pack they send you says that $2k is due 3 weeks after scheduling your surg. date.

@SammyRose: It felt like forever to wait for my appt. to get my 2nd letter.  I know what you mean.

-Ainsley

[Panda's.Jenny]

@Ainsley Thanks for the information.  I have yet to receive a medical history form from Suzanne yet. Knowing that they will close in a few days I sent an email requesting an update, since they have had my information since Dec 2nd, at least from my mail confirmation.  I also decided to take a pic and send it in the same email.  I'm just trying to lock this down and hedge my funds, since the CAD is weak right now, but expected to rebound in Q1/Q2 next year. ^_^

@SammyRose Great information.  I sent in everything together, because i never knew about the one letter scheduling in the past.

@Mrs Izzy Thanks for the info on patient flow, as I didn't know that. I will definitely call the second week of January if I haven't heard anything back.  I also think they require a deposit, but I haven't even been asked for that yet.

[Zumbagirl]

Of course my surgery was over 10 years ago now, but when I had all my letters and stuff up there, and more importantly money in hand, I can honestly say I didn't have any problems scheduling. In fact I was able to roll the date in a little which was cool. I am curious as to what they currently charge for SRS. When I went it was around $9K USD and that seemed like a boat load of money.

[nicolegn7]

One thing I hate about Brassard's office is the management. Suzanne can be a bit rude sometimes and they are always not receiving documents. I had to send in my HIV report 4x! They also forget to e-mail back at times and when they do sometimes they make no sense (probably due to French being their native language)

[FrostPixie]

I think office management sucks for any specialist, at least what i have experienced so far. In my area, the specialists are great but their staff is absolitely aweful
Anyways, i sent in my info (tracked via post to make sure it arrived) towards the start of december. So hopefully they will get back to me this week. If not i'll just call, as i'm thinking that would yield better results than email. Also, how far back do the HIV results need to be? I have some from Jan 14 that show i'm neg from when i went to store some of my gametes.

[Tammy M]

I hear some complaints about Brassard's staff being slow to respond or not 100% friendly.  I did run into some minor delays and communication issues when scheduling, but don't let that deter you.  When my father died 10 days before my scheduled surgery last June, the staff worked with me to set a new date in September.  I was told there would be a fee for cancellation/rescheduling but there wasn't.  In fact, I was lucky to get back on schedule so soon.

My experience with Everyone I encountered in Montreal was fantastic.  Everyone was so nice in person and I was well taken of 24/7 for my entire stay.  Even Izzy (the moderator here) came to visit me and we made a lasting friendship.  I think at the end, you will be ecstatic over the whole experience.