Okay, so here's my latest update. I am scheduled for minimal depth SRS with Dr. Dugi at OHSU in October 2018. At the time I booked, he was brand new and was the only person I could find who would take my insurance (Medicare.) I have talked to a few of his post-op patients, including one who is a friend who I have met in person, and they were very pleased. Better still, his office is literally right up the street from me and I can walk there in about 10 minutes (I also had my breasts done at OHSU as well as some pre-op electrolysis.) However, there is virtually nothing online about his post-op results, and the pictures he did show me were all a few weeks out from surgery and thus were swollen and red (though they did look good, I felt, at the time.) He's done dozens and dozens of surgeries since I saw him last, so he's definitely got way more experience.
Recently, though, as surgery approaches I find that I am getting more anxious about undergoing a procedure with somebody when I've only ever seen maybe 3 post-op pics. Since I am having minimal depth appearance is going to be important to me, and I am very sexually active with a husband and two other long-term partners so sensation/orgasm are very important to me as well. Recent financial changes mean that I can now probably afford to pay out of pocket if I wanted to and go to any SRS surgeon I wanted. I came across Dr. Heidi Wittenberg's work and was struck by how good it seemed to look soon after surgery, and by how positive most people's experiences seemed to be with her. I messaged her office and got back a reply indicating that I could do a phone consult and that her waiting list was very reasonable (I think i would only be a few more months pre-op; I cannot wait 4 years or something for somebody like Bowers.) Part of me wants to at least have the consult with her and see how things go from there, but at the same time travelling and paying a lot of money out of pocket seems less attractive than having surgery down the street and then being able to get a 5 minute drive home when I get released from hospital. Ultimately, though, I have only one chance to really get surgery right, and if I have to go to San Francisco then so be it. I must add that I did like Dr. Dugi a lot; it's only the lack of post-op images and accounts that are making me hesitant.
Any insights or experiences or suggestions about either/both surgeons would be much appreciated. I thought I had everything all squared away, and it's a bit stressful now that I am sort of second-guessing myself in the 11th hour.
