Hey y'all, this is just an informative post about my experience getting FFS.
As I've posted before, I had FFS with Dr. Beck about 2 weeks ago now, and got the following procedures done:
Genioplasty (chin sculpting)
Septo-rhinoplasty (nose job)
Forehead contouring (Type II), including brow lift and scalp advancement
Tracheal Shave
Pre-surgery
I originally contacted his office in late August, and scheduled a (free) consultation for FFS in late September 2017. At that time, I had been on hormones for about 2 months, and I looked like this:
https://imgur.com/4p3arVM (approximately).
His office was quick to schedule me, and had a consult promotion (it's usually $150, or at least it was at the time). I had also consulted at this time with Dr. Peter Davis in Palo Alto, CA; Dr. Deschamps-Braly in San Francisco, CA; and Dr. Mardirossian in Florida.
Dr. Beck's pricing was middle of the road (~$30k; Braly wanted to do a bit more but wanted $64k -- Mardirossian and Davis wanted similar prices for similar procedures).
In order of scheduling consults and availability for questions, I'd say in order of ease it was: Dr. Davis > Dr. Beck > Dr. Braly > (didn't try for Dr. Mardirossian). However, what sold Beck over Davis (Braly was kind of snooty but also very handsome intelligent) was his experience with FFS (I had read about him online, not as much for Davis) and also Dr. Davis wanted to do cheek implants that I didn't really want.
I decided to go with Dr. Beck in early November, and his office coordinator, Kelly Tran, helped me submit it for pre-authorization to my insurance (my plan, Anthem Blue Shield PPO, had special coverage for trans procedures including FFS -- but this may be a LinkedIn-only thing). I put down a $5,000 deposit in the meanwhile.
My surgery was approved for out-of-network (I don't believe Dr. Beck is in network for anyone, but his office did work with my insurance and try their best to minimize my cost) by Anthem in early December, with my surgery getting moved to Mills-Peninsula in Burlingame on 1/2/18 instead of 1/5/18 (originally).
I had to pay out of pocket for his fees (which totaled $23,500 after discounts), with my insurance being billed directly for the hospital (since it was in network). After the surgery, Kelly submitted my claims to Anthem, and fingers crossed they'll reimburse most of it.
Dr. Beck's office was super patient and saw me several times before I finally decided to go with them. Additionally, I decided to get a chin filler (and lip filler) in October to see if I wanted chin work before getting the surgery, and he was fantastic and did the injection himself.
The Surgery
I had my pre-op consult in mid-December, and had to stop my hormones about a week pre-surgery. That sucked, but was not unexpected.
My mom flew from Los Angeles to come for my surgery, and we stayed at a hotel nearby pre-surgery. I definitely recommend that even for local patients, just because they wanted me in the surgery center by 5:45 AM (so I had to get up at like... 4:45 AM).
They had me in the bed by 6:15 AM, and put an IV, and the surgery started around 7 AM. I don't remember any of it of course, since I was sedated.
The surgery finished around 2:30 PM, and Dr. Beck advised me to stay overnight in the hospital post surgery, which was a great idea. The first night was very difficult - I was up fairly immediately after surgery, and even got a selfie. I was completely bandaged up; those bandages wouldn't come off for two days, and were incredibly constricting.
The pain was intense, and I mostly survived due to a combination of Oxycontin, Tylenol, and Dilaudid. I had some very friendly nurses, and didn't eat just about anything (I didn't eat for a couple days actually, and ended up losing 6 pounds - I was very thin to begin with).
Dr. Beck visited me the following morning super early (around 6:30 AM) to check up on me, which was very nice. I ended up leaving the hospital around 12 PM the following day.
Post-surgery details
It's been 2 weeks and 2 days since surgery, and I healed extremely rapidly. I saw Dr. Beck three times - two days after surgery (to remove the bandages), the following Monday (to remove the nose splint), and this Thursday/today (to remove forehead staples).
I was incredibly impressed by his work, how nice his staff is, how they worked with my insurance, and most importantly how quickly I healed. I went back to work literally a week after surgery! I'm definitely considering him for breast augmentation soon too.
Photograph Timeline:
https://imgur.com/a/JclWQDr. Beck's website:
https://www.bayareaaestheticsurgery.com/
