I rarely post here but think what's going through my head needs to be written out for me to make sense of things and weigh pros & cons. Naturally I'm also looking for thoughts/guidance from those far wiser than myself.
I had FFS done by Dr. Bensimon in Montreal back in Sept 2017. I'm certain he has had many successes in his career but I don't believe I'm one of them as the results were extremely disappointing. Suffice to say, I had facial surgery but am perplexed over how anyone would consider it FFS. Over a year later, if it weren't for the scars, and my profile, it's hard to tell that I even had surgery. I've actually had a few people (3 that I remember) ask about when I was going for surgery...despite already having it. To say he was conservative would be a $30,000 CAD understatement.
On a scale of 1-10, 1 being where I was pre-FFS and 10 being absolute unrealistic dream Victoria's Secret model, I was hoping for a 7 or an 8....expected a 6...but feel I got maybe a 3.
Dr. Bensimon prefers doing FFS in stages, a detail I wasn't aware of at first. Perhaps he mentioned it during our initial consultation but, given we discussed several procedures, I may have missed it thinking I wouldn't need additional work.
Despite absolute disappointment (okay, that's not accurate as I'm actually quite pleased with the trach shave), I felt obligated to give Dr. Bensimon the benefit of the doubt and let him continue his vision. We had another consultation a couple months ago and he sent a new quote. Along with a lip lift, nostril reduction and jaw work, he's also offering to do a couple revisions at no charge. The quote is extremely reasonable except for one small detail: I don't trust him.
I do not want to bash Dr. Bensimon. Again, I'm certain he's had many successes, however, given my experience at this time, I simply cannot recommend him to anyone looking for actual FFS. In other words, if you're looking for real change (the entire point of FFS, IMHO) he may not be the guy you're looking for. I've expressed my concerns to him multiple times but feel he either minimizes them or ignores them altogether. To prevent this post from being longer than it already will be, I won't detail my concerns unless asked.
Simply put, his work was so shockingly lackluster I'm honestly scared to move forward with him again, which leads me to the ? ? ? part of this post's title.
Who do I choose now?
During my initial research on FFS surgeons, Zukowski came up a lot. I read several reviews about him, both positive and negative. A good friend was done by him and was extremely happy with the results. Ultimately though, I decided against him due to cost and traveling internationally. It's comical to think back to those reasons as, now that I'm seeking major revisions, I'll be paying for FFS twice. Yay!!!
Not wanting to choose the wrong surgeon again, I'm now much more open to traveling internationally and am considering the following surgeons:
- Zukowski
- Rossi
- Cardenas
I need to research Rossi and Cardenas some more, though I'm already leaning away from Cardenas as I've come across reviews commenting he's also 'conservative'. A different friend saw him and is pleased with her results, but given my experience with Dr. Bensimon, I am not looking for another conservative surgeon (but also don't want to go super crazy aggressive either...there's gotta be a happy middle somewhere).
Rossi appears to have mostly positive reviews, except for one horror story I read about from a few years back. I would appreciate any comments/reviews/concerns/financial costs you have about Dr. Rossi. Despite my being more open to traveling internationally, I have to say going all the way down to Argentina from Canada is pretty extreme. Acknowledging my ignorance, how common is English down there? I don't know any other languages, so having a language barrier is a big concern considering how major and sensitive FFS is. Also, the idea of traveling so far is worrisome if there are any complications or if I'd need to go back for even more revisions. Does anyone have some experience here? These questions also apply to Cardenas in Mexico.
As for Zukowski, acknowledging he's pretty aggressive, I had a consult with him a couple days ago. He wasn't as crass as I expected. I found him quite pleasant and easy to talk to. Yes, he's definitely a salesman and quite arrogant but I never found him pushy. Without being prompted, he actually pointed out all my concerns with Dr. Bensimon's work and wants to completely redo everything. On one hand, that's exciting but also super scary. I gave him my budget, $18k USD, but he said that with the amount of correction work he'd have to do, the best price he could offer would be $22,500 USD...this would only involve redoing my forehead, nose and adding facial fat grafts (btw Dr. Bensimon doesn't do facial fat grafts, beyond lips, so that's another reason I don't want to go back to him). It's frustrating that this amount only covers corrections and the only thing net new would be the fat grafts, so I'd still be looking for additional work on my jaw and a lip lift. Given the US/Canada exchange rate, $22,500 USD equates to $30,000 CAD...meaning I'd be spending $60,000 on FFS and STILL need more work. UGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!
Ugh. This is all so frustrating. After making my mistake in Montreal, I'm both desperate for real FFS and yet also extremely apprehensive with who to choose.
IF I were to go back to Dr. Bensimon, I'd have enough money left over to do much needed hair grafts (something else I'm desperate for). But, despite him saying he wanted me to be happy, I'm not convinced he'll be able to help me pass and I'd still be looking for facial fat grafts afterward.
But if I go to Dr. Z, I'm confident he'll help me pass, but he'll also destroy me financially as I'll still need additional work and won't be able to get hair grafts anytime soon. At least he's relatively close though and there'd be no language barrier concerns.
My research with Rossi and Cardenas suggest that pricing would be reasonable and I could get more work done for less (appealing considering the situation)...but the idea of traveling all the way to Mexico or Argentina and potential language barriers causes great hesitation.
What's a girl to do? I just want to pass...simple as that. People say my expectations are too high but I find this offensive. I'm not trying to be some model. I'm not even trying to become beautiful or even pretty...I just want to be a regular, boring woman who passes.
*deep sigh*