On Friday I had my consultation with Dr. Brassard. Overall it went pretty well, but I'm seeking to hear of the experience of others who have also consulted with Dr. Brassard. I had a list of questions regarding the procedure and complications which were all addressed rather well. My primary concern was that of recto-vaginal fistula to which he told me that there is a .5% chance of that ever occurring and, in his experience, has encountered it only three times very early on in his career.
In the beginning he seemed to be rather terse, but as we moved along, things began to ease up. I was kind of surprised at the lack of questions regarding my past and my expectations, but I attributed that to the fact that my surgery was yet to be scheduled and that questions regarding expectations would be addressed a day or two prior to my grs. As well, I was also a little surprised to find out that he does not have a book of current results. He did show me some photos on his harddrive, most of which are available online at the Anne Lawrence site and we moved through those very quickly.
After a brief discussion about depth and aesthetics, a quick visual examination followed where he proclaimed that I would not need a skin graft as I had enough material to work with. I asked about his thoughts as to the amount of depth he could achieve by what he sees, and his reply was that that could only be determined prior to the surgery. In all actuality I did expect a little more during this examination, but perhaps I'm just reading into this the wrong way--after all, how is he going to remember this six months down the road.
Following the examination, things did tend to ease up a bit as we discussed the other procedures I would like. Trach shave during surgery and, at a later date, some lower face work. During the discussion regarding the trach shave, there was some banter back and forth and we began to laugh and all seemed to be going ok. He examined my neck area and described how he would perform the procedure and the intended outcome--all is fine in that department. I then mentioned that I would like to have some lower face work done to remove some sagging skin, and he immediately agreed which to me was a good sign as I know that this really needs to be done. I went on to discuss how I think that perhaps, following the face lift, we could look into some refinement of my nose. To this he paused and, to my surprise, he told me that I don't really need it and, if we do that we are going to have to have additional surgeries to other areas in order to balance things out. He said I pass very well and the only procedure he would highly recommend is the lower face lift--which is what I noticed was truly needed in my case.
To cap off my visit, I informed the doctor of my confidence in him to perform the surgery. Some more discussion followed--I had mentioned that I had never met a post op woman before, at least not to my knowledge, to which he replied I was free to go about the residence and speak to some of the women who have had their surgeries(I met one woman as the others were resting. She was from Arizona and had had her surgery on Tuesday--just three days ago. I was surprised at how mobile she was at that stage. We talked for a while and she allowed me to email her with any questions I may have). Dr. Brassard shook my hand and directed me to Suzanne's office.
Overall I guess my experience was good. I do feel as though there were some minor things left out--like pleasantries, i.e. have a nice trip back, everything will be ok, no need to worry, that sort of thing. That along with the previously mentioned fact that he did not have a book of recent surgical results to show.
I'm curious to hear of the experiences of others who have consulted with Dr. Brassard to see how they compare. I should also mention that the cost of the surgery is being covered by the Ontario Health Care Plan, so I don't really have other options to pursue if I wanted to--but as I stated before, I'm confident in his abilities as a surgeon based on what I have read regarding other peoples experience--it's just those small things that I mentioned which are bothering me.
My surgery date is set for Aug 31, but I've emailed Suzanne to move it to Sept 13 or 14
