Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'm curious as to how the whole plastic surgery procedure goes? do you for the most part choose the general look of the augmentations, or does the doctor just kind of do their thing? Did you choose from a book of examples? how was the consultation on perceived results? was it accurate to what you had wanted?

I think the doctor does ask for what you need, but still somewhat acts on their own opinions, as the same time.

(Okay, this is utterly useless. I admit this post is for getting new message notifications because this interests me.)

For me, it was collaborative. I had a consultation with Speigel via Skype, where I talked to him about what I thought I wanted done. He just listened quietly. Then he offered his own recommendations, which were essentially in line with my desires. He also recommended that I use the virtualFFS service to get an idea of what I might end up looking like, which I did.

When I went to Boston, I had a longer discussion with him about what exactly he was going to do. And we negotiated a bit on my hairline, because we disagreed a little. In the end we reached a compromise. My sister was also with me, so he decided to base my nose off of hers which was pretty cool. I also gave him a copy of my results from the virtualFFS, so he had a kind of guide to my expectations.

I was really happy with my results. They were definitely better than what I was expecting.

I guess on the whole I felt like... he's the artist, he's the one with experience. So mostly I preferred to defer to that. I think the biggest decision is just picking a surgeon that you are comfortable with and who shares a similar vision of what to do with your face... and then let them do their job.

I'm not really sure on this one. I mean I know we have input like my surgeon asked me about what I was going for. And then he gave me different ideas of what he could do for me

It was kind of a mix of:

• What I wanted. I talked to the doctor during a consultation and at times before the surgery to let him know which areas I wanted to have worked on, and if there was something specific I wanted done to a certain area, to make note of that as well. The doctor will likely recommend a set of procedures that may differ with what you want, but they are only recommendations. In the end, they are going to work on the areas you pick.


• What he had to work with. If, for example, you wanted a hairline advancement, how far it could advance depends on how stretchy your skin is and how far back the hairline lies. In other words, it is limited by the current state of your head/face.


• The doctor's sense of aesthetics, skill, and knowledge.Each doctor gravitates towards a certain look that they can reliably reproduce - their standard, so to speak. Even with very specific instructions (e.g. make my nose thin and small), the doctor is basically going off of his idea of what is thin and small, and what works well with your face. Unfortunately, he cannot see whatever image is in your mind, and since you are out during the surgery, you don't really get to offer criticisms or suggest adjustments while he is working. Most doctors will have a collection of before and after pictures so that you can evaluate their skill and sense of aesthetics.

The surgery was mostly what I hoped for, though I say "mostly" because I am just a month post-op, so my face is still settling.