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I had touched on this in my blog some but I'm unsure of the best time for me to schedule a top surgery consultation with Dr. Garramone.  I'm not trying to schedule top surgery anytime soon, but I would like to see what exactly he could do for me concerning his "Mansculpture" (and if I would even qualify) and get my price quoted for that and top surgery so I know how much exactly I need to save up.  I'm hoping to have top surgery within the next year or two.  I'm debating if I should get the consultation now, even though I don't have all the money yet or if I should wait until I have all of the money first.

I'm in the process of getting my license so I can try and find a job, but aside from that, I'm not currently working or in school so I'm thinking now would be a great time to get my top surgery consultation while I have the time.  Plus, it could help me feel like I'm moving along in my transition, and it could give me a "price lock" so I won't have to worry about paying a higher price if the top surgery price goes up.  However, I'm a little concerned that Dr. Garramone's consultation could have an "expiration" date and if I don't get top surgery within a certain amount of time then I would have to get another one. 

However, if I wait until I have a little over the ballpark range all of the money, I could pay everything off on the spot and get a surgery date at the same time.  Plus, my therapist said she would write my letter of reccomendation to him when I have all of the money up, but that is going to take a while.  I don't know if the consultation before the letter would be considered "void" though.  Also, there is that chance that his price could go up within that waiting period.  On top of that, I feel like in a way that I'm just being stagnant in my transition and that things aren't moving along for me if I went this route.

Any thoughts on what may be the best thing for me to do in this situation?

Also for any guys who went to Dr. Garramone, but couldn't set a date immediately, do you know if he has a consultation expiration date?  That is my biggest concern.

I got a consultation in July, and my date is early Jan. So I can say with confidence that you can schedule six months out :)

And when you do set a date, there is a down payment of 500 I think to lock it in, but the rest isn't due until two weeks out from the actual surgery.

I definitely understand the motivation of wanting to take that step (consult) to feel like one's transition is moving forward. I was ok to wait for a bit, I just really needed a date - something to keep me hopeful.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do :)

I almost wonder how important the phone consult really is? Though I am pretty sure he requires it. He gets a LOT of info in a very short amt. of time. And he gives you info (lots of it I knew as it's on his webpage). But you can actually *schedule* a year out. And there is no requirement to schedule. If you scheduled, there are many things that need to be done within a month. And of course, you need to think about if you schedule that far in advance that if you're flying in you need to get your ticket early, so you aren't paying some crazy air fare. If you want to go to New Beginnings, they also fill up very fast.

The consult is very preliminary, and I think a lot of people have them and don't end up using the surgeon they did the phone consult with, so I almost consider it a "sale's tactic", but you can ask the office and they are very helpful. You usually get the consult first, before any other thing. They probably start making a file as soon as they get the pictures (of your chesticles), but I wouldn't send the therapist letter before the consult. He will ask if you have a therapist who would write the letter.

He does crazy nos. of surgeries, way under what I thought. (Some guy asked him, it can be up to 400 a year.) But it is not as crazy to get in as you might think. I scheduled 2 1/2 months out, but there are people who schedule only a month out, depending. Certain months are more booked up than others coinciding with typical vacation days, for instance. I was like "dear goddess, no spring break in Fort Lauderdale". :)

I did a video of the phone consult here. I don't know if this will insert the video or not, so I have more info on the page so you might click so you are on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgThemfgGoM


--Jay

Quote from: ford on August 20, 2013, 10:34:54 PM
I got a consultation in July, and my date is early Jan. So I can say with confidence that you can schedule six months out :)

And when you do set a date, there is a down payment of 500 I think to lock it in, but the rest isn't due until two weeks out from the actual surgery.

I definitely understand the motivation of wanting to take that step (consult) to feel like one's transition is moving forward. I was ok to wait for a bit, I just really needed a date - something to keep me hopeful.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do :)

Thanks ford. :)  I really want to feel like I'm moving foward with my transition so I can keep my morale up.  I'm wondering if I could pay the $500 deposit without scheduling an actual date for top surgery.  That would be awesome. 

Quote from: aleon515 on August 21, 2013, 11:08:42 AM
I almost wonder how important the phone consult really is? Though I am pretty sure he requires it. He gets a LOT of info in a very short amt. of time. And he gives you info (lots of it I knew as it's on his webpage). But you can actually *schedule* a year out. And there is no requirement to schedule. If you scheduled, there are many things that need to be done within a month. And of course, you need to think about if you schedule that far in advance that if you're flying in you need to get your ticket early, so you aren't paying some crazy air fare. If you want to go to New Beginnings, they also fill up very fast.

The consult is very preliminary, and I think a lot of people have them and don't end up using the surgeon they did the phone consult with, so I almost consider it a "sale's tactic", but you can ask the office and they are very helpful. You usually get the consult first, before any other thing. They probably start making a file as soon as they get the pictures (of your chesticles), but I wouldn't send the therapist letter before the consult. He will ask if you have a therapist who would write the letter.

He does crazy nos. of surgeries, way under what I thought. (Some guy asked him, it can be up to 400 a year.) But it is not as crazy to get in as you might think. I scheduled 2 1/2 months out, but there are people who schedule only a month out, depending. Certain months are more booked up than others coinciding with typical vacation days, for instance. I was like "dear goddess, no spring break in Fort Lauderdale". :)

I did a video of the phone consult here. I don't know if this will insert the video or not, so I have more info on the page so you might click so you are on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgThemfgGoM


--Jay

Thank you for the information Jay!  I'm happy to know that there is no urgency in scheduling a surgery date.  I would really like to have all or most of my cash before I do that.  You make a great point about traveling.  I plan on going to New Beginninings too so I need to make sure they will have a room available then.



Needless to say I'm still undecided in how to approach this though.  I hope I can make a decision soon. 

I'm pretty sure that the $500 is to hold your date. You can't get it back barring some sort of calamity. So I don't think they'd take the $500 without an actual surgery date.

I think the farthest out you can schedule is 1 year. The $500 does go towards your surgery. You can pay on that, so that you can pay towards the amt of the surgery, if you want it out of your hands (I am pretty sure of that one, but not positive).


--Jay

Quote from: aleon515 on August 21, 2013, 11:21:22 PM
I'm pretty sure that the $500 is to hold your date. You can't get it back barring some sort of calamity. So I don't think they'd take the $500 without an actual surgery date.

I think the farthest out you can schedule is 1 year. The $500 does go towards your surgery. You can pay on that, so that you can pay towards the amt of the surgery, if you want it out of your hands (I am pretty sure of that one, but not positive).


--Jay

After looking back at his website it says the $500 comes with the surgery date.  Aww that's a bummer.  :(  Looks like I'll be holding off on that for a while.

You could pull it aside and put it in a little savings account. That way you don't spend it. I don't know do people have these anymore? :)

--Jay

Quote from: aleon515 on August 22, 2013, 05:46:11 PM
You could pull it aside and put it in a little savings account. That way you don't spend it. I don't know do people have these anymore? :)

--Jay

I thought about putting my top surgery savings in a CD, but I'm not sure how banking works in general as I've never had a bank account before.

Quote from: Malachite on August 22, 2013, 05:53:11 PM
I thought about putting my top surgery savings in a CD, but I'm not sure how banking works in general as I've never had a bank account before.

A credit union would be most cool, but you can go into a local (not like Bank America) and talk to the nice people. You have to certain amt of money to open a CD or money market acct.. I think you might be thinking of a money market. A money market is good for so many months and then gets a certain amt of interest, but it's better than a savings acct. in terms of interest. You could also look into something like a emergency funds, Christmas, or vacation savings. They don't have to know it's not for either. I don't think you declare what it's for. I think you would buy a CD for so much, not sure you actually put anything into it, and I think the cheapest ones might be like $2500. But don't listen to me, go to the bank.

You wouldn't have to say what you are saving for but you can ask for their advice in a general way:  I need to save money for something, I want to put aside a certain amt each month (week, whatever), what's my best bet? They will likely be helpful. At my bank, I went and asked about loans and they actually told me to do a home equity loan (not with their bank!)

Here's a little article explaining some of this: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/personal-finance-101-money-market-accounts-versus-normal-savings-accounts/

another one here: http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/money-market-vs-savings-accounts/


--Jay

Quote from: aleon515 on August 22, 2013, 10:25:27 PM

A credit union would be most cool, but you can go into a local (not like Bank America) and talk to the nice people. You have to certain amt of money to open a CD or money market acct.. I think you might be thinking of a money market. A money market is good for so many months and then gets a certain amt of interest, but it's better than a savings acct. in terms of interest. You could also look into something like a emergency funds, Christmas, or vacation savings. They don't have to know it's not for either. I don't think you declare what it's for. I think you would buy a CD for so much, not sure you actually put anything into it, and I think the cheapest ones might be like $2500. But don't listen to me, go to the bank.

You wouldn't have to say what you are saving for but you can ask for their advice in a general way:  I need to save money for something, I want to put aside a certain amt each month (week, whatever), what's my best bet? They will likely be helpful. At my bank, I went and asked about loans and they actually told me to do a home equity loan (not with their bank!)

Here's a little article explaining some of this: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/personal-finance-101-money-market-accounts-versus-normal-savings-accounts/

another one here: http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/money-market-vs-savings-accounts/


--Jay

Thanks for the links, Jay.  I have to admit, though, some of the information flew over my head but hopefully I can eventually find a bank that would suit my interest.  A credit union seems like a good way to go, but I will have to do some bank-shopping.

Quote from: Malachite on August 23, 2013, 04:43:13 PM
Thanks for the links, Jay.  I have to admit, though, some of the information flew over my head but hopefully I can eventually find a bank that would suit my interest.  A credit union seems like a good way to go, but I will have to do some bank-shopping.

Credit unions will have a bit better terms. Personally I wanted a bank that wasn't involved in collapsing the economy, but really if you walk in and they are helpful that's a good one for you. You aren't going to make a lot of money on $500. Don't even try. I think at this stage it's more someone who can help you out. I think the idea is to take it out so it isn't really easy to spend.

--Jay

Quote from: aleon515 on August 23, 2013, 10:25:06 PM
Credit unions will have a bit better terms. Personally I wanted a bank that wasn't involved in collapsing the economy, but really if you walk in and they are helpful that's a good one for you. You aren't going to make a lot of money on $500. Don't even try. I think at this stage it's more someone who can help you out. I think the idea is to take it out so it isn't really easy to spend.

--Jay

My mom has a credit union so I may go to the one she has.  Hers has some interesting features but I suppose I'll find a bank that's the best for my situation in all due time I suppose.

Quote from: aleon515 on August 22, 2013, 05:46:11 PM
You could pull it aside and put it in a little savings account. That way you don't spend it. I don't know do people have these anymore? :)

--Jay

Just remember with most savings accounts you have to have a balance of like $200-300 at all times or they charge you a fee every month. Something to be aware of.

My credit union has a minimum balance of fifty bucks and never used to charge a fee if you stayed above that. I don't know whether they charge a fee now, but the minimum is still fifty.

Quote from: Arch on August 26, 2013, 11:22:46 PM
My credit union has a minimum balance of fifty bucks and never used to charge a fee if you stayed above that. I don't know whether they charge a fee now, but the minimum is still fifty.

Yeah that's right. They really have nice deals if you want to do an acct there. Sometimes there's a "joining fee". For me it was a one time membership in an animal welfare organization. It was something like $25 but that was a few years ago. The interest on such an acct isn't that great but it is a safe place to keep it.

There are minimum balances, but I don't think most credit unions or banks have a fee if you close out the acct. I'm not sure re: that, but you can check. There are things like vacation savings or somethign, and that might be an option. It's a vacation (forever) from the chesticles. :)

--Jay

I wouldn't mind having a minimum balance of like $500 or less.  However, I'm still unsure if I should go ahead and get my top surgery consultation now or if I should wait until I have all of the money up first. That is my main concern at the moment.  Anyone have any suggestions or advice on when I should get the consult done?

Quote from: Malachite on August 29, 2013, 04:32:42 PM
I wouldn't mind having a minimum balance of like $500 or less.  However, I'm still unsure if I should go ahead and get my top surgery consultation now or if I should wait until I have all of the money up first. That is my main concern at the moment.  Anyone have any suggestions or advice on when I should get the consult done?

I had mine last December (before I booked my date. I didn't book my date until May) and I'm having top surgery this coming February. I don't think it really matters. My surgeon quoted me a price and said it was good for a year. She didn't have prices up online. I don't know who you plan on going with, but do you have a regular income? What I'm doing is taking my monthly income and seeing how much I can put away a month and then seeing how long it would take me. Based on that I made my date with some wiggle room incase something happened and I couldn't put exactly that much away each month. Thats how I went about it.

Quote from: Malachite on August 29, 2013, 04:32:42 PM
I wouldn't mind having a minimum balance of like $500 or less.  However, I'm still unsure if I should go ahead and get my top surgery consultation now or if I should wait until I have all of the money up first. That is my main concern at the moment.  Anyone have any suggestions or advice on when I should get the consult done?

A phone consult now would be ok. I would wait til you are within a couple months of having all the money for more than that in case something wild comes up and uses all your funds.

It actually doesn't matter when you do it, AFAIK. YOu might keep it within 6 months so he would still have the files. You could also ask them. I am certain that at some point they throw the files out. YOu have to send photos of your chest, which was a nasty thing. But he deals with it sensitively.

--Jay

Quote from: Darrin Scott on August 29, 2013, 08:17:25 PM
I had mine last December (before I booked my date. I didn't book my date until May) and I'm having top surgery this coming February. I don't think it really matters. My surgeon quoted me a price and said it was good for a year. She didn't have prices up online. I don't know who you plan on going with, but do you have a regular income? What I'm doing is taking my monthly income and seeing how much I can put away a month and then seeing how long it would take me. Based on that I made my date with some wiggle room incase something happened and I couldn't put exactly that much away each month. Thats how I went about it.

I plan on going to Dr. Garramone.  I don't have a regular income at this moment but I'm taking driving lessons in in order to get a job (the place I want to apply at requires a driver's license).

Quote from: LordKAT on August 29, 2013, 08:20:57 PM
A phone consult now would be ok. I would wait til you are within a couple months of having all the money for more than that in case something wild comes up and uses all your funds.

How much money would you reccomend me putting away for a rainey day?

Quote from: aleon515 on August 29, 2013, 10:15:11 PM
It actually doesn't matter when you do it, AFAIK. YOu might keep it within 6 months so he would still have the files. You could also ask them. I am certain that at some point they throw the files out. YOu have to send photos of your chest, which was a nasty thing. But he deals with it sensitively.

--Jay

I wonder if I could email Dr. Garramone first without having to schedule a top surgery consultation.

Quote from: Malachite on September 03, 2013, 04:35:22 PM
I wonder if I could email Dr. Garramone first without having to schedule a top surgery consultation.

Are you just wanting him to look at pictures to get an idea of what to expect with the man sculpture stuff, or what do you want to ask him? About pricing for your specific situation?  Is there a reason you think it would be drastically different then the prices quoted on his page?

Honestly - if the savings amount under your avatar is correct, and you currently are looking for a job - you may be really be jumping the gun on this. I know how hard it is to wait, and that you want to do everything you can now, but it may really be too soon to talk to him.

My advice is to put this on hold until you know more about when you would actually be able to schedule the surgery. This may mean waiting until you have consistent income.

I know I need at least 10k for surgery with travel - and I am not getting man sculpture. When do you realistically think you could have even half this amount? That is when to call him, IMO.

Quote from: spacerace on September 03, 2013, 06:43:57 PM
Are you just wanting him to look at pictures to get an idea of what to expect with the man sculpture stuff, or what do you want to ask him? About pricing for your specific situation?  Is there a reason you think it would be drastically different then the prices quoted on his page?

Honestly - if the savings amount under your avatar is correct, and you currently are looking for a job - you may be really be jumping the gun on this. I know how hard it is to wait, and that you want to do everything you can now, but it may really be too soon to talk to him.

My advice is to put this on hold until you know more about when you would actually be able to schedule the surgery. This may mean waiting until you have consistent income.

I know I need at least 10k for surgery with travel - and I am not getting man sculpture. When do you realistically think you could have even half this amount? That is when to call him, IMO.

You can call his office and they will help you as much as they can. They won't answer specific question having to do with you, of course. But general questions are fine. I agree with the amts of money above. It might be plus or minus a bit, but that's about right. I didn't really go about it until I thought I was kind of close to the money that I would need.

The webpage is very good in terms of general and some specific info.

My understanding is that the only $ amt that varies (except if his rates go up) is the mansculpture fee. I believe that the more you have done the more expensive. Keep in mind the mansculpture is really going to add to the pain and discomfort. My understanding is that the pain of top surgery is considerably more if you need lipo in the sides (to prevent dog ears). Lipo is what mansculpture is. So if you have extensive mansculpture you are adding to the amt of time in recovery and so on.
Besides not being able to move your arms much, you will have trouble moving your trunk.


--Jay

Quote from: Malachite on September 03, 2013, 04:35:22 PM
I plan on going to Dr. Garramone.  I don't have a regular income at this moment but I'm taking driving lessons in in order to get a job (the place I want to apply at requires a driver's license).

If you don't have regular income to put away, maybe focus on getting that job and your license. THEN focus on surgery. With irregular income and no idea when you'd have a date for surgery it might be a waste of your time to talk to him now. My surgeon wanted to know a date as to when I'd have it and I needed a downpayment of $500. One cool thing about my surgeon is I can make payments as I go. That might work for you if Garramone dows that after you get a job.

Quote from: Darrin Scott on September 04, 2013, 09:28:57 PM

If you don't have regular income to put away, maybe focus on getting that job and your license. THEN focus on surgery. With irregular income and no idea when you'd have a date for surgery it might be a waste of your time to talk to him now. My surgeon wanted to know a date as to when I'd have it and I needed a downpayment of $500. One cool thing about my surgeon is I can make payments as I go. That might work for you if Garramone dows that after you get a job.

You are able to do this with Dr. G, up until I think a month before surgery.
I think this is a good idea btw.

--Jay

Thank you for your suggestions, guys.  After thinking about it some more, I think I probably was jumping the gun some and the best thing for me to do is to wait until I get a stable income.  it really does suck to be in the "waiting" stage, but hey, you can't blame a guy for dreaming lol.

UPDATE:

Sorry to revive my own thread after about a year, but this question has been going through my mind lately, with updates.  I have a job now (still no license though) and I have been working throughout the summer to save some, and even though my "official" top surgery fund that you see under my avatar hasn't even reached 2 grand yet, I've decided that I'm going to use the money from my job and my life savings to help pay for it.  I just don't put those earnings in my official top surgery fund amount due to having to use that money from time to time.  With that being said, I'm about $2,500 (give or take) away from having the money to book for the surgery and my lodging.  I've also decided against getting the mansculpure so that greatly lessened my costs.  It is my plan to book about 6 or 7 months in advance, that way I can had an adequate amount of time to save for the other miscellaneous costs.

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to book a consultation and a date when I have about $500-$1000 left to save.  It is my plan to book about 6 or 7 months in advance, that way I can have an adequate amount of time to save for the other miscellaneous costs.  I can also take that time to pay the rest of what I would owe.  I figure that at that amount, I'll be even more determined to get the extra money since I will actually have a deadline, and it would be motivation, to see myself actually go forward with this. 

What do you guys think?  Should I book when I have about $500-$1,000 left to save, or at that much, should I just wait until I have it and pay it all off at the same time so I wouldn't have to worry about it?

Mods please feel free to move this to the top surgery forum at your discretion.  When I first made this thread, that forum didn't exist.

I booked when I had my surgery fees and airline ticket saved, but I hadn't had the money for my lodging. I'm not sure how your credit card is set up, but due to extra security stuff on my account I wasn't able to pay it off all at once. Instead I paid it off at the end of one billing cycle and then at the beginning of the next. I think there was 9 days between payments. The office is really easy to work with in regards to paying as long as its 3 weeks prior to surgery.

I would say that if there a specific month you want, or a certain week that you are leaning toward, you'll have your choice of days if you book 3-4 months out. You said you want a 6 month window, so you won't have a hard time getting a date. One of the advantages to booking early is that you'll be given priority for your surgery time, which is not given to you until preop. That worked great for me since I took a while to come out of anesthesia (I was just waking up two hours after I was put in recovery) and I was the first surgery of the day.

If you are positive you will have all of your money by three weeks out when you book, I don't see a reason that you have to wait. But, since you don't have to book that far out in general you can also wait until you have everything else set up. So, if you know you'll have all the money you need and a license and car (you're driving from one of the Carolinas, right?) then you can book when you feel comfortable. Keep in mind that once you pay, you can't get a refund unless you meet certain medical reasons and even then I don't know that you get everything back.

Quote from: Ayden on August 17, 2014, 11:11:25 AM
I would say that if there a specific month you want, or a certain week that you are leaning toward, you'll have your choice of days if you book 3-4 months out. You said you want a 6 month window, so you won't have a hard time getting a date. One of the advantages to booking early is that you'll be given priority for your surgery time, which is not given to you until preop. That worked great for me since I took a while to come out of anesthesia (I was just waking up two hours after I was put in recovery) and I was the first surgery of the day.

Ayden, my understanding is that the order of surgeries each day is based on how complicated/how much time it will take in the surgery room for each patient.  He always does his patients who do man sculpture first (if he has any that day), and then you see it scale down by breast size/possible complications from the first to the last.  At least, this was his approach 10 months ago.  This is why he doesn't give you your surgery time until your preop appt.  I was #4 and I saw the progression from heaviest guys to smallest guy during the time I was there (I had to wait 4 hours after I got there because one guy took longer than expected).  #5 of the day was this tall skinny guy!  I saw all the guys at the pre op appt. in the waiting room and indeed the order of surgeries for the day followed this approach.  'Course he may adjust it if you request to be first for some reason.   

Dr G requires you to pay by credit card, so that if you have a limited amt on credit (you can sometimes get this covered), you need to pay a little at once. NOt sure if there is another way to pay.

--Jay

Quote from: Brett on August 17, 2014, 03:07:44 PM
Ayden, my understanding is that the order of surgeries each day is based on how complicated/how much time it will take in the surgery room for each patient.  He always does his patients who do man sculpture first (if he has any that day), and then you see it scale down by breast size/possible complications from the first to the last.  At least, this was his approach 10 months ago.  This is why he doesn't give you your surgery time until your preop appt.  I was #4 and I saw the progression from heaviest guys to smallest guy during the time I was there (I had to wait 4 hours after I got there because one guy took longer than expected).  #5 of the day was this tall skinny guy!  I saw all the guys at the pre op appt. in the waiting room and indeed the order of surgeries for the day followed this approach.  'Course he may adjust it if you request to be first for some reason.

You could be right. I obviously didn't ask for clarification, I just assumed. The guy who went after me was probably about 40 pounds heavier with the guy after him being super thin. (I was in recovery for a long time). Maybe it's because I was international? I'm not sure.

A lot of great information, guys!  If he does the surgeries by sizes, then it's likely that I'll have mine closer to the morning.  I'm not quite sure about the specifics of my credit card so I'm going to have to ask.  My boss just set me up a bank account at Wells Fargo so I use that.