Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Since there is very little information online about my surgeon, I thought I'd start a new topic to talk about him and answer any questions you might have.  He is listed now on the wiki for surgeons so you can find his info there.

I had my surgery on May 29, 2014.  I'm 23 days post-op right now and very pleased with how things are turning out. Fully sensate from the start and just a few minor complications. And I couldn't be happier with his staff and him personally.

I had several reasons for choosing Dr. Davis.  Firstly, he is listed as a provider on my insurance.  Although he is not a preferred provider, they have worked with my insurance before, so I considered that a plus.  Secondly, he is close to home.  I had a date with Brassard but cancelled because I really didn't want to be out of the country.  Lastly, I called many, many offices and his was the most receptive, easiest to talk with, and was able to work with my schedule.

So glad you are doing well Sis! I bet you feel so good and relaxed now that it is over.  :)

Searching for a surgeon: I started with all the major ones: McGinn, Bowers, Suporn, Brassard, Meltzer, and Alter.  I even went to some lesser-known ones like the University of Michigan program, Schecter, and a few others.  Many of them wanted to do a consult first, some wanted to schedule 6 months out just for that, another wanted $500 for just the consult.  UoM wanted me to enroll in their gender program first before consideration.

I had originally planned on Dr. Brassard, due to the good reports I've heard on the recovery residence as well as his results. The other point in his favor was not having to do any genital electrolysis.

Money was not a great consideration, as I was fortunate enough to have saved up enough to go to any surgeon I chose.  I looked over the total package cost and decided that Thailand did not provide enough of a savings to justify going over there.

What I found in talking with many of the surgeons is that there is a HUGE wait list to get in. Some are over a year.  While you can get in on a cancellation, I considered that a long shot and not viable.  I had a very specific window in which I wanted to get surgery completed, having to do with work as well as childcare.  My scheduling requirement really narrowed down the list.

So for me, the two things that narrowed down the surgeons was their availability to work with my schedule, and the electrolysis issue.  I found at the time that Brassard and Suporn were the only viable options for me, and had made the preliminary arrangements to get dates set up with both.

Thanks, Jessica. I am doing better every day and am so happy to have had it done. But it has been a tough haul the past few weeks, and I'll be telling the story of all that here in upcoming posts.

Congratulations, I had not seen the date before specifically although you had posted about being post in another topic.  All of the items you mentioned need to go into a choice of surgeons.  I had my surgery just up the street from where you did, but over a year ago, and the conditions you had did not apply to me, in fact it was a year later that my insurance decided it would kick in, and would not retro my benefits.  The biggest point is that it fit your life and schedule which takes a load off of you that is helping you to begin your new life. 

WELCOME TO THE OTHER SIDE!!! 

Thanks Vicky.  And yes, that is the biggest point.  We all have our different criteria and what we are looking to get out of surgery, for those of us that believe it is the right thing for us.  For me, aesthetics and functionality were not high on the list.  I'm an older lady with kids to raise, not seeking to start a family or necessarily another relationship, so it was more important to me to just have the surgery over with than to wait on "the best".  I was more concerned about recovery and safety.  That being said, I found my results to be fabulous and expect once things settle down to be perfect on all counts.

The next step for me in getting things set up was a phone consultation with Dr. Davis.  Due to phone issues on my end, we did not speak at our appointed time.  However, he was persistent and called me after-hours from home so we could chat.  We spent about 45 minutes on the phone as I drove from Santa Monica into downtown LA.  I played dumb at first and he came off both as very knowledgeable about techniques, the reasons behind them, pros and cons, and also was very personable.  When I switched into question-asking mode, he didn't miss a beat and we discussed the finer points of surgery.  He went over what I'd need to do to prep (nothing), and I was glad to hear he didn't have a requirement for genital electrolysis.  He said it was up to me if I wanted to do it.  We talked about the recovery process, hospital stay, etc.  He stressed his availability afterwards via his personal cell phone 24/7, and that revisions were free.  (He's a perfectionist and wants everyone to meet his standards.)  Overall I was very impressed and at that point had made up my mind that I wanted him to be my surgeon.

Over the next few weeks I worked with Maria at the front office to get things settled and scheduled.  They were good about taking care of things for me and getting a surgery date.  This was about a month prior to when I wanted to get it done.

I also had some genital electrolysis done, because at that time I wasn't sure I could get in and needed to keep my options open.  That went well and over three sessions I had the correct area cleared.  It was far less painful than I thought it would be.  This was about 6 weeks prior to the surgery date.  I was horrified to discover about a week before surgery that there was a cycle of follicles that were missed, so I was very glad to know that it wasn't a requirement to be 100% clear.

I also worked on getting my two letters squared away.  Unfortunately, my original therapist had promised me a letter but kept making excuses and putting me off.  During that time I saw my second and she said she'd write my letter.  I ended up running out of time and contacted a third therapist, and had the letter completed on May 16.  She wrote my referral letter and dropped it off with Dr. Davis, and my second therapist was able to turn around hers in a few minutes.

Maria also worked on insurance for me, so a couple of weeks before surgery I had gotten a notice saying that they were missing the therapist letters and could not make a determination without them.  This was a stressful time, because the date was approaching fast and I didn't have anything to them until May 20th.  Once the letters were done, Maria and I both called and faxed the insurance company to make sure they got the letters.  Things ran down to the wire and they finally said they had them less than a week before surgery.  However, they said they still needed to review all the information.  We both called them daily, but because of the Memorial Day weekend they replied they were going to take the full five business days they were allotted to make a determination.  That meant they had until the day of my surgery to decide...

Given that situation, I had to pay up front for the surgery.  I already had travel plans and everything booked, so Maria and I sorted out the amount to be paid the day before I left to fly out there.  This wasn't a huge issue, as I had the money saved for it.  The alternative was to be forced to reschedule the surgery while we waited.

So, this brings me up to right before I left town to go to surgery.  I had wanted to do this last fall, but other issues came up, putting things off until February to start talking to Dr. Brassard again.  On March 20th I started getting serious about things, as Brassard's office came back with a July 1st date.  That's when everything finally became real, that I was actually going to have it done.  This reality check led me to not want to be out of the country, so I started looking in earnest for stateside surgeons.

And then, just a little over 60 days later, I was about to have it done.

During those 60 days, I went through a range of emotions: doubt that it was "really" going to happen, being at peace, being excited, being scared.  I had a couple of minor breakdowns.  The biggest issue was trying to play it cool and not get my hopes up too much out of the fear something would go wrong or be wrong and I couldn't proceed.

Worst of all was the fear that I would wake up and be told something went wrong.

Between stressing about insurance and paying for it, I worked on arranging travel plans, a companion, and getting some basic supplies set up.  I also had to do a lot of cleaning and prepping to get my kids ready to be away for the summer while I recovered.  I tried not to think too much about surgery or post-op life, trying to not get my hopes up and keeping busy around the house getting everything ready.

But then I came up to the day before I left town.  That was my final day for packing, checking in, getting everything ready to go.  At that point, there was nothing short of an accident keeping me from the surgery.  I was excited, and it was really going to happen!

Thanks for your detail story. It is so pleasant to see somone that has done well & is pleased with her surgery. It's also great to see new names of surgeons. Perhaps the costs will be reduced some as more surgeons offer their help & services. It's also so good to see more women stay in the USA. I certainly do not plan to fly to another country for my most important surgery.   If I can ask what depth do you expect? Thanks GF & again good for you.

Thanks FrancisAnn I'm glad you found this useful.  I believe I can expect around 7" of depth from what I recall him saying after his exam.

Thank you. It's so nice to see & read a good story & that you are doing well. Great for you GF. 7 inches would be so nice. Take care & again good luck GF.

May I ask what Dr. Davis pricing is like? I understand you may not wish to discuss this and that's fine but if you do, I'm sure some of us would be curious to know.

LizMarie: $29,590 cash price. There is a $2,959 deposit, and 14 days before the balance of the $29,590. (Which they let me slide on due to insurance.)  Pricey, but I feel it was worth it considering there was a 5 day hospital stay, it was in California, there was no wait, and it was close to home.

With the changing landscape in the states on health care insurance starting to cover along with medicare it is nice to see others that can be used.

Thank you for adding your surgery experience with everyone.

Hugs
Isabell

I am about to have a revision done by Dr. Davis, and I would never have found him if not for this review. Thank you so much for posting this!