So, I don't come to Susan's but things have recently changed.
To give a little rundown of my life, I started transition in 2008. Problem was, between the economy tanking right around that same time and my life already being kinda a mess, I wasn't in a very good position to make very fast progress in transtion. Since over the past decade, things have gradually changed, though. I have a stable, healthy, loving relationship. I seem to pass well (at least well enough that I don't seem to get misgendered anywhere anymore).
However, because my life and especially my finances were such a wreck, I had to put surgery on a back burner and tell myself to not even think about it because it's going to be too hard to do. Well, last year, that started to change. Last year, I started a great new job that started in October. It's for a pretty big health insurance company; they're trans friendly, they offer amazing benefits and that finally gives me the option of getting surgery, an option I didn't have before. It's weird, but now that it's actually an option, after all those years of never thinking about it, over the past few months it's been a thought that's been occupying my mind more and more. However, I am having one important problem: where do I get good information on doctors?
I know about Bowers and she's a fine option and everything. I was hoping to get someone closer to home and avoid having to travel to a coast (I'm in one of those flyover states). Once you get past Bowers, information starts getting sketchier and sketchier. I know I've seen some doctors do fine work without being big names already, but I also know there are some doctors out there who will just mutilate you..... and then charge you for it.
For example, the doctor I'm leaning towards right now is Dr. Loren Schechter; he seems to have plenty of experience, he accepts insurance and he's in network with my insurance. After that, information on him, his procedure, his results, they've been a little hard to come by. I suppose I have time to plan and everything, but all the time in the world isn't going to mean anything if I'm unable to find the information I need in that time. I mean, there are a lot of doctors who do the surgery, but how do I know they're any good?
Because, truth is, whatever doctor I go with, I'm going to be living with their handi work for the rest of my life. This isn't some kind of decision where I can say "Whoops, don't like it, changed my mind" afterwards. I'm not regretting transition or rethinking surgery or anything, but, damnit, I want to make sure it's done right.
I don't think you can. You can find a lot of differing options on all the surgeons, success stories and complaints about all of them, and little hard evidence. There's quite a number of photo's of their results if you search, but actually not nearly enough to be confident about anything. The only photo I'm aware of Dr. Loren Schechter SRS result is really bad, and if you take that into consideration you'd wonder about everything else you hear.