Hello, I'm looking for anybody who has had SRS with dr. Schaff in Munich, Germany who did not speak German or in a limited way. I'm worried about the medical staff's ability to communicate in English, since my German is very limited (and on waking up after operation it won't be any better).

I have a surgery booked with him for 2017. When I was at the consultation with him, we were speaking English, but sometimes I had to help him with some words. I encouraged him to say them in German if he didn't know them in English, and translated for him. This was ok, however I am worried that his medical staff and nurses won't be better in English than the Doctor himself. Large majority of his clients still come from German-speaking countries.

So, do you have any experiences? Should I bring with me someone with better German? 🙂

To be honest i can speak some German and most Germans speak English so im not worried about that. What im worried about is his waiting list. Would you be able to wait until freaking 2017? Thats 3 years from now (( I dont know about this kind of waiting lists. Needing SRS means that you are in a position that you urgently need such a huge to have life quality. Suffering for 3 more years does not seem like a doable option

Quote from: Raregirlinternational on December 04, 2014, 08:05:06 PM
To be honest i can speak some German and most Germans speak English so im not worried about that. What im worried about is his waiting list. Would you be able to wait until freaking 2017? Thats 3 years from now (( I dont know about this kind of waiting lists. Needing SRS means that you are in a position that you urgently need such a huge to have life quality. Suffering for 3 more years does not seem like a doable option

I hope they will speak ok, especially since the staff will be younger than the doctor. However, there are some special words like "cathether" which are not part of general English language education, despite being quite important in my situation

His waiting list... yes, it's 2.5 years now. But after seeing what other surgeons call "good" results (including, for example, Marci Bowers, who has pictures on her website) and wondering how they can call that natural, I just can't settle for anyting less but Schaff or Thailand (Suporn, Chett, ...). Since I'd be much too scared of going to Asia, the choice is clear. But there is also a chance of skipping the list when somebody else cancels their op (but there are some requirements on the payment - I hope to get more info about this from his office soon). ...I do suffer... cry every day because of that thing between my legs

Hi Apple,

I think it would be a good idea to check with Dr Schaff's office some time before the surgery what the situation concerning language skills is among the staff.

English is a required language in German schools, but as someone who taught American lit courses in a German university I must say I'm not sure for how much that counts really -- especially when it comes to more "technical" language.

I would suggest getting in touch with a local trans* support group ahead of time and see if they can be of assistance. We could also compile a list of important vocabulary here, there are some German speakers on Susan's .

Catheter for one is easy: Katheter 😀

Hi Adrian,

I've asked Schaff's secretary about the language issues and she told me it should not be a problem. However, I don't feel like trusting her completely in this, since it won't be her who could be lying on a hospital bed and trying desperately to explain what's wrong

Contacting a local support group sound like a good idea!

Kathether: as long as it is written, it's ok 🙂 But very often words I know well in writing are incomprehensible to me when spoken. If only people had subtitles as in movies... German subtitles would be perfectly sufficient for me!

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Hi Hanazono,
it's the unknown differences what makes me worried about going to Asia/Thailand. I've never been there. Were I born in Asia, I would be scared of Europe. And it's different when one is just a healthy tourist and when one starts bleeding on the street on way from hospital... I know when to expect help and when to expect indifference in my home country and in Germany (5 hours drive). No idea in Thailand.

Well, Germans don't know anything about subtitles because we dub *everything* on tv or in the movies .

We clearly need the SRS version of a "point it" dictionary.