Hey, so it's been a month, and the pain is mostly just a memory.  I'm pretty happy with the results.  Here are two pictures from my instagram (hence the filters)--but even still you can get a sense for how my forehead is flatter than before and I don't have a heavy brow anymore. 





A bunch of people have said that they didn't even realize I'd had surgery (which for me is a good thing--I wanted it subtle), but the changes are enough that I'm pretty much passing whenever I want to. 

My nose is still swollen and I have gross boogers, but I think that is to be expected and that it takes up to 6 months or more to see the final result.  If anyone who is interested in surgery from Spiegel wants to follow me on instagram to see how my face changes over the next few months, my handle is @dtorreyp

Thanks to everyone on here who encouraged me through this process.

Big hug! Looking good!

Hugs, Devlyn

Congrats your forehead looks nice.  I have a post op 3 month apt with him on May 11th. 

Congrats, Your face is beautiful. Hugs
Mariah

Quote from: Danielle11746 on April 29, 2015, 09:56:11 AM
Congrats your forehead looks nice.  I have a post op 3 month apt with him on May 11th.

Oh, that's great.  Just checking in or do you want a revision?

you look fantastic I had to hit your instagram account to see what you looked like before and the changes may be subtle but they are significant... Congratulations

I have a few concerns I am looking to discuss. 

Quote from: Danielle11746 on April 29, 2015, 10:59:07 PM
I have a few concerns I am looking to discuss.

Danielle , by looking at your avatar pic, I dont see any concerns on your part. You look stunning, would love to see a before and after pic

My profile photo is before, I just had my jaw and chin refined. 

Quote from: Danielle11746 on May 01, 2015, 06:56:56 AM
My profile photo is before, I just had my jaw and chin refined.

Danielle you really didnt need it , but now you must be even more gorgeous, wish I looked half as good

So how does it feel like day 1 -2 ish. Is it unbearable pain, or would you say more annoying than anything? also does Spiegel accept insurance? I heard somewhere here that was the case. The stuff I want done are my nose, forehead, and chin. He said it would be about 28k and I have NO IDEA how to get that much money.

Quote from: Dimples on May 02, 2015, 02:20:20 AM
So how does it feel like day 1 -2 ish. Is it unbearable pain, or would you say more annoying than anything? also does Spiegel accept insurance? I heard somewhere here that was the case. The stuff I want done are my nose, forehead, and chin. He said it would be about 28k and I have NO IDEA how to get that much money.

It hurts pretty bad, to be honest. Like 6-7 out of 10.  I don't know if he would take insurance, but more than anything else, I've never heard of Insurance companies paying for FFS. Most insurance doesn't cover "cosmetic" work, and they claim FFS is cosmetic. I talked to some people about it, and gave up pretty quickly. 

Quote from: Emily E on April 29, 2015, 06:52:40 PM
you look fantastic I had to hit your instagram account to see what you looked like before and the changes may be subtle but they are significant... Congratulations

Thanks Emily!

Quote from: shedevilcanada on May 01, 2015, 11:52:42 PM
Danielle you really didnt need it , but now you must be even more gorgeous, wish I looked half as good

Everyone told me the same thing, but I have always had a heavy jaw, I would get filler in my cheeks regularly to balance the heaviness.  I picked Dr. Spiegel because I found his work to be the most natural and I wanted a slight change not a whole new look.  I am 3 months post op on May 12th. 

Well congratulations! I am so excited for your successful FFS procedure! I hope you are feeling better and better each day!

I only ask because I read a thread here a while ago about how someone managed to get insurance to cover it. Hopefully I find an answer or alternative to pay for it!

Quote from: Dimples on May 05, 2015, 07:45:08 PM
Well congratulations! I am so excited for your successful FFS procedure! I hope you are feeling better and better each day!

I only ask because I read a thread here a while ago about how someone managed to get insurance to cover it. Hopefully I find an answer or alternative to pay for it!

A sugar daddy

Haha, I wish I were cute enough to get one haha. 

Quote from: Dimples on May 05, 2015, 11:41:10 PM
Haha, I wish I were cute enough to get one haha. 

Yeah, I didn't mean to be discouraging. I live in WA and we have trans inclusive health care, but even still, they basically only pay for hormones and counseling right now. There is work being done to get them to cover GRS, and that might happen in the next year or two, but breasts/face are considered cosmetic. I talked to a bunch of people in the Gender Justice League and a few other places about it, and the chances of them covering it, much less covering it with an out of state doctor of my choice, looked to be very low and involved a protracted fight (like years of appeals) to even get them to consider it.  That said, there was just a big meeting here in WA, and NY is changing their rules, so there is hope! Just probably not in the near future.

Ohh it's okay! You are just trying to be realistic with me! I appreciate all the information and I'm very happy that things worked out for you! I think I'll just get two jobs and save up for a year or two, it's about the only option I have for now.

My surgery with Spiegel (five procedures) was booked for three weeks away. I live close by so I took the subway in and gave Katie a check for $40,095, the full amount of the surgery, and the next day a friend of mine brought to my attention that I might be able to get it covered by insurance. I called Katie up and asked her to look into it, and within a week insurance had approved, she'd voided my check for $40k, and I wrote her a new check for $3500. Just like that... $36.5k saved thanks to a friend's word of advice. Can you imagine how happy I was??

If anyone is curious, I purchase insurance privately directly from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Here is their policy: https://www.bluecrossma.com/common/en_US/medical_policies/189%20Transgender%20Services%20prn.pdf