Also, I believe that the eyebrow shaving combined with the brow shift up made the eyes look much more prominent, like moved ahead off my face, this is I think with the feminine clothes one of the major reasons why people don't recognize me compared to six months ago when I was still living as and looking a man...

Judith, I have the ear rings here, just PM me a postal address to send them to ....

Love

Marie

Quote from: judithlynn on June 19, 2015, 04:18:08 AM
Marie;
I cannot get over the pictures above. You look a completely different person and I reckon the surgery has taken 20 years off you. To me it seems incredibly dramatic and I think especially the first twqo pictures make you look incredibly beautiful (I also love the earrings!)
Judith

I agree. Not only a totally different person but SO much younger! (not that you looked 50 anyways).

My choice for FFS is Dr Bart too and I must say his charges are very reasonable. It is even lower than some Thai surgeons for the surgery itself. But price aside I was impressed with Dr bart's forehead work (i'm only doing forehead with him). Marie, your case just reassured me of my choice!

Quick questions:
- was there a catheter used? i recall being advised the forehead surgery only being 2/3 hours.
- do you think it would be possible to 'look normal' with makeup say after 8-10 days? i will be only doing forehead.
- on the same note as 'looking normal' - were there immigration questions at the airport?

Thanks to all in advance. And speedy recovery to you Marie. Go flaunt your new face now - i would if i were you..looking not just feminine but very young and beautiful! x

Quote from: marie on May 13, 2015, 09:43:55 AM
Dear all

I posted below two pictures taken today, it is now two months post operation.

I think it is not useful to post more pictures now, but I have one question that some of you may answer. People look at me in the streets, and men look at me a way I would qualify as normal, but it appears that many women really stare long at my face...I would like to know what they think of course, there are some possibilities:

1) she's so beautiful
2) she's so ugly
3) she's a transgender
4) she had plastic surgery
5) what a wonderful bow shaped scar!

Any idea ?

Marie 2 months 1
Marie 2 months 2

Lots of hugs

Marie

Hi Marie,

I'd like to say that you look gorgeous and if I hadn't seen your pictures I would have NEVER believed there were any decent surgeons in Europe.

To answer your question I'll tell you why I'd be staring at you (and why I believe people are staring at you) and the answer is non of the 5 options you gave us. You see, you actually look very young (and beautiful) after your FFS, yet your hair is thin and looks older, and if I'd see you in the street (and I'm guessing this is the same with other people too) I'd be thinking: "Ohhhh no what's wrong with that girl her hair? Is she sick? What disease does she have? Can she heal of it?"

But that's just my 2 cent

Hi girls

Thanks for all this is very kind of you... I confirm that Dr Bart is excellent as a surgeon, as the above pictures you have seen show.

@blackponyx

I had catheter yes, but I don't know what it has been used for...you better ask Dr Bart for technical details, I believe...

Looking normal after ten days seems difficult to me, and I don't think make up will make much difference since it is much a matter of swelling... you need to be patient..
For the immigration questions, I have no clue since I am living inside the EU (no police control) and came to Antwerp by train...

Now talking about my hair, well it is true that I am not that hairy, and in addition I found that dressing style if pulling them back which make me look maybe more severe, but I like it... I don't think I look sick however since I am not.. ;-) .... to be honest I found no answer to my initial question, but I see now much less people staring at me, so maybe option 5 finally was right ...

Judith, some ear rings are now flying to you ... ;-)

Hugs to all

Marie

Follow-up on the catheter, I also had that question. Was it a urinary catheter? I would really be uncomfortable if that was needed during the surgery...

Yes, it was.... true discomfort, but since you are unable to move... there is probably no other way around...

Yes! multiple questions re urinary catheter haha. I'm no medical personnel but i always thought it was for GA + long surgeries. Logically, they are afraid you pee midway a long surgery but if it was say just a 3 hours surgery i don't know if the catheter still adds value.

My concern is that i am post op - had my srs and have had a couple of UTIs within 6 months post op. Catheters are known to make you prone to UTI (not to mention the discomfort when the catheter is on and during the removal). If possible, I would like to avoid that as much as possible. Maybe i'll drop Dr Bart's team an email to verify and update here. x

My surgery is expected to last around 3 hours, so hopefully if what you're saying is true I won't need one. I am pre-op still but im sure it's equally uncomfortable. If you decide to mail Dr. Bart please let us know his response

Girls, to be honest, I didn't even think of that before surgery, and more generally I didn't dig deep into details before going for the operation and for Dr Bart... maybe I was at risk at a given point or maybe not, I feel unable to exactly estimate things when it comes to the medical stuff... I felt only that I was in the need of FFS and that it would be a great step ahead for my transition, this is exactly what happened, I didn't miss the point here...

Same as for Dr Bart himself, I met him back in September 2014, and the interview was very positive and friendly, he listened carefully to my story and I felt him a very human guy... that's it... but again I didn't go with him into technical details that I was of course not able to understand, so I just put my life in his hands with confidence...

That said, I understand that girls may want to know more, then I would say the good person to answer is of course Dr Bart himself...

Quote from: JaniceNL on July 19, 2015, 11:06:10 AM
My surgery is expected to last around 3 hours, so hopefully if what you're saying is true I won't need one. I am pre-op still but im sure it's equally uncomfortable. If you decide to mail Dr. Bart please let us know his response

Dear all, please see what the clinic has replied below:

Dear Ms XXX,
If you stay in our guesthouse you won't need nurse assistance. From the 10th of August we will have a patient coordinator that looks after our patients every day. Even during the weekend she will be in the guesthouse 2 hours a day. This service  is included in the price of your room.
Urinary catheter will not be used for such a short surgery.


********

I was not informed of where the 'short surgery' cut off is, but just FYI to all, mine is a FFS for forehead ONLY and in the quotation package to me, it was stated as 2 hours GA surgery.

Hope that helps.

My dear, how long will you stay in Antwerp ?

@marie i'll assume that questions was directed at me ^.^

i am planning to stay 8-10 days. i'm coming from Asia so it's gonna be a long flight. i'm not planning to use this opportunity to travel europe....(oh wait maybe i should....haha)

@blackponyx 

Sure the question was for you ...  ... I wonder about spending ten days inside the clinic, there is not much to visit around ... not talking of visiting the whole Europe, but Antwerp is a very pleasant city, I personnally did stay at the Enich Anders BB, in the very center of the city, the ladies are very kind persons, no TV, just internet...

http://www.enich-anders.be/

thanks marie! i've bookmarked that B&B a few days back when you posted it! hehe

i'm not too far into my planning yet. i'm not gonna write my life story here but long story short it's frustrating because i am emotionally and financially ready for this surgery but just not possible...as i'm still in college. and that was why i was planning to do it in December (there's a short vacation for about 1.5 months)....

i have to add, if i haven't already, that dr bart's charges are very reasonable. he suggested Type 3 in the pdf file so i guess the cost has factored in the 'worst case scenario'. maybe when i see him and he thinks i don't need a Type 3 i'm not sure, but i'll let him decide. but cost is definitely reasonable. my original choice was Dr chettawut but taking into account i could go to dr bart (with flight and accommodation and a hairline advancement) at the same price, i decided to go with dr bart

Hi blackponyx !

Did you ever meet Dr Bart in person ? I guess no, he will restimate the necessary things to perform when you will face him, this is exactly what happened with me, he revised his first estimation based on pictures, and the initial work over forehead was downgraded to a simpler type I... Another thing is that, you might find December cold in Antwerp ... 

I am also having a type 1 done with him, are you happy with the results this far now that the swelling has come down?
My biggest fear of a type 1 is that the work could be too conservative.... after which mabye a small part of the forehead bossing keeps showing.

I am, see the pictures, well I like it anyway ...  as you know, it is going to evolve slowly within the coming months so that it would be stabilized only by spring 2016 or so... same for the nose job, it is going thinner and thinner, so slowly ...

Since you had type I forehead work done the same as I am getting I was wondering, was an x-ray or something like that made prior to surgery, to chart the sinusus and nerves?

No xray picture before surgery...