Spammers are a big issue on the site and we have several a week who work there way in and we need to clean up after. Once you hit the magic number, you will not have to deal with the security measures and you just post.

Wow, that is really interesting.. To be honest I never even considered Medicare.. I wonder if there is huge waiting period like most things with our health system. I really need to investigate this more... Perhaps that is why that Aus surgeon charges so much. He is out to take advantage of Medicare. It just seems to be such an outrageous amount of money for 6 hours of work. That is the price of a decent car.. or a big lump towards a home.. Thats more than I earn in a year before tax. Its all very unfair. The university that guy went to was paid for by minions like me..

Thank you for this information. I have read that the skills of Aus surgeons is no where as good in Thailand. Its all getting to be a bit of a worry.. My anxiety levels are climbing. But I have time.. To be honest, I would have had it years ago but I was never in the position to do it.. Now I am and to be honest I think its a good time due to the many changes with government support mechanisms.

Before I become a primary school teacher I was in the Royal Australian Air Force where at that time it was an offence to be Gay, Lesbian and I assume Transgender. But now its fine.. Just typical.. Story of my life to be late or too early..

Glad when the IQ test is gone. I keep failing it. 

Tess..

Quote from: Serenation on July 22, 2016, 11:11:12 PM
Hi Tess Not all of SRS is covered by medicare and private health but certainly the majority of it is. Medibank paid 13000 towards mine and I think  medicare was about 9k. Andrew Ive's requires you have both. Thailand certainly is a good option if you go with the better known surgeons.

All but basic hospital cover, pays out for cosmetic surgery and surgery that benefits psychologically which is how they spin srs.

I assume the "iq test" is just for a certain amount of posts, I recall there is restrictions on private messages and avatars till a certain post threshold is met.

Hey.. The price in Aus $ for the PAI is $11,520 and that includes 5 days in a private hostile suite but not sure if they pay for the 10 extra days in a hotel.. I think they do. They pick up from the airport. Since they have quoted in US $, its my hope that the Aus $ to US goes up, making my surgery cheaper.. Getting it for 10K would be awesome..

If I joined Medibank now, I would qualify to claim when the time comes. But I still think even after rebates, it might be more expensive in Aus and I worry about the skills Aus surgeons have. Without a doubt, Thailand surgeons have the skills and Dr. Burin Wangjiraniran MD. has FRCS to his name. I really like that. I have asked if its possible for Dr. Preecha to be at my surgery.. The PAI is the only mob that has provided post opp images. Bit yuck but I now know what to expect for the first 8 months.. After that it all begins to look normal..

Now for my IQ test.. 

Test...

Quote from: Tess2016 on July 23, 2016, 12:53:54 AM
Wow, that is really interesting.. To be honest I never even considered Medicare.. I wonder if there is huge waiting period like most things with our health system. I really need to investigate this more... Perhaps that is why that Aus surgeon charges so much. He is out to take advantage of Medicare. It just seems to be such an outrageous amount of money for 6 hours of work. That is the price of a decent car.. or a big lump towards a home.. Thats more than I earn in a year before tax. Its all very unfair. The university that guy went to was paid for by minions like me..

Thank you for this information. I have read that the skills of Aus surgeons is no where as good in Thailand. Its all getting to be a bit of a worry.. My anxiety levels are climbing. But I have time.. To be honest, I would have had it years ago but I was never in the position to do it.. Now I am and to be honest I think its a good time due to the many changes with government support mechanisms.

Before I become a primary school teacher I was in the Royal Australian Air Force where at that time it was an offence to be Gay, Lesbian and I assume Transgender. But now its fine.. Just typical.. Story of my life to be late or too early..

Glad when the IQ test is gone. I keep failing it. 

Tess..

Actually, Andy is quite well skilled, just he doesn't have the worldwide reputation that the Thai surgeons do. As far as cost goes, you keep saying "it's only a 6 hour surgery" like time has something to do with the complexity.. It's actually quite a complicated procedure that requires a high skill level. It's not something a surgeon with the basic qualification could do.

There are also thing to consider like insurance costs.. Doing trans surgeries seems to cause a nasty increase in premiums. There is also theatre costs, anaesthetic costs etc - all things most Australians have no real experience with due to Medicare.

Using an Australian surgeon also has other benefits, such as ease of access should there be issues down the track.

Oh, and Andy went to Liverpool University in the UK, so you didn't pay a cent for his training.. And university students have mostly paid their own way via HECS since 1989..

Tess, you can find independent photo's of post-op results for many surgeons online if you search. People write blogs and things, and post them occasionally. I've found them them for Suporn and Chettawut, but I can't find PAI, or Andy Ives.

Yes, I have seen some by searching but the PAI provided stages as the vagina heals.

I have sent an email request for info to Andrew Ives...

Tess...

Yes, I realise all that but in my view it still doses not justify $41,500.. However, it seems Andy does not charge that kind of sum.. I have yet to find out..

Tess..

Quote from: kelly_aus on July 23, 2016, 01:20:39 AM
Actually, Andy is quite well skilled, just he doesn't have the worldwide reputation that the Thai surgeons do. As far as cost goes, you keep saying "it's only a 6 hour surgery" like time has something to do with the complexity.. It's actually quite a complicated procedure that requires a high skill level. It's not something a surgeon with the basic qualification could do.

There are also thing to consider like insurance costs.. Doing trans surgeries seems to cause a nasty increase in premiums. There is also theatre costs, anaesthetic costs etc - all things most Australians have no real experience with due to Medicare.

Using an Australian surgeon also has other benefits, such as ease of access should there be issues down the track.

Oh, and Andy went to Liverpool University in the UK, so you didn't pay a cent for his training.. And university students have mostly paid their own way via HECS since 1989..

I stayed 9 days in a private hospital, with my own room, foxtel. 24/7 care from nurses and visits from surgery everyday. It's not like 6 hours and you go home.  All this sort of varies from surgeon to surgeon. Not sure about PAI, but friends have taken pics from recovery with chett and suporn and those are definitely not first world places.

Hey Serenation, did you have any out-of-pocket cost? Did Medibank and Medicare pay it all...??

Tess...

Quote from: Serenation on July 23, 2016, 03:00:06 AM
I stayed 9 days in a private hospital, with my own room, foxtel. 24/7 care from nurses and visits from surgery everyday. It's not like 6 hours and you go home.  All this sort of varies from surgeon to surgeon. Not sure about PAI, but friends have taken pics from recovery with chett and suporn and those are definitely not first world places.

I have just had a PM from a friend. She has a friend who was going to use Chett but decided on Suporn instead. She said the recovering area was third world and nothing like she was expecting and certainly did not support the price she paid.. I feel that the Yanhee would have been a better option for her.. but even better the PAI.. She said the taxi ride from Suporn to the Bangkok airport was utter agony.. I feel that if cannot afford Andrew, I would most defiantly be having it done in Bangkok.. I really need to talk to my Gender Doctor.. I am sure he will have some advice on this. Even though my ETA for SRS is not until December 2017, I still need to have it booked and paperwork approved and deposit paid long before then...

Tess..

Hi Tess, it doesn't really matter if the cost rules him out, but that experience your friend had with Suporn doesn't match what I've heard from others (many times). The pdf I linked to contains photo's of the hospital rooms and hotel, and its not 3rd world. The overall service is commonly said to be as good as it gets. I believe the hospital itself is not as good as PAI's, but its still a major hospital. Dr Chettawut operates out of his own private clinic rather than a hospital. Perhaps she meant Dr Chettawut's recovery area?

I guess the ride back to the airport depends on how you're doing. I think most people are fairly well recovered after 30 days, but not all, and some go back earlier. Its not exactly a taxi, Suporn has his own vehicle (also a picture in the pdf). Having said all that, one of the big downsides to Suporn is that recovery is twice as long as other surgeons - he says it himself. It can be quite a long time.

Something else to consider, after the taxi ride comes the flight back to Australia...

If you do some searching you'll find various reports of problems people had with the various surgeons. Its difficult to work out what it all means as they have all had problems.

Yes there maybe some confusion. I am getting information 3rd hand via text message, but it does say Suporn.

I have just received a text message from Andrew Ives.. Its the weekend so I do not expect to hear from him until Monday.. Would be nice to have it all done in Aus but $$$$$..

Tess..

Tess, its 13k gap fee with Andrew I'ves (there abouts), no matter where you go travelling home is going to be fairly uncomfortable, at 5 week mark I drove for many hours home on endone (heavy pain killer), that said I don't recall my friends saying the trip to the airport from thailand stood out as a particular issue.

I'm not here to sway anything, just to say what the price in Aus was, Suporn is a damn fine surgeon, Chetts had some major issues (two fistulas in the last year or so) but does good work and is a little shorter on the waiting lists.

I had been talking to someone who just srs in melbourne like a month ago and she had a blood clot and had to get put under an additional two times, she's a bit depressed at moment that she hasn't recovered as fast as she had hoped and is having wisdom teeth issues , but treatment for that been postponed so she can recover.

My friend that went to chett had a completely unrelated issue to her surgery and spent almost her entire recovery in a random thai hospital. (she says travel insurance was a life saver)

Stuff can go wrong, no matter where you go.

Edit : I also just asked someone more experienced than me about Dr Haertsch and they said health insurance and medicare does cover the majority of it and brings it down to a similar price to Andrews

Thank you.. That is good information. My issue is, I do not have private health insurance.. At 13k that would be about what I would pay all ups with the PAI including air fair.. Air fair to Melbourne cost more than to fly to Thailand.. Everything cost heaps in Aus. I will be glad when its all done and I am as I should have been born...

I might inveterate the price of health insurance.. I will probably not continue with it after I have recovered.

We are going to Thailand in January and we normally have travel insurance.. It covers unlimited hospital.. I am assuming that includes if I have medical issues during SRS in Thailand. I normally use InsureAndGo Its cheap for what we get.. http://www.insureandgo.com.au/?promocode=holidays10&gclid=CjwKEAjwq8y8BRCstYTm8qeT9mwSJACZGjUkB43_Je-4eHjsaZTHjuKcdM__yRd8Lx4PIGH7KNQd5hoC78bw_wcB

Tess..

Most travel insurance does not cover medical tourism, it's only for unintentional needs. I have seen one that does. I'll see if I can find it.

Hi.. I finally heard from Andrew Ives..

I do not really know why I am bothering with seeing a Psychologist. That seems to be a lot of money for just a chat... I might train to be one myself.. I am only seeing one psychiatrist since I am wanting SRS.. That is what my Gender GP has told me, he never mentioned seeing two. I will ask him what I need to do as far as the psychologist. If I do not have to see him I will drop him....

This is what was stated in their reply...

"The surgical cost for the procedure is approximately $11,000. The anaesthetist fee and theatre fee are additional. You must however have private insurance in order to be eligible to go ahead with surgery.

We also follow the WPATH international standards of care, which means that we require two independent reports from psychiatrists to go ahead with surgery. You must also be on hormones for at least 12 months and living in your chosen gender for at least 12 months."

No world on the cost of anaesthetist or the theatre, but I bet they cost heaps.. I really do not see why I have to take out private health insurance.. Its no wonder Transgender ladies seek out Thailand for their skills and affordable pricing and ease of process. I have options in Thailand but so far I like what the the PAI has to offer....

Tess...

Quote from: Tess2016 on July 28, 2016, 03:19:43 AM
Hi.. I finally heard from Andrew Ives..

I do not really know why I am bothering with seeing a Psychologist. That seems to be a lot of money for just a chat... I might train to be one myself.. I am only seeing one psychiatrist since I am wanting SRS.. That is what my Gender GP has told me, he never mentioned seeing two. I will ask him what I need to do as far as the psychologist. If I do not have to see him I will drop him....

This is what was stated in their reply...

"The surgical cost for the procedure is approximately $11,000. The anaesthetist fee and theatre fee are additional. You must however have private insurance in order to be eligible to go ahead with surgery.

We also follow the WPATH international standards of care, which means that we require two independent reports from psychiatrists to go ahead with surgery. You must also be on hormones for at least 12 months and living in your chosen gender for at least 12 months."

No world on the cost of anaesthetist or the theatre, but I bet they cost heaps.. I really do not see why I have to take out private health insurance.. Its no wonder Transgender ladies seek out Thailand for their skills and affordable pricing and ease of process. I have options in Thailand but so far I like what the the PAI has to offer....

Tess...

Compliance with WPATH rules is, as far as I know, an insurance requirement. As far as theatre and anaesthetist fees, they are mostly covered under private health insurance - which, unfortunately, you don't have.

Oh, I see.. That explains a few things.. I can look into taking out private health, but I think I cannot make any claims for one year.. Not sure.. It might not be that long but not to matter, I have planned to have my SSR December 2017.. So, going by the price I have been given, and you say that other stuff is covered by private health.. I guess I am up for 11k out of pocket as they call it.. as long as nothing goes wrong..  If that right, then Australia is back in the ball park.. but not sure what I have to pay in private health.. I have to pay the government loading too. Never understood that.. If someone goes through a bad time, due to losing their job perhaps, they have to cut back and one thing to go would be private health.. In time they get back on their feet but now they have to pay a loading $$ ... As far as I am concerned, it deters Aussies from having private health after a certain age, and then puts extra strain on the public system. I had my kidney stone removed and it cost me nothing.. Yet a friend of mine who had a heart attack, and who has private health, is up for $$$ in out of pocket cost.. I even had a privet room.. Nothing makes sense with private health.. But I will still look into it.. Do you know if they all cover SSR..

Tess..

Tess...

Hi Tess and welcome.

Girls on here have a tendency to champion their own surgeon and clinic. That's totally understandable. If you're placing your hard-won rights, cash and very life itself in the hands of someone then you need to believe in them. Only if something really goes wrong are you likely to hear dissent.

Having written the above I am with PAI for reasons that, I believe, to be sound. I go into surgery tomorrow on what I hope will be stage 1 GRS: I have several stages lined up

PAI are competitive on price without being worryingly low cost: as you know you can get surgery for very little if you're prepared to play russian roulette with your health. Some Thai girls feel they have little choice and there are some horror stories around. The Thai clinics as far as most girls on this forum go probably boil down to 3 or 4 choices and you will know who they are. From everything I've seen, with all caveats applied, I think you're very wise opting for PAI.

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=212657.new;topicseen#new

Yes.. I have read so much about the offering of the surgeons in Thailand and it does come down to just 4 or so. I keep coming back to the PAI.. They seem to be a benchmark for standards, training and affordability. Being so close to Bangkok is a bonus... That means they are very close to a major hospital, just in case.. and.. shopping and other things.. They do not showcase their results on their website. But the PDF they send on request is full of good, real information.

Good luck with your surgery... I really cannot wait to get my SRS done.. Good riddance to that yuck thing, for ever!!.. LOL.. I am still out on FFS for the PAI, but that is my only choice in hospitals when getting it done in Thailand. Far to many alarm bells ring with Chett and others.. To get it done will cost the earth.. I will be getting my Trachea shave done at the same time as my SRS.. Its much cheaper to get that done in Thailand and its also cheaper with the PAI to get it done at the same time since I am already asleep..

Tess..