Hi all! I'm been planning to get FFS sometime around winter of 2017, which would be 2 years after starting HRT (also when I should have enough saved to consider it!). But I'm wondering what the best time would be to start talking to surgeons. I was thinking maybe Spring/Summer 2017, but I hear Facial Team (at the top of my list) is hard to get hold of, so I was wondering if going to their LA consultation in early February would be worthwhile. That would be a little over a year after starting HRT... is there any reason *not* to get a consultation then?

Never to early. I met about 50 people who had had Ousterhout as a surgeon before I went forward with him--that's quite a few for at the time he had only done about 400 FFS. The trans conventions are a great place to meet and see and talk about results. There are many good options these days.

Yeah I started about a year before I was planning on getting it

Well then. I guess, soon!
I'm super excited about this anyway, so I guess it'll be fun... At least for a while.

HRT can do some things but those things changed in FFS, it cannot change in a reasonable timeframe. Of course it depends on your goals. If you already "pass" well and that is your only goal, maybe two more years of HRT would make it ok. But if you already know you want FFS, I see no reason to wait with consultations. It may be a good idea to first get an idea of what procedures you will want - the surgeons usually have some suggestions, but if you already know, you can cut to the questions about details in the consultations. Sadly the consultations will not tell you too much about the quality of the work, as this is only something previous patients can testify about. Gosh, I think I would have a hard time even meeting 20 FFS patients - and for that I probably would have to make contact online and then crive there for a RL encounter. There ar not so many big "trans conventions" or such here, and if there are, FFS is a minor sidetopic - the very vast majority of trans folks here in Germany will not consider FFS - consider it as something extreme or something only made for those who absolutely look maskuline. The trend is to avoid as many surgeries as possible, especially those not paid by the NHS. So I have to reply mostly on online communication and photos

Sadly, I do not even remotely pass. On the brighter side, I've booked two consultations in February -- Facial Team when they come to LA, and Dr. Deschamps-Braly in SF exactly 24 hours later.

Wow, ok. Thats interesting then. I would love to know what those two would do differently and which of the two you find more convincing.

Quote from: anjaq on October 11, 2016, 03:30:11 PM
Wow, ok. Thats interesting then. I would love to know what those two would do differently and which of the two you find more convincing.

I'll definitely post a trip report here when I get home.

I'm curious, though... What did you find surprising about what I wrote? Was it the surgeons I chose? I would have added Dr. Speigel, Dr. Rossi, and maybe Dr. Van der Ven if they were on the west coast of the USA. As it is, I'll probably try to consult with them over Skype. (PAI as well, but I know less about them and their website doesn't really invite me in for easy research.)

Well, I looked into those surgeons as well - had a consultation with Facialteam and van der Veen and photos sent to van der Dussen and di Maggio (I believe that was at a time when he worked with Rossi in one clinic?). I consider asking Dr Spiegel, but am a bit reluctant is I want to spend $150 for a Skype consultation. Usually that is a high price in any case even for a face to face consultation. DesChamps was recommended by some but they have no email contact.

What I was a bit surprised is that you chose basically the highest priced surgeon as well as one of the medium priced ones. DesChamps is about 2-3x as expensive as Facialteam, so I wondered a bit if your financial situation is well enough that it does not matter and also I am interested if there is a good reason for DesChamps to charge more money compared to Facialteam or Spiegel - I think part of it is always a matter of country - the US or Korea are just generally higher in medical costs than Europe and Europe is more expensive than Argentina, Brasil or Thailand. I would want to choose a really good surgeon, even if that means spending more money or having a longer trip, but I am not willing to spend more money if the results are compareable - for me obviously Facialteam would be the easiest choise as it is just a domestic European flight away, maybe 2-3 hours and the pricerange is in the average, which leaves me having enough funds for breast surgery and hair transplants.

MdM and Rossi never worked together.  Both have been represented by t-change medical tourism, first MdM, then Rossi.

Quote from: anjaq on October 12, 2016, 03:55:13 AM
SNIP
di Maggio (I believe that was at a time when he worked with Rossi in one clinic?).
SNIP

Ah ok - I was not sure about how that worked, just know that di Maggio left the place I contacted him over at first and then there was another surgeon in that place and he opened a new webspace... so I assumed they had a time there together, thanks for clarifying

Hi Anjaq!

Oh, I see what you mean, yes. I have a good enough job that I've decided to base my decision for FFS on the quality of results rather than price. Both Dr. Deschamps-Braly and Facial Team are among the best reviewed surgeons I've seen (along with Spiegel, who I've seen lumped in with Dr. D-B as being among the most expensive). I don't have the money for any of them yet, but I've got a year to save up, and if something is really expensive I can look into financing or perhaps push back my surgery date (though that would hurt really badly). Dr. D-B has the added advantage of being close to home: I'm in Seattle and have friends in San Francisco.

I'll let you all know what happens in those consultations, and any other ones I have, and I'll keep final price in mind while I'm at it. I agree that it's pointless to pay more for the same results.

Yes definitely do the decision based on quality and not on price or regional proximity. As I said, I went to Dr Kim for the voice, which was probably the longest travel and the most expenses I could in any way spend on this surgery, but I had the impression that he is the best to do it for me.
So its interesting that you chose FT next to DesChamps as your top favourites as FT is on the top of my list at the moment as well, although that is without considering DesChamps really and with not having had a consultation with Spiegel yet. I did not know he is as expensive as DesChamps. I guess all the US based surgeons are a bit higher in price due to location.

Well, everything I know is hearsay at the moment. I'll confirm as I get estimates from the doctors.

Facial Team has been on my radar since I started following "A Girl For All Seasons" on Youtube... OMG what an amazing result she got! If I could look half as good as her... anyway I'm jealous and I haven't even had my FFS yet. Their before/afters and the reviews I see here are also top notch.

My therapist has been recommending Dr. Z as well, who I'd removed from my list. She says his recent results have gotten much better, especially the rhinoplasties. Dunno if I want to reconsider him or not...

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the surgeons you mentioned.  One of my closest friends had her FFS with Facial Team, and she had a great experience.  Of course she looks fantastic.  I personally went to Dr Zukowski, and I had a great experience with him.  I'm super happy with the results.

As long as you go to a surgeon who specializes in FFS, has the educational background and training, is board certified, and importantly has many years of experience doing FFS surgeries, you really can't go wrong with any of them IMO.

Thanks Emily! I'm glad you love your result. What did you like about your experience with Dr. Zukowski?

EDIT: Zukowski, silly iPad, not Sukorsky!

Know what you want to talk about when you do your consults.  Get your X-rays in advance, so you know what possibilities are available to you, and what would work best given the kinds of variances we see in the sexual dimorphism of the bony structures.

I saw both Toby and O back in the day.  The entire forehead had to go, completely replaced, and I wanted it set back as far as possible to open up my eyes.  New nose, but being a bit long, it made more sense to go for a classic straight edge rather than the button upturn.  I was limited in what jaw work I could get done -- the innervation of the mandible (where the facial nerves dive into the jaw) was a bit low, so there was only so much that could be ground down.  This, in turn, determined the overall shape of what we could do, but at least I could get a more delicately pointed chin.

I found Toby's aesthetics to be much more in tune with my own concerns, whereas O seemed to do everything exactly the same way (there was less customization) and so I made my picks and took my chances, and got a very good result. 

And yes, I knew several women who had gone to both.  It's one thing to see pictures, and quite another to see it all working in action.

Quote from: MeghanMe on October 14, 2016, 10:03:30 PM
Thanks Emily! I'm glad you love your result. What did you like about your experience with Dr. Zukowski?

EDIT: Zukowski, silly iPad, not Sukorsky!

MeghanMe, I wrote about my recent FFS experience with Dr Zukowski in this thread:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,214629.0.html

Wow, Emily, that's quite a lot to dig into! Thanks for linking it.

Sophia, I wouldn't know the first thing about what to do with x-rays... Are you suggesting talking to another doctor before my consultation, to ask how my skull limits potential plastic surgery? Or just bringing the x-rays to the consultation?

Is "Toby" Dr. Toby Mayer?

Thanks to everyone for the responses!

Quote from: MeghanMe on October 15, 2016, 11:37:36 AMSophia, I wouldn't know the first thing about what to do with x-rays... Are you suggesting talking to another doctor before my consultation, to ask how my skull limits potential plastic surgery? Or just bringing the x-rays to the consultation?

Is "Toby" Dr. Toby Mayer?

Maybe it's different now, but when I went in for my first consult, with Dr O, I was requested to get some particular x-rays of my forehead and chin, from several different angles. It was from these images that we were able to discern what kind of work could be done -- for example, I had a Type 3 forehead, very thin, which meant that shaving it down would be impossible, it had to be completely replaced with a custom-shaped prosthetic. 

You FFS consults should be able to tell you what x-rays to get (I think it's a prescription, actually) and you just have to find a local imaging facility (quite possibly a hospital) to get them done. 

By "Toby" I mean Toby Meltzer. 

Good luck!