Hello Everyone,
Since the extensive post detailing my FFS with Dr. Rossi, I thought it was time to address some forum posts on the internet regarding him. Not long after my initial FFS surgery, I met a trans women here on Susans who went by "Teardrops" or something like that. I'll give her the pseudonym Kristina here. She had gone to Dr. Cardenas but decided to go to Dr. Rossi for a more aggressive revision. I am thankful to her for being one of the first to post about him that she was initially happy with Dr. Rossi After doing my own research, talking with Amanda, who runs T-Change, and a finding the price point of about $13,000 very appealing, I chose him. Here is my extensive post:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,189339.0.html Not long after my initial surgery, I heard of Kristina's ordeals, which I will detail shortly, and we came into contact via Susans. We came to really like each other, became friends, and video chatted regularly. I thought Kristin looked a perfectly fine, even though I could definitely see that she had some nerve damage when she drank liquids (that turns out was still healing because it got better later). Some excess would spill from her lips from time to time. It had been less then a year and I told her she should just let it heal. Nerves take a while, if they can come back. I defended Dr. Rossi but I also let her know that she was passing and pretty, which was actually true.
Kristina told me her story. She had revisions, twice with Dr. Rossi, but the big difference was that she demanded that he "finish the job" when he felt he was done. Her chin was still bigger than she wanted but Dr. Rossi warned her of possible nerve damage. She had already had surgery with Dr. Cardenas and Rossi, for major work. She wanted her surgery pushed beyond the boundaries of where he was comfortable. During her in person consultation, Dr. Rossi said he wouldn't do it unless she paid for. He didn't want to do it, didn't think it was a good idea. He reluctantly did it. I'm sure he regrets this very much. This is all what Kristina told me personally. She had the surgery and Dr. Rossi took off a significant amount of chin, as she asked. They even made a video of the surgery as proof.
She got what she asked for: a smaller chin and nerve damage from having too much surgery. Her lower lip was affected by it. Since Dr. Rossi only could remove mostly bone, there was some overhang of soft tissue, only visible from the profile. Kristina is over 50 so some of it is from that as well. Perhaps the tissue wasn't able to adapt to the new shape of bone, as it might on some younger patients.
I even went to go see her in the UK after her "disasterous" revision. She looked wonderful to me! She even let me stay at her place, I met her amazing family, and I prized her friendship. I We discussed her ffs. She really liked my results from Dr. Rossi, especially my chin (I have no nerve damage btw). I was in constant contact with her for quite a while and over time she became more and more upset at Dr. Rossi. I could see why she wasn't completely happy, since we are both perfectionists and surgery is rarely a perfect affair. However, I knew she was responsible for her decision to assertively ask Dr. Rossi do what he didn't want to do. It was a terrible lesson for both of them. She was ruminated on it, and became angrier and angrier over time. I found it harder and harder to talk to her because I began to disagree with her. She started saying that he lied to her. Having had known her at this point for long enough, I heard he story constantly changing. Despite that, I stayed friends with her.
*****
My own story couldn't be more different. When I arranged my revision, Dr. Rossi and Amanda made no fuss about, and Dr. Rossi offered to revise everything at no cost, except minimal hospital and anesthesia fees. They even paid for bone cement, which is very expensive, to smooth out my forehead. Since I had extra money for not having to pay for the revision, I was able to get fat transfers to my lips, cheeks, hips, and also a breast augmentation through the armpit (transaxillary). Dr. Rossi literally redid everything!
1. Recontoured my forehead to be completely smooth and took off even more from my orbital rims, giving me a visible improvement in how open my eyes were.
2. Lift to the corners of my eyebrows.
3. Revision rhinoplasty to make the bridge thinner
4. Slight lip lift.
5. Recontoured my jaw line and chin.
He spent 4 hours of his own time to do this for free. He said he wanted me to be happy. The change was amazing. It was like having another FFS! I went from passing to having confidence in myself that I never had. I'm so thankful for Dr. Rossi. Not only was he sweet and talented, but he took care of me like he always promised. I have since had a few friends go to him after seeing my results. They are very happy even though they haven't posted online (completely understanding for privacy).
Just as I was ecstatic with my results, and as I was healing in Buenos Aires, I noticed Amanda looking completely depressed. I asked her why and she said that a whole month worth of patients had cancelled their surgeries, even forfeiting all of their deposits. I even met Dr. Rossi for a follow up appointment and I could see it in his face, he was devastated. Apparently, someone was posting all over the internet that Dr. Rossi was a butcher who had "amputated" someone's chin and made holes in their forehead. Not only was the person writing this on forums, but she was actively messaging prospective patients to scare them away from Dr. Rossi. She even scared away patients who were using Susan's forum. She eventually got banned from here.
I felt so bad. I knew who was trying to destroy Dr. Rossi's reputation, I was even friends with her! And it wasn't until now that I worked up the courage and had the time to tell my story. I don't mean to hurt anyone. In fact, I want to heal the hurt. I hope that my friend erases her posts. Dr. Rossi doesn't deserve it. He has many, many happy patients and he is a wonderful (and cute! He's like 5'5" lol but he has the hands of an angel haha). My friend is a good person too. The internet can be an easy place to vent your feelings but sometimes that means that other people can get very hurt. It's not legally defamation, but it sure is more than sticks and stones. People should be able to tell their bad stories about doctors, but I'll leave everyone who reads this to decide if my surgeon is a bad guy.
The sad part is that Kristina ended up going to Facial Team for a complete, my friend had complications with her vision from doing too much work on her forehead, which was not Facial Team's fault, but rather because there was simple too much surgery done in that area. She then proceeded to say terrible things about Facial Team, that they "took her money and did no work because she looked the same." And it's quite certain I may lose this friend when she reads this post. At least she will remain anonymous, which is her absolute right.
*****
I'd like to thank anyone for reading this long. If you are wondering whether Dr. Rossi is a good surgeon, I'll tell you that he is not only amazing, but takes care of his patients, and does so at the most reasonable price just about anywhere. He is a highly aggressive and talented surgeon. I need to give a shout out to his entire team, especially to Dr. Appiani, Dr. Rossi's assistant plastic surgeon, who is a published expert on breast augmentation through the armpits. He gave me my cute nose and natural looking boobs
. Also a thanks to Dr. Rossi's wife, who is an oral surgeon and dentist who helps with the surgeries, using her expertise with dental nerves. She shaved down my front teeth to make them more feminine. I still look like a rabbit but at least I look like a girl bunny!
Finally, I want to say thanks to Susan for setting up this forum. Before I came on here, I had very few friends but slowly people started messaging me on on here. The irony of all this is that Kristina introduced me to the person who became my best friend. So the ending, if it is one, is a bittersweet one. The bitter, one can hope, makes way to the sweet sooner rather than later
And if you need or want a friend, I'm on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/ralizafrischer. I can be a friend who really cares. Just let me know you're from the Susan's forum. I know it can be rough at times to be ourselves but we have a beautiful, vibrant community of strong women. We support each other, lift up and love one another. In the end, we must love ourselves, regardless of the color or texture of our skin or the shape of our bones.
