After MANY conversations with Dr. Zukowski I've decided I'm not comfortable with his results.  Although he said "he could do whatever I want" when talking about noses, on the topic of eyebrows he stood firmly behind his past results saying he'd never had any complaints in the past and he was providing the best results.  This was a major red flag.  To me, Dr. Z eyebrows are extremely exaggerated for the "model" look.  If he is unable to acknowledge or see they are set higher than normal, I don't think I trust him to provide the aesthetic results I want.  Also, I wasn't comfortable with the level of brow reduction provided by burring.  While I like a slight curve to the forehead, I think I'm much better off obtaining it with a full forehead reconstruction. 

So that leaves me with 2 doctors: Dr. DiMaggio and Dr. Spiegel.  I feel comfortable with both doctors, however I have slight concerns with both.  With Dr. Spiegel, I've seen MANY issues with his results not being aggressive enough. I have a Skype call with him this Weds to discuss the concern, but I'm not sure he'll be willing to change his standard working approach.  Also, I don't want to ask a doctor to change their normal approach/method as I think this increases the odds there will be problems. Also, the cost was $38k (forehead reconstruction, rhinoplasty, cheek implants, upper lip lift, jaw/chin reduction, and tracheal shave).  The surgery cost plus a stay in Boston is really expensive.

With Dr. DiMaggio I feel pretty comfortable, but my only concern is in some of the 45degree/oblique before/afters, It seems like more could have been reduced from the orbital bossing.  Also, he is in Argentina - which adds a lot of complexity and some additional risk (if something goes severely wrong).  On the plus side he's much more affordable - with the total cost for the same procedures being $24k.

If you have any thoughts on Dr. Spiegel vs Dr. DiMaggio I'd love to hear them!

And lastly, I received my Virtual FFS photos back this week.  I wanted to see the results of the procedures progressively, so I actually have 8 photos each adding more and more changes.  It's very interesting seeing the face develop.  I think #7 is the most realistic representation of what I'll end up looking like.  With the changes, I'm unsure of the cheek implants (especially since I've only been on hormones for 1.5years).  Also, I'm a bit surprised how un-beautiful I look.  For some reason, I had it in my head I'd look pretty after my FFS.  The results are feminine though, so I guess that is what matters. Please let me know what you think!

http://imgur.com/a/evVU0

Thanks!

Lisa

Well, as said before, the idea of FFS is to take away your masculine features and make them feminine... it's really not a facial reconstruction, so you should expect to see a more feminine you!  And I did see that in the pictures!  I think you're being too hard on yourself based probably on your high expectations...

As far as doctors go, I am doing mine in Peru with Dr. Pimentel, but I did have a great conversation with Dr. Speigel.  From a medical standpoint (I'm in the medical field), and on a personal standpoint, we had a good conversation about what I would expect, and what he would like to see done, and they really matched.  But that's all I have to go on with him.  But it wasn't anything about him that lead me to go elsewhere... it was simply the $22,000 savings.  (Exchange rate in Peru is over double for the US dollar...).  And the research I did on Dr. Pimentel (a facial reconstruction surgeon) made me more than comfortable going there... and honestly, even if I did have that extra 22K, I would still most likely go to Peru.

Anyway... good luck with your surgery!!

Hi,

I had the same qualms about Dr Spiegel as you do now. From what I've seen the people who tend to get the most amazing results from him are those that are younger (i.e under 30) whereas his approach for the older patients doesn't seem to be as aggressive as other surgeons.

If you're worried about the risk factor of going overseas to see Dr DiMaggio maybe you could send them an email asking what happens if something goes wrong.  They may say they cover all costs or that there is special travel insurance or the like.


Don't stress too much about the vffs pictures, they're only a possible guide.  I too found that I was very "un-beautiful" in my vffs, however after having my ffs I found that the vffs photo's didn't really bear any resemblance to what I actually turned out like.  Remember that the vffs pictures often don't capture so many of the finer details that come with ffs (i.e for me I'm much happier and it shows in my face)