Ok after tons of research and getting three consults from Dr Z, Dr Spiegel and a quote from Cardenas I've decided to go with Dr. Z,

Feedback from reading Jeneva's journal, JenJen2011s, and posts from Wendy really helped a lot in looking into this.

I spoke with Dr Z twice and he did have that sorta persuasive attitude suggesting doing many procedures, but at the end of it he said its up to me and he will do what I want done.  So yes he was business like, but at the same time he said its your call.

Plus for the same procedures his price was less than half that of Dr Spiegel.      So I'm doing the endoscopic forehead and nose job work.

From what I've read it seems to be less of a recovery and pain relatively compared to jaw, mouth and neck work.

Any feedback on Forehead and nose recovery?  I've made the decision to accept that whatever he does will be an improvement regardless if its perfect or not and I will accept what is.

The anxious part is that I only get one shot to do this and I have to accept the results and move on.   

Currently I present part time and Dr. Z told me he has worked on many Part Time Transitioning people and even CDs.   

I will keep an update on my progress.

Quote from: NCAmazon on April 22, 2012, 01:04:49 PM
So I'm doing the endoscopic forehead and nose job work.

From what I've read it seems to be less of a recovery and pain relatively compared to jaw, mouth and neck work.

Any feedback on Forehead and nose recovery? 

He likes nose massage and it is fairly tender.  The nose cleaning is also a bit of work. Pain wise for me it was jaw area then nose and last the forehead.

Forehead is more a nuisance though. The sutures spit for me for a long time. Also the forehead itches pretty bad when it gets sensation back.

Good luck and I hope you are pleased with the results.

Ohh very exciting! You must be anxious!

Please be sure to post your experiences as I am seeing the good doctor in late June, and any tips on arriving, pre-op, post-op, accomodations...well they'd be greatly appreciated!

I am very happy for you, and this is an important step in moving forward to who you really are. Doesn't get much better than that!

Quote from: MiaOhMya! on April 22, 2012, 01:56:37 PM
post-op, accommodations

Use Lisa's Compassionate Care for a few hours at least. They were AWESOME.

Stay at the Staybridge. Don't even think about anywhere else.

DO NOT try to walk around an airport if you are flying. Just walking down a few gates to get a snack had me tunnel visioned and if it had. Even much farther I'd have passed out.

Jeneva, from what I read it seemed like you had a lot of obsticles to overcome with health and the length and amount of procedures you went through.  Maybe perhaps someone doing less or in a different health status might not have as much to overcome?

You were brave. They shouldn't let someone to go to the airport with the risk of passing out!! 

I'm going one step at a time.

Quote from: NCAmazon on April 22, 2012, 02:44:11 PM
Jeneva, from what I read it seemed like you had a lot of obsticles to overcome with health and the length and amount of procedures you went through.  Maybe perhaps someone doing less or in a different health status might not have as much to overcome?

You were brave. They shouldn't let someone to go to the airport with the risk of passing out!! 

I'm going one step at a time.

I did have a lot done.  I also WAY overdid it trying to walk to the Starbucks, but I needed something to drink so I could take meds. Just don't push yourself at first is what I should have said.

I can second this walking around post op for long distances. I suffered with this for almost a month and I was under for just a couple of hours for a nose job. I didn't have to fly but when I walked from the car to the office for my first post-op inspection about a week after, I almost passed out and had a mild panic attack from this, which I had never had before in my life.

This is really good information!

I've undergone GA before, and a minor surgery, but this is another realm alltogether. I was worried about walking the airport, or perhaps finding some transport to the gate. Maybe I can get hold of a wheely chair, heck I'd be pushed about in one without shame, maybe set a wheely chair record!

Quote from: Jeneva on April 22, 2012, 02:22:42 PM
Use Lisa's Compassionate Care for a few hours at least. They were AWESOME.

Stay at the Staybridge. Don't even think about anywhere else.

Alright so I am booking a hotel TODAY and this is important breaking information.

I've been thinking of staying at what's called "Extended Stay" as its very close to the clinic, it is reasonably priced, and it has the full kitchen. Their website and photos look quite nice, and clean. The Staybridge seems much further away and I'm worried about the distance to clinic.

What was your rate for the Staybridge love, and WHY there? I'd be staying 10 days. Could you perhaps post in my FFS thread (inspired, again, by you) as I don't want to threadjack, but it's also pertinent to this topic aswell.

The info in your purdy head is too valuable to not squuuueeeeze outta ya!  GIMME! GIMME NOW! ( please!   )

Quote from: MiaOhMya! on April 23, 2012, 10:41:49 AM
This is really good information!

I've undergone GA before, and a minor surgery, but this is another realm alltogether.

The longer you are under, the longer and more severe the side effects are likely to be. You need to be ready and honestly, know you will likely feel some depression and "What have I done!!" after the surgery. For me it started on day 2 and lasted a few days. It's perfectly normal so don't freak out

I had the "works" with Dr Z. in December last year.  The forehead and nose surgery wasn't that painful at all, it was a bit uncomfortable with the nose packing.  The spitting sutures on the forehead are nuisance, but not particularly painful.  When you're removing the forehead sutures try to cut the knot, it makes removing all the bits much easier.

Raneth I saw your before and after PICs you posted. It seems like your eyes were more luminated and fresher after the surgery vs deep set. You had a much softer nose and forehead. 

Are you happy so far with the progress??

Quote from: NCAmazon on April 23, 2012, 08:00:41 PM
Raneth I saw your before and after PICs you posted. It seems like your eyes were more luminated and fresher after the surgery vs deep set. You had a much softer nose and forehead. 

Are you happy so far with the progress??

I'm not sure if I'm happy with the work, some days I absolutely love it, other days I think Dr Z. was the worst choice of surgeon I could have made.  My girlfriend says I've got body dysmorphia which I admit is quite possible.  I definitely do look better than I did pre-ffs though.

Quote from: Raneth on April 24, 2012, 03:59:01 AM
I'm not sure if I'm happy with the work, some days I absolutely love it, other days I think Dr Z. was the worst choice of surgeon I could have made.  My girlfriend says I've got body dysmorphia which I admit is quite possible.  I definitely do look better than I did pre-ffs though.

That's really possible because we tgirls undergo a lot of trauma and criticise ourselves sometimes for even the slightest deviations from our own ideal. That said I would like to hear the reasons why you think he could have been a bad choice as I'm going to see him ...and so is the OP!!

My main concern was my nose and my jaw area.

Some days I look in the mirror and see the most piggish looking nose one could ever imagine, other days I see it and it looks great. It probably doesn't help that there is a lot of criticism of Dr Z's noses out there, so many people say that they often look piggish.

My jaw area looks terrible, but I think a lot of this is due to the huge amount of swelling that is still present and that I've put on 10kg since ffs (in preparation for body work by Dr Z.)  I only had masseter muscle reduction, not any bone removal from my jaw so that could also contribute to me feeling that it wasn't aggressive enough.

I'm perfectly happy with the orbital rim burring though, which is strange as it seems to be the thing most often criticised about Dr Z's work.

All in all I think the best opinion on my ffs would be from other people, I'm far to emotionally caught up in it to make any sort of objective judgement.  I've been hyper aware of what people say about me (especially when they think I'm not listening!). So far I've only heard a few comments which have been:
Damn!, she's tall (I'm 6ft and was wearing 4inch heels). 
Mummy, why are those two girls holding hands (I was with my girlfriend and we'd just passed a 5yo girl)
Look mummy, a tall girl.  Look mummy, another tall girl. (passing another little girl)
Great skirt.

I also took the 4chan test.  I took the 4chan test and while I didn't score that highly no one mentioned the words trap or ->-bleeped-<-.

Jeneva, Raneth or any other Z girls. What tips do you have for the consult with Dr. Z. the day before surgery?  Is it best to take his best suggestions and trust his experience and jugement?  Or to tell him how you want you nose and forehead to be. 

Does he show photos of what types of looks he can realistically do for you?

He didn't show me photos.  I did question extensively on if the breast augmentation size was appropriate for my body size and if I should upgrade to silicone.  He didn't try for the extra cash with silicone and assured me that under the muscle and with the breast tissue I already had silicone would be the better choice.

I didn't feel I had an overly prominent brow line so didn't feel like I needed to talk about anything there.

For my nose I only wanted to make sure he fixed my septum (and he did and I breath better than ever).  Regardless of what others say about his nose, I absolutely LOVE mine.  My laser tech complimented me on it just Wednesday when I was in.  It was funny because she made sure I was happy with it before telling me how much better she thought it looked.  And most importantly Shannon (my wife) loves it too.

I did stress that my hairline was a key factor for me (and yet I'm wearing wigs now) and he did focus on that for me.  He was able to bring my hairline a full inch down.  Perhaps in time it will fill back in enough to avoid the wigs, but for now.....

Overall I had chosen him because of his skill and did not want to overly second guess him or tie his hands.

Quote from: NCAmazon on April 27, 2012, 07:33:09 PM
Jeneva, Raneth or any other Z girls. What tips do you have for the consult with Dr. Z. the day before surgery?  Is it best to take his best suggestions and trust his experience and jugement?  Or to tell him how you want you nose and forehead to be. 

Does he show photos of what types of looks he can realistically do for you?

I think I would tell them what your main "problem area" is for you and which parts don't bother you as much. You don't want him to be agressive on an area you are mostly OK with and not be aggressive enough on some part you don't like.

Quote from: NCAmazon on April 27, 2012, 07:33:09 PM
Jeneva, Raneth or any other Z girls. What tips do you have for the consult with Dr. Z. the day before surgery?  Is it best to take his best suggestions and trust his experience and jugement?  Or to tell him how you want you nose and forehead to be. 

Does he show photos of what types of looks he can realistically do for you?

I found that whatever I did say during the pre-consult he ignored me on anyway, just talked over the top of me or completely miss-understood what I was asking.  If there was a I was to go through it all again I'd probably have just told him to change certain parts of me and get them done elsewhere.   That being said I pretty much trusted his judgement and experience when I had my surgery and it worked out fine.  I took the approach that he's an expert in his field and I'd looked at hundreds of other photo's of other surgeons and chosen him, I figured it would be like trying to direct a master painter if I started dictating how I wanted things done.

The one thing I was specific about was my nose, I really didn't want the upturned "piggy" look that so many people have criticised him about.  When my nose splint came off the first thing that happened was my girlfriend burst into tears and wouldn't talk to him for the rest of our stay.  Up until a week ago I was still really unhappy with my nose, however I've just recently gone back to him for body work and while I was under in the operating room he injected something (no idea what it was) that removed a huge amount of swelling and drastically changed my nose for the better.

Don't be afraid to stand up to him, I found it very difficult to actually get a decent response from him regarding my concerns.  He will eventually listen if you keep on at him enough.

I'm going for the consult on Friday and surgery Saturday. I talked to him on the phone yesterday.  Do you recommend getting prettied up and looking my best when going to the consult.  I was going to go in drab, but I wanted to show my best look for the consult and see what he can suggest for the procedures I'm getting. 

Or as you have said, he will just go with what he feels will look best and I pay for his judgement since he's been doing it for 20 years.  I'll try to suggest what I want and make it known and then accept what he does.

Congrats NC Happy, speedy healing! Meghan