Quote from: englishroseeight on July 03, 2012, 07:07:48 PM
do you mind me asking why you postponed your surgery?

Well, I kept having these breakdowns as the date kept getting closer.... and I realized that I stopped looking forward to it.  Figured it was either fear, or something deeper screaming to be heard.  So,  in either case, I felt it was best to step back and resolve that before moving forward.  I didn't want to do it, then wake up and be out of my mind that I did it......

So, just a little setback on the road.... I'll figure it out.

Quote from: JessieAshley on July 04, 2012, 12:16:51 AM
  I'm a bit uneasy about sending such large sums of $$$ before arriving but my intuition tells me I'm doing the right thing. 

AuburnAubrey, wish I could go along with you and get this done at the same time... I'd love to have someone there to share experiences with and to talk to.   I'd love to talk more about all of your experiences with Femilife thus far. 
~ Jessie <3

Jessie...... I was uneasy about sending the money as well...... but don't worry.  It's fine.  I also found out that other things in South America (like spanish emersion courses) also require the wiring of money to set the reservation.  (My therapist is going to Equador in August, and had to wire 50% for her spanish emersion course.)  I didn't have any problems with my deposit.

And I did postpone mine........ for the reasons above.  Good luck with everything!  If you want any specifics, just PM me.

i remember feeling a bit wary of Dr Di Maggio a couple of years ago because it seemed like suddenly everyone was talking about him out of the blue on the yahoo group, but yet there was relatively little real-life experience of his work. i wondered if it was all too good to be true.  Even when later there were a good number of girls who had been to him and posted their experiences on line with photos i still felt hesitant because surgeons like Dr Z, O, NvdD etc had such long histories in terms of presence on the FFS boards. BUT then i met a girl in person who had been to him and that kind of relaxed me. the internet is amazing in many ways, but it is kind of detached from reality and it can't replace face to face correspondence.

I think dr di maggio might have initially specialised in reconstructions and non-cosmetic trauma stuff and the FFS was a branch out from that. So it wasn't that he wasn't an established surgeon, more that he wouldn't have been on the radar internationally prior to focussing more on FFS side. So I am guessing that this might also be the case with Dr Pimentel?? It will take time for him to establish himself in the FFS world, but as time passes more girls will have been to him and there will be therefore more proof of his skills out there.  It is certainly really useful to have ladies like Carol documenting their trips and I hope more who go to him do the same. Dr Pimentel is on my list, but I am going to try and find someone to meet up with who has been to him first, as i know it will reassure me  Aubrey - maybe you should look to do the same, as it might make you feel more confident about doing the surgery? regardless of feeling confident about the choice of surgeon the whole concept is pretty scary and i think it really helps to meet girls who have been through it, getting tips etc.

Aubrey,I wish you all the very best in overcoming these trials.Life is scary but I know that you have overcome much to get this far(as most of us have)......You will continue to do so.Take all the time you need and when the time is right you will surely be the one to know.Until then take some pleasure from the things you have achieved thus far.
Big smiles and support from my heart.Collette

Quote from: englishroseeight on July 04, 2012, 09:55:10 PM
Aubrey - maybe you should look to do the same, as it might make you feel more confident about doing the surgery? regardless of feeling confident about the choice of surgeon the whole concept is pretty scary and i think it really helps to meet girls who have been through it, getting tips etc.

I have absolutely no fear of going to Peru, Dr. Pimentel, or the actual surgery......  It's more of the fear of, "am I ready for this step?"  or, perhaps more accurate, "Am I sure that this step is for me?"  The fear, or whatever it is, lies somewhere in here.

I'm cool with the surgery.  One thing about research I've known for a long time.  There will be people that love it, and people that hate it.  The degree of what is considered a "bad experience" is extremely personal for the individual, and often times, a bad review is that the person just had expectations that were way to high to be realistic.  And ultimately, anyone can have a bad experience at a good place, and vise versa.  After you make sure that whatever you are reviewing is "sound", then you have to trust your gut and make a decision.  Because ultimately, whatever happens is going to happen.

Quote from: collettemichelle on July 04, 2012, 11:00:36 PM
Aubrey,I wish you all the very best in overcoming these trials.Life is scary but I know that you have overcome much to get this far(as most of us have)......You will continue to do so.Take all the time you need and when the time is right you will surely be the one to know.Until then take some pleasure from the things you have achieved thus far.
Big smiles and support from my heart.Collette

Thank you dear!!

Hi sweetie

You have made the right decision with postponing the surgery. Take your time. Don't do it until you are certain it is the right decision for you. It took me years to make sure I'm transsexual and sex change is for me. I now have no doubts I made the right choice.
I wish you the best of luck.

Quote from: swan on July 06, 2012, 02:32:16 PM
Hi sweetie

You have made the right decision with postponing the surgery. Take your time. Don't do it until you are certain it is the right decision for you. It took me years to make sure I'm transsexual and sex change is for me. I now have no doubts I made the right choice.
I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks Swan....... how are you feeling?  XOXO

I returned back to normal life and I'm feeling super happy. I'm somehow afraid of having  sex and untill I get over this fear I will not do it. Other then that I have recovered 100%

Quote from: swan on July 07, 2012, 03:50:09 AM
I returned back to normal life and I'm feeling super happy. I'm somehow afraid of having  sex and untill I get over this fear I will not do it. Other then that I have recovered 100%

Wonderful!!!   (ahhhh, fear..... how I know thee..  )

I just got my quote today:

- Remodeling  Forehead ( tipe 3) with scraping the orbital contours
- scalp advancement
- Rhinoplasty
- Chin feminization
- Jaw feminization
- lift upper lip
-Reduction of the Adam's Apple

Total cost: 13.500 U.S. Dollars

I'm looking at going around Nov 16. My girlfriend will be coming.

Just FYI--

I did cancel my surgery as stated, and Nikky is sending me my deposit back, which is awesome.  HOWEVER-  after I sent her my banking info needed for the transfer, she asked me for my full address, and also my identification number.  I wasn't sure what she meant, so I tried to clarify it.  She said I needed to give her my national identification number........ which in the US is my social security number.  I called my bank, and they assured me that that wasn't needed to do the transfer... (either was my home address).  I told Nikky that, and she said her bank is asking for it.  So I had my friend who speaks spanish call the bank in Lima and ask.  they also said that they did not need that, and the numbers I gave were all they needed.  (Again, not needing my address).  I wrote to Nikky and told her that I am still confused to what number that she needs, because now both banks said I don't need to give any other info.... and that I will not give out my social security number, because with that, my bank info, and my address, you can do a whole bunch of bad stuff. 

Today I recieved an email stating that she sent the money, and it should be in my bank in one business day.

I really don't know how to take this.  I had no bad feelings about Femilife, or Nikky, but this is a huge red flag.  I hate to think that they were fishing for my social security number. (This is big in South America, where the selling of US social security numbers is big business.) She never said the words social security number, (I even wrote to her in spanish to see if that was it), but she kept asking for my national ID number, which basically is my social.  Strange that when I refused, the money still got wired.

I'll wait to see if I get the money back.  I don't know if it's anything or not, but I wanted to post the experience here.  Take it for what you will.  I will, however, have to rethink going there when I am ready for my FFS based on this.  I've heard great things about Dr. Pimentel, but trust is a huge issue for me, and I'm not so sure I trust her now.

Anyway, again, just take it for what it is.  Just wanted to make people aware of it.

Did you get the money? I am sorry for asking but your previous post made me a bit paranoid.

Quote from: swan on July 11, 2012, 07:07:12 PM
Did you get the money? I am sorry for asking but your previous post made me a bit paranoid.

I did.  I recieved it this afternoon.... (Minus $500 which I guess were fees?.... whatever.  Price I have to pay for cancelling I guess.)

Like I said, I really had no problems with her, and no bad gut feelings....  but why suddenly she was asking for that, when it obviously wasn't needed, bugs me a bit. 

I'll take responsibility for my part.  I was a little indecisive, and told her I may cancel, then I was ok, then I cancelled.... so maybe she was just frustrated with me....  which is fine.  But yeah, going over this made me feel uncomfortable.  Hope it wasn't a "she screwed me so I'll screw her" type of thing.  I mean, I was still planning on going there when I'm sure I'm ready... but now I have some doubts.  not sure how I'll get over that one.

i actually got your spot for august 5th, so ill be able to say first hand how good a job they do.
i worry too about sending a large amount of money off like that so far away, and theres all sorts of things to angst about. its a bit of a leap of faith.
i completely agree. dont get anything permanent like this done, unless you are absolutely, completely sure.

Flopsie,

Congratulations for your surgery date. I wish you best of luck. Please keep us informed. I don't think you should be afraid of sending the money as they sent the money back to Aubrey even though she canceled the surgery. They sound like a serious company and I don't think sending the money would be an issue. Also I was thinking that Nikkie perhaps doesn't speak good English and maybe the thing with the social security number was just a misunderstanding.
Anyway what are you having done?

heres what nikky quoted-

Remodeling of the forehead

Scalp advance

Feminization Rhinoplasty

Cheek implants (small)

feminization of chin

Feminization jaw

Lifting the upper lip

face lift in the lower face ( rejuvenation)

for approximately 17000 usd.
dimmagio quoted 27000 for the same procedures, btw.

Sounds like a full FFS. Great

They have really great prices, but I'm not sure about some of the results. From what I've seen, the forehead recontouring dr. Pimentel does isn't all that satisfactory to me (most results still look too narrow and not nicely around down to the nose). Maybe he's more of a conservative surgeon.

Quote from: flopsie on July 16, 2012, 05:14:55 PM
i actually got your spot for august 5th, so ill be able to say first hand how good a job they do.
i worry too about sending a large amount of money off like that so far away, and theres all sorts of things to angst about. its a bit of a leap of faith.
i completely agree. dont get anything permanent like this done, unless you are absolutely, completely sure.

Please let me know how everything goes!  There's days when I'm a bit upset with myself for cancelling, but overall, I still think it was the right thing to do for me at this time........ still working though it all...  And I'll probably still go to Femilife when all is said and done.

Swan, I do speak spanish, and did write to her (and she responded) in spanish, so I can get that misinterpretation out of the way.  Again, this number that she said she absolutely could not send the money without, was suddenly not needed at all after I called the bank.  So who knows.  I've never read a bad thing about Nikky, nor did I have any bad experiences with her, or Femilife....  It's more just a cautionary tale.......

I'm also very interested in your results. I'll probably be booking next month.

Quote from: auburnAubrey on July 17, 2012, 10:58:41 AM
Please let me know how everything goes!  There's days when I'm a bit upset with myself for cancelling, but overall, I still think it was the right thing to do for me at this time........ still working though it all...  And I'll probably still go to Femilife when all is said and done.


I am sure that you have done the right thing with cancelling the surgery. I have learned the hard way that every time I do something and I am not certain 100 % I end up being sorry. Take your time and don't do it until you are 100 % sure you want it. Transitioning is a very tough path we take and going with the flow is a MUST in order to complete it. Going with the flow is about listening to your intuition.