Quote from: Pandora on March 09, 2015, 07:30:13 AM
Hi Dana
First let me say what a beautiful feminine face you already have in your avatar - way more female than mine and I've already had FFS. And hair to die for!
Although I don't have experience with the surgeons you mentioned (which I know is what you really want to talk about), just wondering if you are aware of the differences between the approaches of these surgeons. Comparing Dr Z with Dr S and the facial team is a bit like comparing apples and pears when it comes to bony work. For foreheads Dr Z tends to grind down the bone and then fill any residual bossing and also works on the chin by burring away the bone. However, Dr S and the facial team are maxillofacial surgeons who can reconstruct the bones in the forehead and perform genioplasty to move the bottom of the chin up/down and forward/back. The best approach all depends on the particular needs of the individual. For example, a typical male Type III forehead bossing might be best treated by being reconstructed rather than ground down and filled, especially if the bone is thin and the sinus cavity is large.
Overall I have seen great results from all the surgeons you mentioned. What is so difficult when picking an FFS surgeon is to make the selection based on the results they show you. IMHO the before and after shots are often cherry-picked to show the best and these tend to be from girls who have androgynous features to start with. So the results of the surgeon you get to see are largely dependent on the sample he has to work with. In the end, what's best for you will depend on YOUR features and the extent they need feminizing.
Hugs, Pandora
Thanks Pandora! I am LUCKY on the hair front. Most of the men on my mom's side are totally bald, and I was one of 8 boys on that side of the family. So it was always a, well, at least ONE of us is going to go bald out of the 8. Thankful it wasn't me or rather, thankful I didn't go bald before starting HRT
. I did know the difference in techniques, it was a, I have no clue which would be more beneficial and am having trouble deciding because there seem to be pros and cons for me on the technique end with all of the above surgeons. I do like the endoscopic thing with Zukowski, A LOT, BUT I also know that makes it a much longer procedure since it makes things more complicated. I still have my Facial Team consult on March 22nd, so they're the wild card. I did ultimately decide that barring Facial Team, between Zukowski and Spiegel that I will probably go with Zukowski. That came down to two things, which were that my biggest area of concern is my jaw and chin. I do have a brow ridge but it's not particularly pronounced, so burring would probably be sufficient. And Zukowski tends to get a bit more aggressive on the jaw/chin front. Here is a more head on picture of myself that's a little less "glamorous" than my avatar
:
Also, beyond that different of technique, part of it was just a vibe thing. I know a lot of people seem to not get along with Dr. Z for whatever reason, or had bad experiences when consulting with him, but that was not my experience at all. My consult with him was nearly an hour long. He was EXTREMELY attentive to me and what I wanted. He also said how if I choose him he likes to see pictures of any cis women in the family that I look like to make sure I 'still look like I fit in family photos.' He also said things like, 'you have some natural asymmetry in your face, if you like it, that can be retained, if you don't I can fix it, personally I think it adds character.' To which I responded, I like the asymmetry, and I look a lot like my mom who has that subtle asymmetry to her face as well. Also he asked about ethnicity because he said different ethnicities have different characteristic facial features, which he likes to keep in mind, and he said, 'I assume from your last name and that you're from Long Island that you're Jewish (which was a good guess considering my last name is VERY Jewish :-P), but it looks like there's something else in there that's slightly more exotic.' And I went, good eye! Yes I'm Jewish but we suspect there's some Turkish/Sephardic North African mixed in there on my mom's side.
Spiegel was a fifteen minute consultation. He chit chatted a little bit, asked me what I do for a living. Then he asked me what I'm insecure about, I told him the small brow ridge a little bit, and then mainly my jaw and chin. He said, yes he'd definitely do those things. He would also want to make my nose a little bit smaller, which I was open to. Then I had some questions for him, some of which he answered, and some of which he stonewalled and said his staff would be in touch.
So also part of the leaning towards Zukowski over Spiegel is that factor. Not to mention the fact that the quote I got from Zukowski is over 10k cheaper than Spiegel...
