Planning the change - Advice?

[Chrissycd]

For those girls out there who have completed GRS, those in the midst of arranging it, and those between surgeries, I hope you'll share a few insights here. I wish my therapist was more help on this, but she's not.
I came out last summer ('06) but I've been in gender therapy for two years now and it's time to start planning the surgeries. My question is this: How does one decide on their Dr(s)?
I've heard some girls say they've gone one place for FFS, another for their breasts, and yet another for GRS. Some have it all done at once with the same Dr., while other girls go more gradually. I've been to the websites of Dr. Reed (Fla), Meltzer (AZ), Bower (CO), Mennard (Quebec) and a few of them in Thailand and just don't know how to decide.
How are or did you girls go about it?
Although I've been w/ her for two years, sometimes I think I should swallow hard and switch to a new therapist who is more helpful with all of this.
Chrissy

[CharlaineCadence]

the best way for me was to research everything and every part of each surgery. Then I found some way to talk to the docters that I thought i might wish to preform my operation. I also met with a few different plastic surgins about work. You want to look for honesty, reputation, experence, willingness to talk, examples of their work, what the difficulties, what you really need/want. and most of all what you felt comfortable with. It also should be someone with who you feel right for you. if the person is like god in the operating room but makes you feel wrong then he/she is not the right one. I cant say who to go to but i can tell you this is how i decided who i was going to.

if you ever want to chat i sent you a request via yahoo. :hugs:

[Synchronicity]

Find yourself a couple big sisters who have gone through the process. I recently made contact with a post-op who has been a world of good for me, and has provided me with tons of information and a list of other girls who have "graduated." The relatively small society of post-ops are amazingly helpful and eager to pass on the help and information they themselves were provided.

One source -- the site I used -- of contacts is the following:

http://www.ifge.org/

And you should definitely look into local support groups!

Good luck! :happy:

[Rachel_740]

Chrissy,

I had a surgeon recommended by a number of people, including my therapist. I could have gone abroad and got it cheaper but once I'd paid the other costs (like air fare etc) there wasn't a huge difference in cost anyway. Also, staying in the UK meant I could have visitors, my parents took me up & back, staying nearby for the duration of my hospital stay.

The other thing I thought about is that had I had any post of complications after discharge from the hospital at least it was only a few hours in the car to get back to the hospital.

That said, we all have different values, feelings, requirements etc. and throughout the world there are a number of very experienced surgeons. Which one you choose really depends on your personal requirements etc.

As for what surgury to have, again that depends on what you feel that you need. I have had just the GRS - no FFS or breast augmentation, because I don't feel I need it.

Rach
xxx

[Priss]

For those girls out there who have completed GRS, those in the midst of arranging it, and those between surgeries, I hope you'll share a few insights here. I wish my therapist was more help on this, but she's not.
I came out last summer ('06) but I've been in gender therapy for two years now and it's time to start planning the surgeries. My question is this: How does one decide on their Dr(s)?
I've heard some girls say they've gone one place for FFS, another for their breasts, and yet another for GRS. Some have it all done at once with the same Dr., while other girls go more gradually. I've been to the websites of Dr. Reed (Fla), Meltzer (AZ), Bower (CO), Mennard (Quebec) and a few of them in Thailand and just don't know how to decide.
How are or did you girls go about it?
Although I've been w/ her for two years, sometimes I think I should swallow hard and switch to a new therapist who is more helpful with all of this.
Chrissy

Surgery, is a very big and important step in our lives. Research is key here. You want to be sure before going under anyone's knife that you'll be as happy with the results as possible. Keeping in mind that no reconstructive process is ever perfect and that no two women look exactly the same anyway. The best site I've seen, and used when I was making the same decision, was Ann Lawrence's. She's gone to a lot of trouble to document photographic examples of the results of such procedures, not to mention the whole procedure it's self. There are also generally a lot of TSs out there who have related their experiences with every surgeon in this business. From there, if you have the ability, you can always go and have an informational interview with each one that you may be considering.

Since I went to Dr Meltzer, I could simply tell you that he is the best out there. That would however be purely anecdotal and strictly my opinion. It may not actually be true. I went to him, when he was still in Portland back at the end of 2000. There are just as many people out there that would give glowing reports of most every other surgeon in the business. If you do the research though, you'll get a good idea of who's performing what procedures that you may prefer over another.

As to which or what surgeries to do and when, well decide for yourself what you think you need. Not everyone needs FFS or Breast Augmentation. Nor do all proceedures need to be done at once. It can be kind of nice having it all done in one shot, but that can leave one in quite a bit of pain in more places and may be harder to deal with in recovery time etc... So far to date, I've had the vaginoplasty and labiaplasty. I've often considered a trachial shave, however after seeing Ann Coulter's adams apple, question whether I find it really necessary for myself.

http://www.annelawrence.com/twr/

[JenniferMint]

How does one decide on their Dr(s)?
I've heard some girls say they've gone one place for FFS, another for their breasts, and yet another for GRS. Some have it all done at once with the same Dr., while other girls go more gradually.

Different doctors are good at different things. For example, Dr. Spiegel and Dr. Ousterhout are among the best FFS surgeons, but they don't do SRS at all.

For my FFS doctor, I went to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ffs-support and read lots of posts/FAQs, looked at some pictures and asked a bunch of questions. I ended up deciding on Dr. Spiegel because he seemed to be the best FFS surgeon in North America (I didn't want to fly all the way to Thailand if I can get it done well here) other than possibly Dr. Ousterhout, but Dr. O is much more expensive.

If I ever get SRS (not sure if I will or not) I think I'd go for Dr. Suporn in Thailand because of all the glowing reviews from his post-op girls about how orgasmic they are.

[Sally24]

I'm not TS but I just attended First Event in Burlington, MA and they had many of those doctors available for workshops and possible conversations. You might check the scheduled Trans events thru the US and see if they do the same at any of those. If this is long term, then First Event will be on again in Jan 08.

Good luck!

Sally

[Chrissycd]

Thank you, girls!
I hope more of you will pitch in w/ your thoughts.
BTW, I forgot to let you know a few other details about me: I started HRT in July '06 and my RLT at the same time, so it's a good time for me to start making the necessary appointments since so many of the surgeon's schedules are full so many months ahead. I've also been in voice therapy for a month so far, and I changed my name last December. I'm getting there...
I was thinking of going to "Be All Chicago" in June b/c it's supposed to offer a ton of seminars etc. on surgeries and other transitioning issues. Have any of you been to it? I have a good friend there, so I could go on the cheap instead of staying in hotels, so I think I'll do it.
Thank you for the links, too, girls!
Priss, that crack about Ann Coulter's adam's apple left me in stitches (no pun intended) and thank you Jennifer for the insight about Dr. Suporn's wizardry (too funny!)
Hugs,
Chrissy
You are all gems, and every bit of advice you give is appreciated. :love:
The more we share, the easier we make it for the girls who come behind us.