I emailed my gp (Dr Adam Brownhill who has been fantastic so far) about FFS and mentioned that I was looking at some different options.
His response was to tell me that he didn’t trust the doctors I’d been recommended and then aggressively pushed for me to get a consult through a clinic he’s working with in Thailand (now be you). I’m not interested in going into consults without reading reviews, I want to be confident they’re a good surgeon. So I asked for the name of this apparently amazing surgeon who operates in Bangkok, but was trained in Adelaide, and he just ignored the fact I’d asked and commented on something else in my email. I’m really suspicious that I’m just going to get sent somewhere, only to get a botched surgery just so he can get a kickback.
It was really unexpected when he’s been really professional about everything else so far, I’m feeling a bit lost right now.
I could really do with advice, doctor recommendations etc.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be trusting a cis doctor for advice on FFS, whoever they are, and whatever they say.
If you can, I would try and find trans people who have used the doctors in question and can talk to you about their experiences, not just during the process, but in the 12 months afterwards as well. You need to make sure that they are happy with the results, that you like the look of their results, and that the surgeon is on the same page as you in terms of your goals.
That was how I ended up choosing my FFS surgeon. I ended up meeting two people in my city who had used him, and their experiences convinced me to go to the same doctor.
Thanks Ada,
That’s more or less what I’ve been trying to do, reading lots of reviews and trying to find someone trustworthy, I even mentioned that to my doctor but he ignored that too :/
Tell your doctor that you need more than a cis doctors opinion/perspective, because his view, however well meaning, is an outsiders view, that comes from short snapshot interactions. Tell him you need the chance to speak to people who have used this surgeon and have a real conversation with people who have been there. Ask him if he can put you in touch with people who have used his recommended surgeon, who you can have real conversations with?
