~1yr post op - FFS with Dr.DB

==Procedures done== - tracheal shave - forehead contouring - brow lift - jaw contouring - genioplasty - rhinoplasty

==TL;DR==

Estatic with the results - not much to complain about!

==The Timeline==

If you lurk this subreddit enough, it’s probably not surprising to hear Dr.DB and his staff are really that good. They are professionals in every sense.

I’ll try not to repeat what others have said. But from what I recall during consultation, he asked me for my aesthetic preferences and I replied with wanting to “look as if I haven’t gone through male puberty.” He suggested the procedures above, but emphasized that the rhinoplasty was optional and is intended to harmonize with the rest of my face post surgery. I decided to go with his suggestion.

For payment, I was fully covered under my partner’s insurance - I believe she had the Open Access Plus Cigna Gold Plan. Although there was an option to work with Dr.DB’s office to get prior-authorization, Cigna had a different process which involved me needing to pay out of pocket first. To get reimbursed I needed to submit a claim with the CPT-codes of the procedures and a “letter of medical necessity” from a medical/mental health professional. We had a dedicated Cigna concierge provided by my partner’s company to help us through it all. In the end, my check came in different parts but I believe all of it was covered minus the $1000 deductible.

Post-surgery it took me around 3 ish weeks to “recover,” and around 1 week until I felt like I could function somewhat normally. Food involved a LOT of meal replacements and soup. I forgot exactly how long it took but definitely more than a few weeks until I could comfortably chew solid food.

I still have some loss of sensation around my chin and top of my scalp but overall it doesn’t bother me day to day. There is also some hair loss at the incisions on the left and right sides of my head - basically the cuts that were made to gain access to my brow bone.

However to me these are minor things relative to the overall result. I’m really happy how the surgery turned out!

==Some final thoughts==

I was quite scared about getting ffs because a complete stranger would be responsible for such an intimate part of myself. And that fear of losing control made me question if this procedure was worth it - delaying my decision much longer than needed. I wanted certainty that there would be zero complications and a clear picture of the final result. But for better or worse, surgery in some regards is a leap of faith. Accepting that fact allowed me to move forward. In hindsight I see it more like rolling a die rather than a concrete set of procedures.

If you are reading this to decide on a surgeon, ignore the names and baggage that comes with it for a moment. Look at people’s post surgery results and consider my story just as a single datapoint. While I don’t think any surgeon can be perfect, choosing one that is both EXPERIENCED and SKILLED will set you up with the best odds possible.

Best of luck on your journey.