Surgery in the Vancouver area

[Merangue]

So, I just discovered this website yesterday. I'm very serious about getting surgery as this has been a problem for me for almost 10 years.

I'm in BC and would prefer to get it done locally. Where do I start though? Should I go to a regular doctor (don't think I have a family doctor) for a physical/referral? Or should I go straight for a consultation to a PS (trying to decide b/w dr. brown, mosher, etc)?

I'd like to get the excision covered by MSP atleast. I have $3000 to my name and hoping to get it done within that amount (financing will probably not be possible as I'm currently a student).

Dr. Fielding sounds like a godsend but I need this process kept extremely private from my family. Would it be possible to schedule the OP and fly there and back on the same day? From what I've read so far they will cover excision with MSP for BC residents.

Please help.

[monsterclean]

Hi Merangue,

I just had my surgery last week with Dr. Lista in the GTA.

While I can't comment specifically on Dr. Fielding, I would be very surprised if you could fly in and fly out the same day!

First off, you will probably need someone with you for the first 24 hours.  Second, it seems that Dr. Fielding uses drains in his patients, and you'd have to get those removed a few days after surgery.  Finally, he will probably want to schedule some post-op visits.

I live about 90 minutes from my surgeon's office, and he made me stay in a local hotel the night of my surgery. 

Also, keep in mind, that Dr. FIelding is not free.  He seems to charge in the ballpark of $2000, and add on the cost of flights, hotel, possibly a nurse for 24h, and your costs will add up, too.

From a patient perspective, I would want someone local just in case something goes wrong.  What if you want to see the surgeon a week after your operation? 

How much do some of the BC surgeons charge?

[Merangue]

Hi monster! Congrats on your surgery with Lista. Hopefully it all went well.

How much do some of the BC surgeons charge?

I'm not sure yet, collecting all the information right now since offices seem to be closed for the weekend. I will be calling the PS's in my area on Monday when they open (mosher, brown, ward are the ones I know so far). However, all these guys are private so I'm expecting pretty much the worst. If anyone knows surgeons that aren't private clinic please let me know (or where would I start to look for one? Should I go to the hospital?).

In terms of Dr. Fielding, can you (or anyone else) tell me what the process goes like? From what I know so far:

1) Go for a consultation, book a surgery date.
2) Go for Surgery
3) Have Post-Op check up.

Is it really that bad that I won't be able to do anything for 24 hours (like drive home)? How many days after do the drains need to be removed (or how many days till I can catch a flight back)?

In terms of his costs from what I'm seeing it'd be like for Fielding: $1500~ excision+lipo, $500 Airfare, $250 Hotel for 3 days, $100~ Misc/taxi/food. I have family in Toronto but I don't think I'd be able to stay with them (for privacy sake).

I've read that I can do the consultation with a different PS and have the information mailed to Dr. Fielding so I don't have to go there twice. I'm hoping this to be true, I guess I'll find out when I make my calls tomorrow.

I'm still hoping I'll be able to find someone in BC though (who can do it in under $3000).

[furiousgeorge]

Hi monster! Congrats on your surgery with Lista. Hopefully it all went well.

How much do some of the BC surgeons charge?

I'm not sure yet, collecting all the information right now since offices seem to be closed for the weekend. I will be calling the PS's in my area on Monday when they open (mosher, brown, ward are the ones I know so far). However, all these guys are private so I'm expecting pretty much the worst. If anyone knows surgeons that aren't private clinic please let me know (or where would I start to look for one? Should I go to the hospital?).

In terms of Dr. Fielding, can you (or anyone else) tell me what the process goes like? From what I know so far:

1) Go for a consultation, book a surgery date.
2) Go for Surgery
3) Have Post-Op check up.

Is it really that bad that I won't be able to do anything for 24 hours (like drive home)? How many days after do the drains need to be removed (or how many days till I can catch a flight back)?

In terms of his costs from what I'm seeing it'd be like for Fielding: $1500~ excision+lipo, $500 Airfare, $250 Hotel for 3 days, $100~ Misc/taxi/food. I have family in Toronto but I don't think I'd be able to stay with them (for privacy sake).

I've read that I can do the consultation with a different PS and have the information mailed to Dr. Fielding so I don't have to go there twice. I'm hoping this to be true, I guess I'll find out when I make my calls tomorrow.

I'm still hoping I'll be able to find someone in BC though (who can do it in under $3000).

Well if you are in toronto, its Going for the first consultation and booking the surgery, going once again for some preop stuff, go for the surgery, then go about a week after to have the pads he sticks on your chest/drain removed (this might be able to be done by a doctor in BC, you would have to talk to fielding with it). Not everyone needs a drain (I didnt), it is very specific to your case.

Now how bad is your gyne? Is it just puffy nipples or do you have fully fledged breasts? If you just have puffy nipples I can see you going back because the pain will be pretty minimal. However if you have pretty major gyne (check out my preop photos, around that or worse) then I really doubt you will be in any condition to fly back to same day - the pain can be pretty bad. You also need an adult with you for them to release you from the hospital unless you stay overnight, so at minimum you would have to stay for a day (even a motel/hotel would work).

The cost is purely dependent on your case. Alot of people have a low cost because the excision is covered by ohip (not sure if MSP will cover it, you should find out first). Mine personally was 1680 with tax, and it was pretty severe so if its not as bad I can see it being cheaper.

Really going to a local surgeon would be much less of a hassle especially since you are trying to keep this from your family. You could say you are over at a friends house or something just for the recovery or even go home and wear a sweater alot since the weather isnt that great now. Good luck.

[Merangue]

Furious can you post the link to your pics so I can compare? My pics are here:
http://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=17141.0

Let me know how bad it is. I'm not sure if I have puffy nipples technically so if someone knows for sure, please let me know.

I'll be trying to look for a BC surgeon for the most part... Fielding is basically my worst case scenario.

[Merangue]

Alright, after a lot of calling around here are the results (I figure they'll help out others later):

Dr. Mosher: $4000-7000, Heavily booked, see's "quite a few of these"
Dr. Lorne Browne: $4470 Flat rate,
Dr. Ward: $5000, 10 Procedures per year
Dr. Kerluke: $3300-5000
Dr. Gelfant: $6000 excision + Lipo (3000 just lipo)
Dr. Kenneth Smith: $5000 (They're revising their pricing and it'll probably go up), Heavily Booked
Dr. Pugash: $5000+, Does 6~ procedures per year, Very heavily booked
Dr. Lee: Free? Nurse said it would be pretty much covered under MSP (even lipo aparantly). Need a referral from family doctor to see him. Very heavily booked.
False Creek Centre (Dr. Rai and other surgeons): $4500-12000, Good availability
Dr. Fielding: On vacation
Dr. Mian: On vacation

Okay, so quite the mixed bag, all of these are ofcourse over the phone info from their attendants. None of the surgeons have close to the experience Fielding does. I'm not sure where to go from here... I guess i'll do some more research on Dr. Gelfant and kerluke as well as wait for Fielding and Mian to come back (in a week).

I want to get a consultation to get an opinion on what type of gyne I have but don't want to waste the $100 consultation on a surgeon I won't use.

[furiousgeorge]

Hey there. If your nipples were sortof "hard" or tightened in that photo and they are loose or puffy normally, then yours looks actually pretty similar to how mine were (mine were just VERY pointy).

Heres before: http://www.photodump.com/Guest/786adc91032b059b.jpg.html

Heres after (taken today, a bit over 2 months now): http://www.photodump.com/Guest/9031271cb3d94990.jpg.html

Theres still some scar tissue under the nipples which is why they are a bit pointy, but as you can see just the difference from before and after. . . pretty amazing. Fielding also left some fat around the chest which I was worried about for the first couple weeks post op, but now that things have tightened up let me tell you it looks great and REALLY natural since I dont benchpress or work out at all pretty much, I mean when I wear a shirt I look like I got some pretty decent pecs!

Looking at those docs Id be really tempted to go with fielding especially if you could get the excision covered by MSP. It almost seemed too good to be true to me before (1680 with tax only + a guy with lots of experience?!), but hey I guess once in a way it turns out to be true!

[Merangue]

^^ Furious, yours look very close to mine. Mine also get pointy some times (I'd say half the time they're pointy), I'm not sure what the pattern is.

The more research I do, the more attractive going down the Fielding route seems. Tomorrow I'm going to go to my "family doctor" (haven't been to him in years) and get his opinion on it (possibly a referral to a surgeon whose covered by MSP here).

[Merangue]

From what I've gathered, in BC you need a GP to refer you to a surgeon if you want it to be covered under MSP. So I went to see the doctor today (a walk-in clinic nearby).

This was the first time I've taken my shirt of in front of someone for over a decade (sad, I know). I was expecting it though so I'd prepared myself.

It only took about a minute. In the end he said the gland to fat ratio was 50-50. He's referring me to Dr. Mian, said the I should just get the excision but no lipo. He also took blood and urine samples (a lot of tests are specified on the sheet he gave me, most of which I can't tell from doctor handwriting... but I think most are for hormone levels and kidney/liver functions).

I guess this is kind of turning into a journal. I'm going to keep it updated so I have something to look back to in the future.

[oldspice]

hey furious, have ur nipples shrunk in size at all? hard and non hard. apparently after gland is removed, the nipples are supposed to shrink in size a little bit. thanks

[furiousgeorge]

Oh yeah they have shrunk bigtime compared to before, more when not hard than hard.

[Merangue]

Alright so the doctors seem to finally be getting off their vacations  .

Talked to Fielding's office this morning. Everything should be okay with BC MSP in Ontario. Scheduled a consultation for April 27 (20th was available but I can't take that day off).

Also got a call back from my GP's office, they didn't say anything about the blood work, which I guess is good news. They scheduled a consultation with Dr. Mian for June 3rd. Apparently the wait time for the operation would be another 5-6 months after the consultation.

I also scheduled a consultation with Dr. Kerluke but i'll be canceling that one. So plan is right now to book a flight for Toronto (one day round-trip). I'll keep Dr. Mian as a backup in case the Fielding route doesn't work out.

Tickets booked for the 27th. So now for the 27 days of waiting  .

[Grandpa Bambu]

Talked to Fielding's office this morning. Everything should be okay with BC MSP in Ontario. Scheduled a consultation for April 27

Congrats on making 'The Call' dude...

GB