New Here...

[Ricardo7]

And there's been something I've noticed quite often on this forum which is, in my opinion, a load of rubbish. More than once when I've seen posters asking about the cost of surgery, they are met with 'don't do it based on price' comments. How many people on here (or anywhere else for that matter) are lucky enough to lead lives where they dont have to worry about the cost of things, especially things which cost as much money as surgery does? Not many I'll bet. Such advice is nonsense and doesn't help in the slightest. I understand in an ideal world people wouldn't have surgery done based on the cost, but be realistic, most people might not have a choice.

Anyway, my story. I started to notice my gyno when I was around 18/19. I'm now 23 and have had enough of clothes not fitting me properly, of walking with my shoulders hunched to hide the moobs and the depression that comes along with it.

I've finally decided enough is enough and went to my GP in December. She was really sympathetic thankfully and referred me. The other day there I had my bloods taken for testing, the nurse told me to expect a letter in the coming weeks for a consultation.

In the meantime, I have started saving money for surgery this year. I've decided to save £250 a month so by this time next year I'll have £3k saved. I've read some negative things on here about NHS surgery, so if they do offer me surgery I won't go through with it unless I'm 100% certain and confident in the surgeon.

If not, I'll have saved enough money to go private sometime next year. If I do go private though, it won't be to either surgeon that aare regularly mentioned on here as I don't want to travel to Birmingham or London for surgery. I want to have it here in Glasgow, so if anyone knows of any good surgeons in the area, recommendations will be welcome.

I suppose if NHS surgery doesn't go as well as planned (touch wood) I can always have it corrected with the money saved, hopefully.

[hitchcock]

The only reason someone would advise you not to choose a surgeon based on cost alone is because this is YOUR body we are talking about. If you have an operation for $3,000 and then discover later  on you need a revision surgery for $4,000 to $6,000, you haven't really saved any money and your results may never reach its potential.

Just an opinion. If you feel confident in your surgeon and they show you tons of before and after pics to your liking, by all means go for it!

[about2change]

@ Dazzo,

No one will recommend any other surgeons on this site apart from the two. Its a stigma to mention anyone else as I think they pay the forum, or something.

regards, d

[chopper]

Im sure we would all prefer to have it done for free or locally, but sometimes it just isn't an option and some of us have had to suck up the cost and distance.

Good luck with your NHS surgery and if you don't manage to get lucky there, good luck with finding a quality surgeon in Glasgow. If you come across one, don't forget to post all your before and after photos and make sure you mention the surgeons name so others can also find him and save the distance, time & money on travelling to the other ones.

The proof is always in the reports and photos, please share your research for others even if its against the forum rules...rules are meant to be broken 

[Bob_Bobby]

I had to go with the NHS route because I couldn't afford to go private and don't have the spare money to save up for it. Though I'm not in Scotland I did find the experience pleasant - once I was taken seriously. It took two years of both the plastic surgeon and my GP to fight with the PCT to fund my procedure but once that was out of the way I was treated fantastically by my surgeon who spent a good amount of time talking me through everything and answering any questions I had. One thing that does seem different if that my surgeon went for a two stage process. The first where I had just lipo done which happened in December last year and I'm awaiting my follow up to see if I need/want a second excision of excess skin. The first surgeon I saw (my treatment was refused on a number of occasions so i saw more than one) did want to just do the single procedure but said it would have severely scarred my chest as my gyno was quite severe so at least this way if I do need a second op the scars would be almost non existant since my chest has decreased in size dramatically. I'm still swollen too so it'll only go down even more.

I can't speak for what the NHS would be like where you are but I found the surgeon who finally did my procedure to be very good and although the service in the NHS ward wasn't as sweet as that of a private one, it was a decent enough experience for me to recommend. So it's not ideal that I may have to go back again but right now, I'm very happy with how things have gone.

[linkin]

Yo.

I think the reason that Karidis and Levick are mentioned on here so much is due to people having good results with them from the very beginning of the website starting up. It's like a snowball effect. Basically if one person gets a good result (and backs this up with pictures and positive reviews) then of course other people will follow suit. We all want the best for ourselves, and with a massive operation like this we don't want to take our chances with someone who we are unsure of. Added to the fact that we are spending a huge amount of money, it makes sense.

With regards to the NHS, I think that it has often got a bad press on this site. But if you look closely you will see that a hell of a lot of NHS surgeons also do private work in their own time. The fact that Karidis and Levick only do private might be pure co-incidence. Or it might mean that they therefore spend more time, money and resource on advertising their services with impressive looking websites. Also they have more time for the 'cosmetic' work as they are not working for the NHS doing other plastic surgery procedures like removing skin cancers and treating burns patients, for example.

If you are searching for an experienced and trusted surgeon, a good start would be the BAPRAS (British Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons). This is 'the voice of plastic surgery in the UK, advancing education in all aspects of the specialty and promoting understanding of contemporary practice'. Most specialists will be registered with BAPRAS so it's worth looking at.
Also worth checking out is BAAPS (British Association of Aesthetic Plastic surgeons)- 'established for the advancement of education in, and the practice of Aesthetic Surgery for public benefit'.

I just did a quick search in Glasgow for you and found a guy called Mr Taimur Shoaib. (can't post his website due to the T&Cs of this site, but Google him). He is both BAPRAS and BAAPS registered. He is also an NHS consultant (so if you're getting aanywhere with your GP perhps you could request she refers you to his NHS clinic?). His pics look good so might be worth checking him out. Bear in mind though this is the first name I came across though, there may be many more. If you do decide to go privsate check out the local Bupa, Spire, BMI, Nuffield hospitals in your area. Go to a few consultations, ask quesitons, ask to see pictures etc. It's worth paying for a few consultations to find the right surgeon.

Incidently, Karidis is not a member of BAPRAS or BAAPS. This might be significant, it might not. Some surgeons may not join organisations like this if they don't see the educational benefits etc (it's also probably quite expensive to have a membership). But all I can say is that his results are good, he is trusted by many people (past and present) on this site and is obviously very experienced and innovative at this op. These are the reasons that I have chosen him to do my operation.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Bikkembergs]

Great post Linkin. I'd be repeating your first paragraph if I posted what I was originally going to post about Karidis and Levick favouritism around here, plus it's getting tiresome.

Dazzo,

I appreciate what you're saying in regards to comments over costs. However, it's not as much a case of disregarding the costs (which as you point out are obviously important) but more a case of promoting optimum results. If I could've had surgery for half the price but wasn't comfortable with the surgeon's portfolio of work then I wouldn't have the surgery.

I did my research for over 4 years, 1st port of call was the NHS because I didn't want to spend £2-5k. In the end though, I opted for a surgeon who I chose and felt I was in control of the situation with. With the NHS, you're appointed a surgeon. He/she might be fantastic, they might not. I felt mine was not, I moved and tried another NHS district and they refused to refer me. So I carried on researching.

However, if you can find a surgeon who you are comfortable with, you feel has good experience and are happy with their portfolio of work and if they are part of Glasgow NHS then go for it, I wish I'd have been so lucky.