Author Topic: Going to see Dr Lorne Brown today for my consultation  (Read 5706 times)

Offline Bobby_604

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Hello,

First time poster, long time sufferer.

In the Vancouver region so I decided to see Dr Brown.

Cost is $4200.

I have read that Fielding will take patients who have there consultations done by another doctor once the medical files are sent to him. Ill look in to that.

I figure a $100 consultation fee + 500 flight + 2000 surgery = 2600 is still 1600 cheaper than Brown.

I will also see if this 'Brown only wants to do lipo' theory holds any water.

Be back in a few hours.

Offline Grandpa Bambu

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Have you looked into having your Prov Health Care cover the cost of excision and hospital costs?

GB
Surgery: February 16, 2005. - Toronto, Ontario Canada.
Surgeon: Dr. John Craig Fielding   M.D.   F.R.C.S. (C) (416.766.8890)
Pre-Op/Post-Op Pics

Offline Bobby_604

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Sorry it took so long.

A few things. Dr Brown was very nice and personable. Easy to talk to, and open minded.

He checked me out and said that I had 'true gynecomastia'. He said he thinks he could get it all by just lip, but has to wait till I am actually being operated on to see if I need excision. he said he wasn't 100% sure if I had breast tissue.

Cost is 4270 + 58 for the pressure vest.

Nothing is covered by the province.

PS; I told him about the website and he said he would check it out.

Ill keep you all posted.

Offline Grandpa Bambu

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Does Dr. Brown do the procedure at a private clinic or at a hospital?

GB

Offline manwithnoname

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I am not sure why this is, but it seems tha tno matter what, some Dr's just only want to do Lipo. I don't know if it is so they can charge whatever they want for the whole procedure or what. Dr. Browne told me I had no breast tissue either, wouldn't know for sure until I was under etc, but that lipo would most likely get it all. IN contrast, I have had other consults where they say I need both, and to me it is pretty lcear I have tissue under there.

Basically, I don't get it.

Now that I look at this post for a second, I guess it is in response to someone else being told the exact same thing by Dr Browne as I. A complaint filled post to spark comments maybe? Trying to make my complaining valuable...

Offline Bobby_604

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Does Dr. Brown do the procedure at a private clinic or at a hospital?

GB

At his private clinic.

Offline Grandpa Bambu

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At his private clinic.

Yeah, the reason that nothing is covered by the Prov is that the procedure is being done in a private clinic...

GB

Offline manwithnoname

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And I beleive, since the Gov't covers excision only, and he is all lipo, he can just set his price for that.

Offline Grandpa Bambu

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Well, regardless of what the Gov does or doesn't cover, the PS can charge whatever he/she feels that they can get for any given procedure. They could charge $20,000 for gyne surgery. Doubt they would sell very many at that price though... ;)

PS's can charge what ever they want for their services...

Same with Dr. Lista - Mississauga, Ontario... He does G surgery at his private clinic and is PAL. So... no govt assistance...

GB

Offline domz

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    • The Domz

Offline guistar

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 I had to reply to this. If for nothing else then to spare anyone else the agony. I had my surgery done by Brown before you went. I already sent him the link to this site also and I explained in great detail that the doctors known for this surgery are doing excision almost every time. I told him I KNEW I needed gland removed and that I was not going to be happy if he left the gland in there. I explained to him that I know there is a lot of gland even if he can't feel it. I sent him a picture of me when I was a young teenager and had almost no body fat and showed him how I STILL had sagging glandular breasts and I explained to him that even if he sucked out nearly all my fat (and there was a lot) it would still leave the gland in the picture which was not good. I told him I didn't want him to do lipo only and then leave a bunch of fat in there to mask the gland. I told him that if he goes to Gynecomastia.org he can read through all the peoples stories and he will see the evidence that lipo only rarely ever works and it's only done by doctors who are behind the times and most of their patients either don't know any better or end up getting revision later on.
In the end he assured me that he has done tons of these surgery's and he said that his wand was able to remove fat AND gland. He said (as he did to you) that he would make the decision to do excision when I was under and he promised he would do it if I needed it.
I even reminded him again when he came in to the little pre op room before the surgery because I wanted to make sure we were 100% clear that I wanted excision whether it be with the wand or the knife.
In the end the surgery took about a half an hour and he did NO excision. He left a TON of gland in and tried to even it out with fat. I have a ton of painful scar tissue and pointy jutting nipples. It looks ok in the cold when my skin is tight and the nipples are hard but since it's all an illusion of carefully molded fat and gland it all falls apart badly once the sun comes out.  Once I realized how bad it was I came back in to take him up on his policy of redoing the surgery at cost if it didn't turn out well. Don't let that fool you. He's the one who decides how well the surgery turned out. I showed him how unnatural it looked and instead of finally listening he just pulled out my before pics as though seeing that would somehow make me more appreciative of what he'd done. It's like he knew I was coming in to complain and had a plan to combat it all ready to go. Yes! he sucked out a lot of fat! Congratulations! So I went from no having an unnatural looking chest because of pendulous fat to having an unnatural looking chest because of pinching pointy deposits of glandular tissue. All that for the low price of $4000.  All he did was suck fat out. I already knew what could be achieved when the surgery is done correctly and I tried my damndest to make him aware of what could be achieved when the surgery is done correctly but in the end he decided to stick with his 1970's style of gyno surgery and completely ignored  everything I said since the first day I walked in to his office.
Bottom line, if Dr Brown sounds like he's trying to push lipo only on you then run because that means he's doing lipo only and it doesn't matter what you say from then on. He is definitely not one of the doctors that understands this surgery and to make matters worse he IS the kind of doctor that thinks his opinion is the only only one that matters and whatever you THINK you know about this surgery is nothing more then an obstacle for him and his years of experience.
In the end I was 100% right and he was 100% wrong. Remember, we have lived with this problem for years and decades. We have felt every inch of gland and fat and we have read more stories and research, seen more before and after pictures and read more surgery experiences then they ever will. Don't ever let the doctor trick you in to valuing his opinion on these things more then your own because it doesn't work that way. That's how you end up on the table a year later for revision surgery.


BTW, the scars are nearly invisible and Dr Browns staff is amazing. (it wasn't all bad)  :P.



 

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