Gynecomastia Support Forum
International Forum => Canada => Topic started by: AREM on November 05, 2010, 09:34:29 AM
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Hi there,
I'm attempting to book a surgery to have my glands excised but I'm having issues getting a referral from my family doctor to see a surgeon. He refuses to believe there is anything wrong with me and repeatedly says that my extremely puffy nipples and protruding chest are normal and that he has no idea why it's like that. At this point I'm positive it's Gyne as I've been told on this website by doctor's that it is, as well as every possible sign that it is gyne is there. I've gotten pretty skinny but my chest has stayed the same, makes for a weirdly proportioned body...
I'm not sure how the process works, can any doctor refer you to any plastic surgeon? Or do certain doctors only refer to certain plastic surgeons?
Thanks!
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By no means am I a pro at this, but will try to help.
Where are you located in Canada?
Why not just go directly to the Plastic Surgeon. I by no means think you have to be referred by a family Dr to see a plastic surgeon
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Sounds like you need to go to another doctor. Any family doctor should be knowledgeable enough to recognize gyne when they see it. If you are really sure you have it, and the doctor is balking at something that is obvious, then they are intentionally not referring you, probably because they fear being punished in some way for referring you for a "benign" condition. In other words, the doctor is mainly watching out for himself, NOT for YOU! So you need to look for another doctor.
This is the way ObamaCare will also work eventually in the United States. The government will decide what patients need, not their doctors. And if the government says "No," then the patient will be out of luck. Of course, most of the time, the bureaucrat in Washington D.C. making the decisions will decide exactly that.....NO! This will especially be true for older Americans; those who are no longer productive in any way. Rather than spend money on treating them with expensive tests, surgeries, treatments and medicines, the government will decide they are past their prime and they will be told to take a pain pill and join Hospice.
As a result of this, up to 46% of the doctors in the U.S. say they will quit the profession rather than allow the government to tell them how to treat their patients. If that happens, it will be disastrous, as there will no longer be an adequate number of doctors to serve the needs of Americans.
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I'm not sure how the process works, can any doctor refer you to any plastic surgeon? Or do certain doctors only refer to certain plastic surgeons?
Dude...
You do not need a 'referral' to have a consult with, or be treated by, a Plastic Surgeon... If your GP is unwilling to 'refer' you, then go directly to a PS of 'your' choosing...
I know for a fact that Dr. Fielding does not require a referral from a prospective patient's GP. If you do decide to go with JCF, when you call you must say that you would like to see him in regards to Gynecomastia in order to be seen without a referral... Apparently, if you don't tell Leslie (JCF's office manager) what the reason for the visit is, they will then require a referral...
Cheers!
GB...
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Hi there,
I'm attempting to book a surgery to have my glands excised but I'm having issues getting a referral from my family doctor to see a surgeon. He refuses to believe there is anything wrong with me and repeatedly says that my extremely puffy nipples and protruding chest are normal and that he has no idea why it's like that. At this point I'm positive it's Gyne as I've been told on this website by doctor's that it is, as well as every possible sign that it is gyne is there. I've gotten pretty skinny but my chest has stayed the same, makes for a weirdly proportioned body...
I'm not sure how the process works, can any doctor refer you to any plastic surgeon? Or do certain doctors only refer to certain plastic surgeons?
Thanks!
My Canadian Patients with Gynecomastia (http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/pt_qna_folder/canada_gynecomastia_8.html) do not need a referral. They normally start out with our Preliminary Remote Discussion (http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/how_to_learn_more.html) to minimize travel.
Hope this helps,
Michael Bermant, MD
Learn More About Gynecomastia and Male Breast Reduction (http://www.plasticsurgery4u.com/procedure_folder/male_breast/index.html)
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Thanks for all the advice!
I'm located in Edmonton so I would prefer to get the surgery somewhere relatively close to home (Edmonton/Calgary) for the sake of both convenience and funding. I've been lurking these boards for people recommending doctors in these two cities, and every time I call any plastic surgeons I'm told that I need to be referred. So I suppose the better question to ask would be if anybody knows any Plastic Surgeons not needing referral who have some experience with this type of surgery...
I appreciate all your responses, Thank you!
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Oh, okay, sorry, I didn't realize that you are in Edmonton...
Hmmmm, I'm surprised that the PS's that you have contacted, have made a big stink about being referred... What is it to them if you are not referred?
Have you tried Dr. Haugrud in Calgary? Apparently, surgery by Dr. Haugrud is FREE!!! As per this thread (https://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=8703.0)...
Have a look at the last post in that thread mentioning Dr. Jonathan Toy at Coronation plaza Edmonton. His contact number is 780.758.3377....
Check it out dude... ;)
GB...
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So it seems both doctors (Haugrud and Toy) are causing a stink about getting referred... Guess I'll have to somehow convince my doctor to refer me. He's been trying to make me believe for years that it's "normal" and "nothing to worry about" when it's clearly not... ???
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I'm not sure how it works in edmonton, can you go to any walk in clinic and get a referral? I'd suggest trying other clinics if you can.
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So went to see the doc today... It was almost as if he read this forum or something because he's taken a completely different stance on Gynecomastia... He was acted like it existed, was supportive and has a referral going into a plastic surgeon as soon as I get an ultrasound...
/Excited. ;D
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Great to hear! Sounds like you're finally on the road you need to be on.
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So I got an ultrasound and all that jazz done... My doctor called Dr. Toy today and he apparently isn't accepting new patients and he wasn't accepting the letter of referral... Funny thing is is that I called myself and was able to sweet talk the lady into giving me an appointment on Feb 23rd without a referral or anything... Confusing haha
/Getting more excited
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So I went into Dr. Jonathan Toy's office today (In Edmonton) for a consultation. The staff was incredibly nice so was the surgeon himself. He explained the process to me, exactly what he would do during surgery and was able to get me an appointment to have surgery done in two weeks! I was not expecting to get in that quick nor did I expect it to be 100% covered by Alberta Healthcare... So far, I strongly recommend him
He mentioned for my case that we would be doing an excision and that there would more than likely be no liposuction needed as my case of gynecomastia was isolated directly behind the nipple...
Feel free to ask questions if anyone wants more details!
;D ;D
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Had my surgery this morning with Dr. Toy and overall it was an extremely pleasant experience.
Was booked in to arrive at the Misercordia by 8:15AM, got there at around 8 and got suited up and prepped by all the very nice nurses... I was told it would be about a 1.5 hour wait until surgery.
15 minutes later - to my surprise I was told that space opened up early as Dr. Toy's previous surgery had ended much earlier than anticipated... Got wheeled into the holding area where I met the anesthesiologist who explained the process to me, followed by Dr. Toy who was very nice in telling me what he was going to do.
The surgery itself was an excision of tissue in an area slightly larger than my nipple. No liposuction was done.
The rest was history as I woke up in the recovery room not even realizing that the surgery was finished. Other than the dizziness from the anesthetic, there is very minimal pain (less painful than a good chest workout) and I'm wearing some giant compression vest...
I'm excited and a little nervous to the see the results, hopefully it gets rid of this problem soon enough! It's hard not to get my hopes up about this quite yet, but I'm doing my best... Will keep updating...
Cheers all!
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Hello all, I've got no replies however there are tons of views so I'm assuming people are reading about my experience... I visited the doctor for my follow-up appointment and he mentioned that my surgery went extremely well and that he excised about 7-8 grams of tissue from each side... I don't know if that is considered a lot or a little, but he seemed to think that it wasn't very much and said he took out all he could take out without creating a crater in my nipple...
The healing process is well underway, and there were a couple of days that my chest started to look incredibly flat. The underarmour compression shirt is getting incredibly uncomfortable and my nipples are beginning to puff out like they were before, however now they're hard and extremely tender... I'm hoping it's still swelling and that they will flatten out a bit more in the future...
Fingers crossed it keeps getting better...
Good luck to all!
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Congrats on the surgery Arem and yes, lots of lurkers on the site but not a lot of posts. I think most people who get successful surgery move on with their lives and try to put the "past" behind them. I'll probably fall into that camp but currently 6 weeks post op with good success to date. I'll stick it out until 6 months or so to make sure the surgery works out.
So are you not wearing a compression vest then? Most surgeons on this site or stories of surgeons seem to highly recommend a compression vest.
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Congrats on the surgery Arem and yes, lots of lurkers on the site but not a lot of posts. I think most people who get successful surgery move on with their lives and try to put the "past" behind them. I'll probably fall into that camp but currently 6 weeks post op with good success to date. I'll stick it out until 6 months or so to make sure the surgery works out.
So are you not wearing a compression vest then? Most surgeons on this site or stories of surgeons seem to highly recommend a compression vest.
My doctor told me to wear a tight underarmour shirt for about the first 4 weeks and that should suffice... My surgery was super minor according to him, as there was no liposuction and soley just excision behind puffy nipples... Is this not enough compression perhaps?
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Oh okay, not sure then. I had the "full meal deal"! ;D Lipo and excision.
Maybe check other threads where only puffy nipple was addressed but I'm somewhat sure I read most were in a compression vest. You can always order one or even the stage 2 version online and get it in a couple days.
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So it's been 3 months and I realized I kind of ditched this forum enjoying the new found freedom...
My chest isn't perfect, I'd give 'er a solid 8.5/10 though in terms of the ideal chest that I wanted to come out with. I find that as time is going on it's slowly looking better and better.
For the first time in my life I'm not doubling up shirts, wearing clothes that fit proper and not sweating my face off because of all the layers. Incredible feeling to just 'forget' about your chest for an entire day... In terms of the scars, they are completely not visible, I can't even see them if I try and look for them so nobody will ever know that I had this procedure done. If you're on the fence about getting the surgery, I'd do it again every day of the week because it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Also, I would definitely recommend Dr. Toy to anyone living in the Edmonton area.
Feel free to message if you have any questions at all and best of luck if you're currently on the road to surgery!
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congrats Toy I am happy for you. any chance to see a pic before or/and after
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Unfortunately, based on this thread and a couple of other positive reviews on Dr. Toy, I decided to ask my GP for a referral to him. It took two months before my referral was accepted, only to find out at that time that Dr. Toy no longer does the surgery covered under AHC. Personally I was dissapointed but still intended to go ahead with it if the cost was reasonable (between 2 and 4 thousand dollars) but when I asked about what the cost would be, I was told it could be as much as ten thousand.
Apparently Dr. Toy has decided it's not a surgery he wants to do anymore and has made the surgery prohibitively expensive to turn away clients. So, anyone who's wanting a plastic surgeon in Edmonton to do this proceedure may as well start looking elsewhere :/ It would be nice if AHC paid a little bit more to surgeons to do this, that would certainly help. Perhaps the government isn't aware of the psychological effect of having this condition and how that can affect someones productivity.
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Okay, so, it turns out that what i was told about Dr. Toy was a load of crap that was passed on by my GP's receptionist. Today I called Dr Toy's office to check and see if the information I'd been given was accurrate and his receptionist told me that she has never seen a surgery for gynecomastia cost as much as $10,000. She said the cost would be based on how much tissue needed to be removed, whether liposuction needed to be done and if so how much. I re-booked a consultation myself with her and I'm going to see him in mid-december. They did want a referral still, so I re-contacted my gp's office to ask them to fax it.
Long story short, not sure how much Dr Toy will cost but his receptionist says that $10,000 is way high, so he's probably more in the range of other surgeons. I will post here how much he's charging these days (honestly I don't blame him for not going through AHC anymore btw given the tiny amount AHC gives to surgeons for correcting what should be fully classified as a deformity) after I've had my appointment.
Sorry for the misinformation in my original post, that was all from the office of my GP (she was probably trying to do me a favor by letting me know it could cost a fair bit).