top surgery surgeons for big guys?

[bandaides]

I was wondering if you guys could recommend any good top surgery surgeons for bigger guys? I'm a 42D.

A friend recommended Reardon - is he a good choice? I checked the memories, and they were posted back in 2004-2005, has opinions changed at all?

Sorry if this has already been posted, I couldn't find anything recent.

Comments

[ftmichael]

I went to Brownstein. I wasn't big at all, but every big guy I know who went to Brownstein has been overjoyed with their results, including one person whose surgery and recovery I was present for. I'd guess he was about your size.

I'd spend a lot of time over at http://transster.com/ if I were you.

I was seriously considering Reardon when I was pre-op. From all the stories I've heard about him, I very strongly do not recommend him, but there are at least a few guys here who went to him who can tell you their own experiences. If you want to contact me privately, I can relate some of the firsthand horror stories I heard. They made quite an impression on me, and there were several of them.

[kret_reborn]

THANK YOU. I went to Reardon and had no fucking problem whatsoever, thanks.

I heard all those horror stories. I'd really like to hear them firsthand for myself, because I don't believe that horseshit one iota. Furthermore, I never saw the monster depicted in your crazy stories when I met him. Fuck, the guy was nothing less than genial, addressed all of my concerns, and provided excellent aftercare.

To the OP, I have seen results with bigger guys from Reardon, and I've seen better. The man does best with peri/circum-areolar procedures, and I would recommend Medalie from results I've seen with his bigger double-incision patients. FWIW, my testimony is here, and I am #937 on transster.com.

[climberblues]

well, i -- firsthand -- did experience some of the traits described in michael's (and other people's) stories, when i consulted with him. he was (in my personal opinion) dismissive, brusque, and actively denied that a patient could possibly in pain while i was there. he also made fun of MTFs (calling them "ridiculous"), said that most FTMs are fat, and equated phalloplasty to mutilation. all in under an hour that i paid him for!

obviously, ymmv, and i know that there are a lot of guys who have had positive experiences with him. i'm glad you're one of those folks. but just because you had a good experience doesn't make someone else's bad experience any less likely or valid. there is at least one (firsthand!) negative account on transster from someone who did more than consult with him, last time i checked.

[bandaides]

Not to come across rude or anything..cause I'm not..

But after talking to him over the phone, he has a very dry sense of humor - which is similiar to my own. He's entitled to his own opinion, and if he said something like that to me if I was there, I would mention to him to be a little more respectful. What he said was rude, and out of line I agree. But I'm not paying for him to be nice to me, I'm paying for his work. It's good to know this stuff though first hand, so you know what you're possibly dealing with..and if I do go with him (my chances are less then my orginal post), I'll address some issues and concerns about him being rude to other guys. So thank you. And thank you for posting your experience, it's good to know the bad, along with the good :)

[climberblues]

The rude stuff I could deal with, personally, although it's not the best. My main concern (for my personal experience) was what I saw of his dismissal of people's pain coupled with the stories I'd heard of him actively denying patient pain ("that person's not really in pain"). I didn't want a doctor who would be an asshole when I was in pain.

Anyway, I personally didn't want someone who was that willing to put negative energy out into the world cutting me open - that's a very intimate thing, you know?

[bandaides]

I totally agree with you, and if I was in the same position, I wouldn't have probably gone with him either. Sounds like he's worked on that a little better though - keeping his rude comments to himself.

[climberblues]

*shrugs* it wasn't all that long ago, fwiw - dec 2005.

[kret_reborn]

I apologize if I've made it seem like bad experiences with Reardon are less likely or valid. That, I did not intend. I am glad to hear it firsthand from you, who have experienced it. I respect that, thank you.

That aside, he said something about MTFs to me too. That the majority of them will never pass no matter what, things like that. It wasn't to make fun of them, it was his observation as a plastic surgeon. I didn't disagree with him, I didn't chastise him, because as bandaides has said, I was paying him for his services, not his views on male-to-female transsexuality. He said his piece about phalloplasty as well, I just nodded and said "I can kind of see why you'd say that", and we moved on to talk about the task at hand. I don't necessarily agree with him on everything, but damned if I'll be offended by it so much that I wouldn't get surgery with him. That's just me though, and I'm sorry that you had a less-than-stellar experience, for real.

[climberblues]

yeah, as i said above it was more the thing about denying that someone was in pain than his other comments (although those didn't help, since i tend to go by "feel" a lot). that and (i often forget about this part b/c it was pretty uncomfortable) when he examined my chest he did so in a way that (compared to the other surgeons i consulted with) was pretty disrespectful/didn't seem to take into account my discomfort. he lingered there for much longer than necessary, and for no apparent reason felt the need to touch my nipples, where other surgeons just had a quick look and were done. anyway, it is definitely a personal comfort thing, and i do encourage people to do a consult with him to see if it's within their own individual comfort range.

[bandaides]

I've checked out transster..it's good to see results, I just wanted to know people's personal stories with surgeons is all.

I also heard that Brownstein doesn't work on bigger guys, past size 38?

[bouncingfizgig]

that is so not true. brownstein has some pretty amazing results on bigger guys, myself being one of them. i've also seen really impressive results on larger guys from Raphael and Medalie.

[asphaltwanderer]

i was a 38-40 and i went to brownstein. he made it clear that i would probably need a revision due to the excess weight, which is true, but the results are fantastic. he didn't want to cut further back under my arms than necessary, so i opted to have the surgery, lose the rest of the weight, and see if i even still need the revision. i'm 769 on transster. at the time of surgery, i was 210lbs and i'm 5'6".

[ftmichael]

Yes he does, or he did. I'd e-mail him directly and ask if you want accurate information.