So I had my 5th consult yesterday and I was still fairly up in the air but starting to think I'd go with the guy who had the most experience....which didn't really excite me because he just didn't mesh well with me, personality wise and such.
Anyway, I went to this consult and filled out the paperwork in the waiting room and then sat down and looked through the book on the table. I really really liked what i saw...all of the BAs were very natural looking but they were all saline for some reason. I asked the receptionist if the doctor did silicone and she said yes though.
Soon the nurse took me in first and asked a bunch of questions, we chatted about this and that as well, really friendly...and then she takes me to a room and I change into a robe and wait for the doctor.
The doctor comes in and sits down and the first thing she does is introduce herself and says: "tell me about you, i want to get to know you". I thought to myself "WOW!". I hadn't been approached in quite that way by any of the surgeons before. So I told her about my work and I told her I'd started modeling recently and she got all excited about all of that with me and we talked about my boyfriend and such as well.
She started asking me how long I'd thought about BA and why I wanted it, etc. I explained to her that it's been in my thoughts for quite a few years now but my concerns (sensitivity, future surgeries, and natural look) kept me at bay until I started losing more weight recently. She understood and we went over my concerns one-by-one and she was honest and basically showed me that they were all definitely valid concerns and it was important to weight them on how much I wanted BA.
Then she explained that she does a little extra work in trying to make sure the little nerves that come up through the sides to the nipples are not cut so even if sensitivity is gone for a little while, it usually comes back. But she did still say that it is always a possibility to completely lose sensation...although not so common.
She had me open the robe and she measured and all of that and we talked about sizing. I mentioned that I wanted to be somehwere between a 36C and a DD but that what was more important to me was finding the right proportion for my tall/wide frame. She did say that she thought I could easily handle a 36D with my frame and when I said 400-500cc she threw out 475! I was like wow....I don't know if I'd trust that that would look alright if it wasnt this doctor though because she seemed to really understand what I meant by 'natural look' while some of the other docs' eyes glazed over in confusion about that.
She talked about her history and that she'd been doing surgery since 1991 and that for most of her career, saline was the only way to go because silicone was banned. She said she was trained in silicone however and has done many of them and felt comfortable doing it. I told her I was pretty much set on silicone and she did warn me about one thing I had not heard about. Other doctors have mentioned that if I feel there's a rupture or something, the only way to tell is to do an MRI (and its not covered by insurance of course because its elective). This doctor actually said that I would have to get one 3 years after the surgery and then every two years thereafter.
My concern in hearing this was the money because insurance doesn't cover the MRIs. They are thousands of dollars! I know because I had one last year because I had pinched my psiatic nerve in yoga and my leg had gone numb for a few days. The MRI for that had been like $3000 and I still ended up paying 10% of that myself. That was bad enough.
Anyway, her concern was actually NOT the money but that there are not sufficient studies to show that it is healthy for someone to have an MRI say 20+ times in their lifetime. I thought that was interesting and a little odd but my concern is still with the $$. Hopefully I can stretch that out more than every 2 years and still be safe.
Anyway, we talked more about sizing and she said that when we have the pre-op appointment, she would want me to bring in pictures of women about my height and build in bikinis and clothes and such in 3 categories: Too big, just right, too small. She basically said that she would definitely have a size in mind for me but that she wanted to see what was in MY mind to verify and/or correct that size.
I asked all my other questions and when she left me, I was feeling just like "wow this is the one." I went to the financial person and she took the $100 consult fee and gave me a quote for $8400. The most expensive doctor I've come across yet and yet it didn't phase me. I really think she's the one! I have another consult with one more doctor and then a followup with another to look at pictures but then I'll probably cancel the last one with the doc whom I've already seen his nurse. It may be time to schedule soon! =)