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Overall, my surgical experience was positive (GRS) with Dr. Ting. He's not warm and fuzzy, but Ting went the extra mile for me to ensure my insurance covered the procedure etc. The surgery went well, with great post-op results so far. That said, I appreciate some of the negative reviews, especially those regarding communication as I experienced much of the same. I think they're just too busy with not enough staff to keep up. The hospital/nursing staff were great, I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Yeah the hospital staff is good but not his actual office he needs to hire at least 2 or 3 more assistants especially with the amount of patients that go there. Which srs technique did he perform on you
Honestly, it’s not just Ting that can be problematic at Mt. Sinai. While Dr. Avanessian is nice in passing and personality, definitely warmer than Ting, in the end I had a pretty poor experience with her and she wasn’t able to help with a lot of the issues I was dealing with, and some of the advice she gave me to some my issues was questionable imo.
I was pretty unhappy with my results (still am) and it took me 3 years from my initial surgery to return to Mt. Sinai for a revision consultation because I was that traumatized from the initial process. With her being a new surgeon in combination with my body’s difficult healing process, is probably why things turned out so rough for me. When I mentioned how painful and unsightly my erectile tissue is and the internal hair I deal with is and how it’s emotionally affecting me (which I’ve read anecdotes on here from perspective patients saying that she’s reported in consultation she’s allegedly never dealt with internal hair issues in patients, or that the laser in the Mt. Sinai office is adequate for hair removal both of which are NOT true btw) she told to me to “let go” of the prespective I was holding since it was holding me back, when I doubled back and said I could not let it go because it’s my body and she said “Oh no! That’s not what I meant, I mean you need to dissociate from those aspects.” (Essentially telling me to ignore and dissociate from the issues that were weighing heavily on me emotionally) which at that point I realized she was on a completely different page than I was and felt I probably no longer wanted to be under her care anymore. She isn’t a malicious or mean person at all, in fact quite the opposite, but in the end I felt like she her responses were a bit mute.
She also could not guarantee that the erectile tissue could be fully removed, or that the urinary issues that it’s caused by proxy could be solved (if not worsened), or that the internal hair could be removed (she mentioned I’d have to wait the day of the surgery to find out if the OR had the proper tools or not to reach it), and then told me to wait “for the next 5 years for improvements in this field” (in regards to internal hair) and to use my “coping skills” in the meantime. She also doesn’t really have a conclusive technique for labiaplasty either, she mentioned two options to me (one method which I got the sense she may consistently practice more, and the other she’s just started - and she could only show me one result fresh out of surgery of a revision in general). She also took no responsibility for the poor hair removal advice she gave me back during our initial consultation (to which she insisted laser was adequate, she could do a full cauterization and that I wasn’t to worry about hair since it was unlikely to grow internally. I was in the process of getting electrolysis at the time and shouldn’t have stopped) but then apologized on my behalf for me misunderstanding her. I get it, she was just being honest as a surgeon about the limitations of surgery and what she can realistically do and fix, and also trying to choose her words carefully as to not admit malpractice or something of the like, and I understand that. I understand she’s learning too. I understand there’s things that I’m at fault for as well. However, as a patient once you’re put into this situation where you have lifelong, emotionally damaging issues over a surgery that you’ve dreamt about, it’s pretty disheartening and saddening. Especially when that person who essentially put you in that position can’t even help. I don’t know, I understand this isn’t 100% her fault but I also felt like she took no responsibility for the outcome either. I also felt like when I brought up those emotional aspects, she didn’t know how to answer to it and sort of ended up gaslighting me, even if it was unintentional. She even admitted most patients don’t come back so she has no idea what they deal with or feel longterm, hopefully my experience stuck with her but I doubt it.
It just seems like Mt. Sinai has grown WAY too big for what they can realistically handle but they also don’t stop to change their approach, or to add help, or rework their program or protocols to better serve patients. It’s just ridiculous honestly, the amount of negative experiences coming from there is unacceptable.
Anyways, sorry to like go on a tangent about this and to basically leave a review lol, I’m just upset and saddened overall by my experience at Mt. Sinai and really resonate with fellow patients who had poor experiences there as well.
Fwiw, during our revision consultation Dr. A mentioned the only team she trusts for major revisions is the team at NYU (in fact she refers people there for more severe cases) so that’s where I’ll likely be going. Probably where I should’ve went to begin with, but who knows. Maybe the same issues would’ve occurred, but I also slightly doubt it since the facility and surgeons at NYU tend to get better reviews. Perhaps they can help you help you too, or another surgical team out there can help. Best of luck with everything.
Had the same experience with him! He needs to be barred from performing SRS and go back to doing what he was doing before! Going to him was my BIGGEST regret
Is Dr Avanessian the female surgeon? I’m not sure if there’s multiple female surgeons there who do srs by themselves but I did meet with her I think and she told me she can’t fix my problems and referred me to NYU as well which I’m not going to I’m looking outside Newyork
Yeah Dr. Avanessian is the female surgeon there, I believe she’s the only female surgeon part of that program so you likely did meet with her. I’d honestly give NYU a chance, they have experience fixing results from Mt. Sinai but I do think it’s wise you get multiple opinions. I’m also seeking out teams in San Francisco, Portland, even Thailand as well. Best of luck with everything, I hope you find someone to help.
I've never even heard of this Dr. Ting for him to be so popular. I've been researching the heck outta FFS surgeons and his name hasn't popped up. Guess that's a good thing.
He is better know for SRS.
That makes sense as to why I haven’t heard of him then. SRS isn’t something that I’m looking for at this time. Thanks for the clarification.
i’ve literally only heard horror stories about dr ting i have no idea how he’s still allowed to even touch a scalpel
Yeah I’ve spoke to many trans women who he has literally botched and mutilated. I understand things can go wrong during surgery however these transgender surgeons should be required to fix whatever body part they botched instead they don’t want to help the patient once they are paid
Unfortunately, the U.S. medical community treats us like the cottage industry we've become. )-:
Please don't read if you are in a poor headspace. I did not intend this to be attacking you and it shouldn't be read that way. I ended up expressing my frustration with surgeon reviews in general and it can seem like I am placing blame or hate on you rather than how the trans community responds to displeasure with surgeons
Every surgeon is a 'butcher' when you evaluate them by the vocal cases. People who are satisfied generally don't say anything. This isn't a hit against you, I am simply stating the reason why reviews of anything are either 1 star or 5 star. Humans will say when something is bad or very bad but won't say anything if they are pleased.
The choices of who review things are basically: "FUCK YEAH I LOVE IT" and "FUCK NO I HATE IT". So then you have this silent majority who are completely pleased but not to the point of screaming it from the rooftops or, more applicable to surgeries, revealing their results publicly (doubly so for transgender surgeries).
All surgeons, even the best of the best, have their horror stories. Sometimes it's the surgeon's fault, sometimes it's the patient's, sometimes it is just bad luck that no one could've predicted or prevented (infections, necrosis, etc.)
There are very few surgeons where their output is overwhelmingly poor outcomes and those surgeons are well-known to the community. But even so, the out-and-out "butchers" still do have good outcomes and happy patients.
I went to Ting, fully understanding who he is, what his speciality is and how he would interact with me. If you go to Ting (or perhaps any other Mt Sinai surgeon), you shouldn't expect lots of facetime with the surgeon.
In the entire 18 months I was engaged with the process of getting surgery, I think I talked to Ting a total of 15 minutes. He has people around him who do the 'grunt work' of prepping patients, post-ops, etc. Even post-op, laying in a hospital bed, Ting came in for maybe 3 minutes, checked in on healing, talked with me for maybe a minute then left. Every other check-up in the hospital was done by another doctor.
This isn't a hit against Ting. Every time I talked to him, he was friendly, caring and spent all of the time he needed to without me feeling rushed.
I do believe you that you are unhappy, but FUD-ing surgeons only makes prospective Ting patients feel worse, more unsure and potentially pushing them to cancelling their surgeries after they have spent 6, 12, 18 months waiting. I spent 4 fucking months cuddled under a blanket, WFH-ing (pre-Covid), eating take-out and watching TV because a few people FUD-ed me about Ting's reputation and how he was a butcher, how the only real surgeon is Brassard and he alone can save the trans community.
Yet... shocker! Turns out Brassard has his own FUD-ers too! It's almost like the trans community are pretending their pussies and dicks are mechanical keyboards that are 100% unique from each other and not more-or-less interchangeable medical procedures with slight variations and the surgeons are basically equally competent.
I don't want to come across as dismissive to you. Your pain and disappointment are real and valid. I am just frustrated by the use of the word "butcher" and "horrible" when discussing surgeons that can cause trans patients to panic in one of the biggest decisions of their lives and create more anxiety in a situation where there is already a lot.
re: Jazz Jennings
He didn't necessarily mess her up. 1: He was on a team with Bowers as well 2: She had been on hormones since childhood resulting in no growth to her genitals.
That's an extreme case that is fraught with complications already. They were doing a 1 of 1 kind of surgery from the outset and complications were bound to happen.
You also have to remember that Jazz Jennings' show is not a documentary... it's a reality show. The drama and suspense is purposefully played up. The show runners want things to go bad and for there to be sirens and ambulances and lots of " GASP WHATS HAPPENING?!" so they can cut to commercials all of a sudden.
Also: ( really don't read if you are in a bad headspace)
I wouldn't go to Ting for FFS, he is not an FFS surgeon... his specialty is SRS.
Spend the extra time to go get surgery from someone whose entire practice and specialty is specifically doing facial plastic surgery, especially when FFS (afaik) is always paid out of pocket. So if your choices are out of pocket one-stop-surgery or out-of-pocket specialist, your face deserves the luxury treatment of someone who isn't trying to pack two major surgeries into a six hour window (approaching the max you can be under) . My SRS took, I think, almost four hours.
IMO, when you do "one-stop-surgery", your choice of surgeon decides whether your face or genitals end up better depending on what the surgeon's speciality is. Until surgeons end up having in-house FFS specialists and in-house SRS specialists working simultaneously, I personally wouldn't advise combo surgeries.
I don't go to Wendy's then complain their Big Mac sucks. Ting is not a one-stop shop but that doesn't mean he is a butcher. Wendy's is a damn good restaurant... at what they do.
FFS is covered by medicaid in NYC, and the Mount Sinai surgeons are some of the surgeons who are covered.
Hmm! TIL.
Thank you! I am not saying Ting is bad at FFS, just that it isn't his specialty and people should go into that aware.
I am doubtful Ting will fuck you up nor is he awful, but personally if I had the choice, I would dig deep into how they do the SRS/FFS combo, if they use a second surgeon and how they fit good SRS and good FFS into the relatively small window they have. Or split the surgeries into two if I didn't feel comfortable.
I am not a surgeon, just some idiot on the internet whose tired of Ting being dragged on his FFS results despite him not really being an FFS surgeon.
So, as far as I know, Ting, Avanessian, and Pang all do FFS in addition to SRS, and I think they all do BA as well. I'm not sure about transmasc surgeries.
I had bottom surgery with Dr Pang, and he did a trachea shave for me at the same time, but he said that if I wanted any additional FFS procedures it would have had to be a separate surgery. I imagine the other surgeons follow similar protocols.
Every patient I spoke with in the waiting room has shared their botched stories with him as well I also know hundreds of trans women who have been botched as well but they don’t say anything either. Your telling me that most of the satisfied patients don’t leave reviews but I can assure you it’s the same with the botched patients as well. If someone cancels their surgery over a review then that’s good because it shows they weren’t 100% knowledgeable and confident with taking that step. Most trans surgeon nightmares are never ever talked about in the media by the trans community which is understandable because we are still trying to fight for equal rights so bringing light to the botched surgeries isn’t a good look because then the anti trans will use that against us. Anyways I stand behind everything I said. I even mentioned that every surgeon will have fuck ups because at the end of the day they are human as well the point was is the lack of following up with their patients. I don’t care if you have thousands waiting for surgery I think every surgeon should be required to leave a few surgery days open for each month incase they need to fix a mistake they performed on someone it’s not that hard to follow up I think that would be the easy part. If he was willing to work with me through this I wouldn’t have posted this review but he just seemed very dismissive and rude so I’m finding a new surgeon now fuck him and his whole office
I wouldn’t have posted this review but he just seemed very dismissive and rude so I’m finding a new surgeon now fuck him and his whole office
From reading your other comment, it seems like you yelled at one of his staff members, his surgery coordinator. A woman who is basically 1 of 1 for his office afaik so you screamed at the one person who likely would've gone to bat for you.
You may have been fired as a patient rather than Ting refusing to help you (despite the two seeming similar).
I do agree with you that all surgeons should be more open to fixing mistakes, but I would advise anyone against being rude or angry with surgeons as much as you feel you should. They are human too and have feelings. One major thing, and I am not saying you did this, is do not mention the word malpractice in front of a doctor until you are ready to file.
Mentioning malpractice will get you walked out of the office and your phone calls refused. People think it is the trump card that will get them what they want, but really, it's a like a 1950's atom bomb. Not even tactical or precise. That's endgame, no more talking, no more fixing, the patient is done talking and requesting revision.
One other thing is potentially going to a different surgeon would give a new perspective on what could be improved or fixed, rather than getting the same eyes and brain of the surgeon that did the initial work.
As shitty as this situation is, think of it in a more positive way: You are getting the chance to have another surgeon take a look at the problem with a fresh perspective and bringing their own experience to the problem.
What don’t you like about your results?
Butcher Bart Van de Ven is worse. He would butcher and kill you as well as call you crazy if you complain to him about his botched work. There is even a video of it out there.
I had surgery with him august last year and deeply regret it. It looks like a 5 year old did it
Doesn’t he also charge like 100,000 ??? Why is he so overpriced
He doesn't charge $100k.
If you ask the cash price, they say $1MM... but highly discourage someone doing that.
No one goes to Mt Sinai paying cash. They basically only take insurance and will work directly with your insurance to pay for the surgery with nothing out of pocket.
If you actually take the bills at face value (you shouldn't.), the price is $250k - $300k and you'll basically just pay your deductible for the surgery, so maybe a few thousand out of pocket.
He is overpriced just like Spiegel in Boston. However Dr Ting takes insurance so lot of his patients go through insurance that’s what I did with srs. I think most surgeons half ass the patients paying with insurance which is fucked because they are still getting paid regardless because of me? His assistant is also no help I went off on her and said that their whole office isn’t looking to help trans people they just look at trans people as a cash cow money sign
Is there a better alternative in the NY area?
There are the other Mt Sinai surgeons. I believe there are two other surgeons working individually now, but they were all trained by Ting (OoOoOoO be vewwy afwaid). I've heard Avanassian (Ting's first protege) has started developing her own spin on Ting's method with good aesthetic results.
There's also Bluebond-Lagner which I've only heard glowing things about, she uses robotics to operate which allows for smaller incisions and faster healing. Bluebond-Lagner doesn't work with nor is she trained by Ting if you are looking for another 'school' of surgeons.
Unfortunately not really I’m looking outside of Newyork
Dr. Bluebond-Langner might be the best surgeon for SRS right now
Rachel Bluebond-Langner
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