I've had a couple of surgeries with him and thought it was pretty neat to see some behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Q_8Xc8YBc I'm still in awe when I step in or see footage of the office 🙃
I noticed he posted it to fb but I don't think that gets much visibility nowadays.
He’s been posting heaps of marketing material on YouTube recently.
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I definitely won't disagree with you about most of us not having access to good FFS surgeons. There's a lot of luck that is needed to be part of that seemingly small percentage of transwomen that can be stealth and can 100% integrate back into society alongside cis women. Having genetics on your side and parents with money seems to be the holy grail.
I will say that I'm not young and grew up down the street from the projects. Once I hit puberty and started growing body hair I gave up my favorite things as a child, such as swimming and going to water parks. I withdrew from society and for the next 14 years didn't wear shorts, go on vacation, or step foot in a pool. Video games were my outlet and mirrors were my enemy.
I too had to save up cash as an engineer. My face mostly passes now thanks to FFS with DB but my body doesn't (I'm almost 6'1" with a wide rib cage and a 10" hand span) so many transwomen who went on blockers or had an easy puberty still pass better than I do without the need for surgeries. A lot of my body features aren't 'fixable'. I could go into this more but don't want to be too negative about everything.
I've received quotes from other good (not FFS) surgeons who charge more for similar procedures and I've also heard of other FFS surgeons now charging more than DB because of the backlog of patients. I don't think there's a huge quote gap between what I would consider A-tier and B-tier FFS surgeons as I've seen many quotes from friends and acquaintances, but many patients are forced to go to whoever their insurance approves.
I would easily give up my career and any money I have left to go back in time and convince my 13-year-old self to go on blockers, but I can't. We can only do the best that we can given our current situation and hope that the next generation has access to the things that we didn't.
For those that went through male puberty and don't have a tech degree, fighting for insurance coverage with good surgeons is the next best thing. Starbucks is the best example I can give.
I'm at Starbucks right now just for the insurance coverage and have been for over 2 years now. I wish to God I could go to DB but he only does in-person consults and I live on the east coast and can't afford to travel just for a consult even though the actual surgery itself would likely be covered. Besides that I still haven't been able to claw my way out of all the stress, depression, and anxiety I have to actually jump through all the hoops that I need to to even get the process started despite having the insurance for about a year now. It's so bad that I'm actually going to run out of hormones for a couple weeks because my injectables are tied up on red tape and I can't afford to just pay out of pocket and I can't get in to see my doctor for a new prescription in time.
Just a heads up Dr. Rolfes in Minnesota does as good if not better work for a fraction of the cost; in a few years he'll be mentioned in the same breath as Dr. DB, Lee, etc.
No one is as good as DB.
Apparently if you go through Starbucks they will cover DB directly, or so I've been told by many people on here. That seems doable for most trans people, and I'm thankful that SBUX can help people pick the best surgeon in the world.
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