History 4: Choosing a Surgeon

How to choose a surgeon? There are basically three major locations for GRS surgery: United States, Montreal and Thailand. Many choose a surgeon in Thailand because they offer the best prices or because they don't adhere as tightly to the Benjamin Standards; pretty much, if you've got the money you can have GRS in Thailand even without letters. I rejected Thailand as a possibility for me for several reasons: the desire to not be in a foreign land while going through this, the nearly 24 hour air travel (a donut is not going to make that enjoyable), and, as my friend Debbie says, with something as important and complicated as GRS you don't want to go bargain basement. You've really only got one chance to get it right.

Having ruled out Thailand I started contacting all of the surgeons in North America.

• I never heard back from Dr. Brassard.
• I was worried by Dr. Reed's policy of discharging you from the hospital after 24 hours (saves money but at what risk?)
• I was concerned that Marci Bower hadn't done enough surgeries.
• That left me with Dr Meltzer and Dr Schrang.

I was lucky to be going to Phoenix on a trip and was able to also schedule a consult with Dr. Meltzer. I came away feeling very good about him. He does come off as a bit arrogant but I think that kind of confidence is a good thing in a surgeon. I booked my date on the spot. He's definately not the cheapest but he may be the best.