I'm about 15 mos PO. I'm beginning the search for a plastics surgeon. There are three main surgeons in the city closest to me. I really only like the work and reviews of one of them. I am considering US travel. Do you think the Real Self website is a good source for finding surgeons to further research? What other sources have you used? What do you think about surgeons charging for consultation? Thanks for the tips!

I LOVE realself, that is how I found out I was not alone with my poor outcome from my experience at CosMed in TJ and also that is where I found my new wonderful surgeon...I would highly recommend checking out your surgeon there, where you will find reviews from real patients with real pictures. Not just the ones the surgeon wants you to see on his site, but all the true outcomes good and bad.

I used RealSelf to decide on my doctor and while my surgery isn't for 5 more weeks, I'm not overly concerned because he has consistenly excellent reviews. Also, I don't have a problem with doctors who charge for a consult. Just like our time, their time is valuable and the consult fee is deducted from the price of the surgery if you decide to have the surgery. Think about all of the people in the world who want a boob job and the number of them that can actually afford it. Why should a doc have to waste his time meeting with people who are not actually financially invested in the process? I honestly tend to shy away from doctors who offer discounts or free consults because the truly excellent surgeons don't need to hand out coupons to get business- they're already more than busy. For both my sleeve and my plastics I went with high level docs because I figure the extra cost is more than worth the comfort of knowing that a person who is at the top of their field is the person who is hacking out my stomach and chopping off my skin.

Good luck to you!

I paid consult fees for some of the doctors I consulted with. The ones who didn't charge usually had a sales person meet with you before and then after the short dr's visit. I didn't mind paying for the ones who charged, since I was given a lot more time with the Surgeon when I did. Most of my consults were done online with Realself doctors and with those, there is no charge. I was not apposed to traveling so most of the Doctors were not close enough for a one on one visit anyway...The surgeon I did choose was not local and so I met him in person when I had my surgery but felt very confident with my decision from our phone calls and messages...

AvaFern, how exciting for you...5 weeks, that will go by in no time...what are you having done???