Hi, my name is Robin. A 42 year old recently post-op transsexual. My
partner and I have been together for 26 years, married for 23 years and
closer now more than ever. This is my story and opinions of my Thailand
adventure with Dr. Pichet, I hope they help you in your decisions.

I recently returned from Thailand where I was under Dr. Pichet's care from
August 13th 2003 through September 5th 2003.

I had extensive surgery and I'm VERY happy with the Dr. Pichet, his staff,
and the results. I had SRS with colon resection, full facial feminization
(FFS) surgery, and breast implants. The FFS surgery included full brow
lift, upper and lower eyelid, complete nose reshaping, lip augmentation,
jaw reduction, chin reduction, cheek implants, and thyroid apple shaving.

The man is wonderful! He really cares about you as a person and not as an
income source. He spent 4 hours going over the surgery plan with me, and
another hour or so doing an examination in his clinic the day after I
arrived. I then was taken to the hospital where he had head x-rays, chest
x-rays, and heart tests done to confirm my health status. Once the tests
were complete I was admitted to the hospital into a fantastic private
hospital suite. This room was about 30 feet by 20 feet in size with a mini
kitchen and with a full view of the city. I had a nursing assistant
assigned to me (no extra cost) as a companion even thought my spouse came
with me. This wonderful girl stayed with my spouse while I was in surgery
and intensive care, even slept in the room with her to keep her company.
Once I was back in my room she took care of me as my personal nurse, a
service that just cannot be found in the USA.

With Dr. Pichet you pay a flat fee for his services, including the
hospital charges and all medical costs, there are no other "charges" that
you must pay for except your hotel room once out of the hospital. He and
his staff come to you in your hotel as necessary twice a day, and then
when your ready provides a personnel taxi service to bring you to him
wherever he is, the hospital or the clinic. The doctor even provides your
meals, which you order through his staff each day (Thai food, KFC, Pizza
Hut, McDonalds etc). He will not accept money for this, he tells you that
he knows you?e in a foreign land and need extra care to feel at ease.

The doctor was concerned about the length of my surgery, at 12.5 hours it
was at that time his longest so far, so at no additional expense to me he
placed me in intensive care for a day as a precaution before releasing me
to my hospital room. He even came back to the hospital at 3 AM and slept
in a adjacent hospital room one night when I had stomach pains to be sure
I was ok!

The surgeries all turned out perfect! I never ran a fever and recovered
quickly. Like I said above the doctor pays for all medical care including
medicines. He had me on constant antibiotics for 2 weeks, IV meds while in
the hospital and then pill form once out. My SRS results are, in my mind,
perfect. I have over 6 inches in vaginal depth and I'm using a size 6
dilator (1 5/16") without problems. The doctor had me dilating the 4th day
after surgery and counseled me how important it was that I did so at least
twice a day if I wished to be sexually active. The basic look of the
neo-vagina is acceptable but will need a secondary cosmetic surgery if I
wish it to be perfect at some later point. I have great sensation at the
clitoris and feeling throughout the surgical area. I?e since experienced
vaginal sex with a man and enjoyed it immensely! Dr. Pichet? skill and
the clinic? staff support have allowed me to become a complete woman at
last.

The breast implants are even and look very good. The bruising was very bad
initially but has healed quickly.

Things to think about:

The internet reviews I've read suggests Doctor Pichet does not get great
vaginal depth with a simple penile skin inversion, and he does not do
secondary skin graphs. OPINION: Unless you are of VERY large length in
your penis you will not get great depth with a simple inversion technique
from any doctor from what I've learned.Dr Pichet suggest you should do by
SRS c penile inversion with scrotal skin graft or other area skin graft
such as tummy skin ,groin skin. If a depth of more than 2.5 inches or so
is desired he highly suggests sigmoid colon resection surgery when you
don? have enough skin from scrotal or penile skin, but cautions you quite
hard on the additional risks before accepting your decision to go
forward.Mostly ,Dr.Pichet will do SRS c penile inversion with scrotal skin
graft first and make finally decision on Colon surgery when your skin
tissue is not adequate.

Dr. Pichet does not perform the colon resection alone, but brings in a
general surgeon to harvest the colon section and assist him in its
attachment. However,Dr.Pichet will choose the colon vaginoplasty is the
last choice.

If you are a smoker or heavy drinker be ready to quit these activities
before and while under his care. We all know these activities are bad for
the body and know we should not do them after major surgery. If you are
overweight than loose the weight before contacting the doctor, he will
want full body pictures to evaluate your medical readiness to go through
these surgeries. Common sense suggests you know these things, but the
doctor gets girls all of the time wanting surgery while not following
these simple medical requirements.

Be ready for an adventure in a foreign country, this is not the USA, as
almost everything will be excitingly different. Be prepared to talk with
the doctor over and over as necessary to get your wishes clear. He speaks
very good English but some concepts don't translate well. Remember he
lives in Thailand and his primary language is Thai. Keep communicating
until you and he are talking the same thing. You?e contacting him for the
price savings and because of recommendations such as this one, accept the
challenges that go with your decision.

Learn about the risk of blood clots. The surgery, hospital stay, and
primarily the long plane flights add up to a significant risk of blood
clotting. On my return flight I did not get up and move around enough and
ended up with a pulmonary embolism, a serious blood clot in the lungs.
This put me back in the hospital for 3 days and is a very serious life
threatening condition. I can not stress enough that you should consult
with your home doctor and doctor Pichet on this issue! There are things
you and your doctors can do to greatly reduce the risks.

Do's and don'ts

Don't expect Dr. Pichet to do anything that a USA doctor will not. Don't
expect that the doctor is God, each body will heal in its own way. Plastic
surgery is an art first and a science second. You very well may get an
infection or heal slowly with no fault of the doctors. Don't expect that
there are no risks in getting these surgeries, there ARE RISKS. Worst case
is you could die on the table or you may not get the final results you are
looking for in the end.

Do contact many doctors to get their opinion on what is possible and best
for you. I contacted 7 doctors, 5 in Thailand and 2 in the US before
continuing. Do contact the doctor? previous patients, I contacted 6 of Dr
Pichet's previous patients before deciding I would trust this man with my
life and my dreams. Any good doctor will get you the information necessary
to contact his previous patients, if not, go elsewhere.

Conclusions

This doctor in an honorable and caring man first, a very good plastic
surgeon second. I highly recommend him and his staff as a possible
candidate for you. Thailand is an adventure that is not to be missed, I
can see no reason to pay the extreme prices for a US doctor and miss the
adventure of Thailand as well.

If you have more questions or wish a more detailed and candid review of
Dr. Pichet please do not hesitate to contact me at rtuttle@speakeasy.org.

Robin

I had my tummy tuck done 19 Dec. 2003 and it all went well. I stayed in the hospital 6 days, one day extra to be with my friend. My hotel accommodations were great. I was in good shape when I had my surgery and that was a plus. My surgery was 2 hrs on the 19th. I flew back to Japan on the 28th of Dec. and just rested. I am a little fast, and should have rested more, but thank God I didn't get an infection. I basically did everything I was supposed to do. I took my meds and wore my stomach brace and didn't climb the steps. Presently, I feel great and look great. I will return one day to get Lipo on both sides of my waist. My waist size decrease! d and I feel great. I exercise 3-4 times weekly. I watch what I eat, but eat what I desire.
The only thing I suggest to you is talk with Dr. Pichet about medical concerns. What works for my body, may not work for you. It was painful, but I can bear a lot of pain. I bounced back very quickly. I think partly, is because I was in good physical shape before the surgery. My blood pressure was a little elevated for a few days, but that finally got okay.

I hope I cleared a little bit up. One will have to make their own decision about the surgery. I cannot tell you certain things, because YOU will have to experience those things... I was totally impressed with the care I received. We are still in email/phone contact with Dr. Pichet and his staff. So, you make up your mind by yourself. When you have major surgery, it is good to not have "hang ups". I was alone, my husband stayed in Japan. However, Dr. Pichet kept him abreasted of the entire procedure and of my care. I did the surgery and trusted God will watch over me. I did what I wanted to do, not for anyone else.

Take care and God Bless

Dr. Perry