Decision in the Making - West Covina, CA

Well today was my 1st consultation with Dr. Cohen. Once i started getting closer to the office and even waiting to be called back/waiting for the doctor to see me I was nervous as ALL hell! The anticipation was killing me! I was a half hour early and he was about 45 mins late but considering how my visit went with him I didn't let that bother me anymore.

Dr. Cohen is a very sweet and straight doctor. He pointed something out to me that I would have never thought of up until now.
He flat out told me that my nose was NOT big, what makes it bigger than what it seems is because I have a very small chin which causes my nose to stick out more than it should. If I indeed went with this doctor I would have to get rhinoplasty, a chin implant, as well as fixing of my septum(which would help me breathe better). I was SO not expecting to hear that, I almost freaked out how much more money would be tacked on but I have to keep reminding myself that cost/price should not be a factor. The cheaper the procedure, the crappier it could be. He used "facial harmony" a lot when he was explaining how he wanted/would do during my procedure. He kept emphasizing that if i am ONLY focused on my nose, i will never be satisfied, no matter what nose he did (he used an irish nose an example) it will always look big to me due to my chin. Dr. Cohen said that my face was not balanced, when thinking about getting my nose done, I have to focus more on facial harmony rather than just one thing. He also said that he doesn't do this just for the money, it's not about that, it's making his patients feel comfortable and happy with themselves as opposed to other doctors who will just do what the patients want rather than looking at the bigger picture.

He was very easy going and up-front with me and I really liked that. All of my questions got answered (minus 4...out of 31 questions), i felt bad because i asked so many but he let me ask as many questions as I wanted and answered them all in detail.
I can say this much, if the 3 other doctors I have consultations with DO NOT mention what Dr. Cohen did, I am definitely going with Dr. Cohen. He just actually saved me... I have never noticed that my chin was really small, he might have saved me from any misfortune on doing this procedure. He highly recommends that I do the chin implant in order to fill my needs.

Soooo....we will see what the next doctor says and i will go from there! (Next Friday the 8th)

Until then..... =]

After reading some stories on chin impacts....I'm getting nervous on if I should go through with that or not. =\ the doctor said I i have a small chin and in order to get the results i want as far as the nose job I would need to get a chn implant. Without it....id be doing myself a disservice .... nomatter what I do to my nose, it'll always look big. I've read on websites that that's true...but considering the stories I've read about chn implants =\ its making me nervous. People being dissatisfied with it and end up taking it out, being crooked and what not. =\ I'm getting more nervous on having all if this done =\ help??

Question to anyone whose gotten a chin implant:

Did you have more than 1 consultation with different doctors to get different opinions? or did you settle for the first or second
doctor you saw?

Looked on the CareCredit website and made a guestimate of how much I wanted to finance for with the cost that my first doctor gave me and DAMN! I am going to have a difficult time paying this off when I get this procedure done. People tell me to get CareCredit without the interest rate, but...umm...did ya look at the payments per month?! HELL NOOOO!!! Max month with no interest is $500 payment per month, i don't think so. It's going to be very difficult to pay this off when I have no job =/ I have no choice but to include the interest rate and have to pay $200 a month.

I am NOT going to let lack of money keep me from this doing, I have to keep reminding myself that this is something I want to do and the price is worth it. The cost of the procedure doesn't bother me, i know it's going to be a lot of money, but the payments per month? I SO was not expecting that at all. I saw that last night (and put in different amounts) and the payments are ridiculous; it discouraged me a lot! But i can't let that get me... i really can't. This is something I have wanted my entire life, i will not let this get to me and i WILL do this! I know how to budget the money that I get and i can make it! This just means that I need to get a job within that time frame to help me.

Does anyone know when you start making the payments? Is it the day after the surgery???

Well today was my 2nd consultation, I think it went fairly well although there were some things that I was very skeptical about. The doctor overall, he was very sweet and encouraged me to ask all the questions I had and plus some, which was really cool. Between the doctor and the nurse/receptionist that was present in the room with me, were really shocked that I had all of my stuff organized and a notebook and questions all ready to go. Most of their patients don't do that, they come in without knowing anything about the procedure they want done and don't ask nearly half (if any) of the questions they should be asking; so i felt REALLY good about myself and how i am organized with all this.

When it come to explaining my procedure and what I wanted done, he did the same thing Dr. Cohen did, which was getting a hand mirror, point out what I wanted to change. He was detailed to an extent on what he would be doing to my nose and how he would be doing it. He wasn't fully detailed like the first doctor i saw was, which made me feel a little hesitant. After explaining what needed to be done to my nose, i realized he was NOT going to mention anything about my chin or "facial harmony" as i've been hearing it be said. SO, i decided to take it upon myself and bring it up! Once I brought it up, he almost seemed stunned that I even knew what i was talking about and it took him a few seconds to even respond to what I had just said. He nodded and agreed and pretty much left it in MY hands and said i could get it or not. If i had it done my face would look symmetrical it would better even out the face, but not having it done my nose would still look small. He did not go into detail on why i needed or even elaborate on what I had said, he just left it at that. That made me a little uncomfortable considering Dr. Cohen was VERY detailed about the chin, he focused more on the chin than the nose and told me that no matter what I had done with my nose, due to my chin being small, my nose would always look bigger than what it seems. I felt that this doctor left the decision up to me and i didn't like that all. I am the patient, i have NOOO idea what in the hell i am getting myself into, i mean this is my face, i don't want a doctor telling me it's up to me and end up messing up my face and spending money that I shouldn't be spending because they weren't looking out for their patient's best interest. Dr. Cohen....did.

I felt like he was rushed a little...as far as wanting to schedule for labwork and the surgery, he went very quickly in what the procedure consisted of. It almost seemed like I was going to make the appointment and do the surgery right then and there and that was a little strange. I am in noo way down talking this doctor, i am not judging his expertise, i just...didn't feel as comfortable with him as i did with Dr. Cohen. He joked around a lot, made me feel really comfortable with environment. I just did not like the fact that he was leaving this decision up to me, i mean yea... it IS my decision, but on a professional level, you're not just going to let your patients get whatever the hell they want done when they shouldn't be. In a way, i kind of felt like he added the chin implant just to get the extra money because it was another procedure under his belt. With Dr. Cohen, i did not feel that at all, he told me how it was and that was that. This is someone's face we're talking about here.... the patients don't know all of the things that come with these procedures, the doctor is there to educate you and help you make a decision (what is your professional opinion, what do they suggest) it shouldn't all be up to the patient because patients don't always know what's best for their body when it comes to plastic surgery....but maybe that's just my opinion.. As of RIGHT NOW (until i see my last 2) Dr. Cohen is the one i want to with, so far.

Well, today I have my last consultation then it's time for me to make a decision!
the last one i went to i saw Dr. Miller and OMG he was amazing! He mentioned everything
that Dr. Cohen did only did one step better. They both mentioned the same things and talked about
the facial balance which was awesome! Dr. Miller took the same steps and mentioned the same things
as the first doctor i saw but he did one step better. He took pictures of my front/side view profile and pointed
out exactly what he meant by facial balance also pointing out what he was talking about concerning my chin.

He did add a procedure (neck lipo) in order to bring out like a 3D illusion to kind of bring out my chin a little more.
He suggested between that and a chin implant, having both would help bring out the other but that was entirely up to me.
I really liked how Dr. Miller approached things. He had a look at my nose, looked inside and explained in detail what he wanted to do. He checked my breathing; said that one nostril collapses more than the other so he would fix that as well. I don't know just something about him....i really liked. I will more than likely go with Dr. Miller. Between Dr. Miller and Dr. Cohen....it's a hard decision because I like them both. So we will see.....

I have my last consultation so we'll see how that one goes but I think i have made my decision on which doctor to go. =]
I'm excited!! Once i officially make the decision...i will probably make a second appointment and get more in detail on what needs to be and all that mess then concentrate on getting the things that i need.

I have made my decision...Dr. Miller it is!!

The doctor i saw today...sorry to say it...was a bitch! She totally disrespected my mom (i had her come with me for support) and said some things she shouldn't have said. I was floored and really pissed off; i tuned out to everything she was telling me and had absolutely no interest whatsoever in what she was saying. She was disrespectful and i did not like her one bit. Her approach to things were lousy, she mentioned my chin (it's too small) but did not emphasize or give detail on what needs or should be done. She did not really give me a chance to ask any questions (after she said what she said to/about my mom i lost interest and didn't really give a crap). She showed me pictures of people who had rhinoplasty's and pretty much rushed me out the door (not that I cared). As far as giving me an estimate on how much it might be....all i got was a piece of paper with a list of certain things and prices next to: doctor fee, facility fees and what not...but there was no actual estimate...so i pretty much had to figure out the cost on my own. This doctor did NOT interest me at all...very disappointed and quite frankly she made it easier on me to make my decision.

She offended me...and most of all my mom. Screw that doctor!

I have to wait for Dr. Miller's receptionist to email me the quote on how much the procedure will be, the next step i will apply for carecredit and i will go from there. Probably end up making another appointment in get in BIG detail and last minute questions to finalize my decision then make a surgery date! EXCITED!!! =] can't wait!

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