Hi all -
I've been meaning to kick this off for a while, but better late than never! I learned about Dr. Victor Liu from this forum (thanks
@skiman
) and after chatting a bit with Skiman by private msg and meeting with Dr. Liu directly I decided to move forward with my surgery. Lurking on this forum really helped me understand what options are out there and thank goodness I did as I was at one time considering a Penuma
. I'm creating this thread to pay it forward.
I'm in the SF Bay area so Dr. Liu was an easy first choice. When I met with him he was very warm/kind and took time to answer all of my questions. That was a couple of months ago now and I've had several follow-up questions since then and have been impressed with his office's response rate and turnaround time. I opted for
Alloderm + filler (or fat) for girth and am also doing the
ligament surgery for lengthening - and my surgery is Thursday morning, June 8.
Why Alloderm and not Surgimend?
I know there has been a lot of discussion about Surgimend here, and I discussed this at length with Dr. Liu. My #1 priority is looking and feeling 'natural' and Dr. Liu feels Alloderm is a bit softer and more natural feeling, and combined with a small(ish) amount of filler or fat, will produce similar size gains to Surgimend alone. And since it is a relatively small amount of filler (or fat) it shouldn't feel "too soft." He's is still deciding between using perm filler vs fat and we will discuss together on the day of my surgery.
I want to be clear that Dr. Liu uses both Alloderm and Surgimend and thinks highly of both. For those wanting maximum size as their top priority, Surgimend may be a better option! Apples-to-apples, Surgimend alone will likely give you more size than Alloderm alone. Skiman's post covers this in detail and his results have been great. I also have seen some Alloderm skeptics throughout the forum and have read about alleged shrinking over time, etc., but everyone's experience seems to be different and all of the options have their pros and cons. Some may disagree with my decision here but it was mine to make and I did so in collaboration with my doc.
Ligament cut / lengthening
Here, my expectations are a tad lower. I've read on this forum in several threads that this can be hit or miss (esp with erect size gains) and requires some true aftercare commitment, but here I'm just being realistic with my own expectations and hoping for the best.
At best there could be a small amount of length gain. At worst the ROI is nil, but I tried and it was part of my journey. I asked about a weight type of device for post-surgery and if needed, Dr. Liu provides a weighting type of contraption which his office makes or sources.
Pre-surgery STATS
FL: 3.5"
FG: 3"
EL: 5"
EG: 4"
I do have pre-surgery photos and will share as I go along my journey. I hope this thread helps someone(s) like other threads have helped me.
Send good vibes my way everyone!