I'm glad you are going to see Dr. Shahinian, he may not be as unknown as you think. Check these 2 links:
http://www.pituitary.org/memberdirec...ianProfile.php
http://www.skullbaseinstitute.com/shahinian.htm
Dr. Shahinian is formerly from Cedars-Sinai, and seems to be pioneering some skull surgery techniques.
I'll be interested to see what you find out. Contact me privately if you would like to meet while you are in LA to see him.
You are to commended for taking the initiative of looking for other options and coming to LA to research it.