How does it take to heal after SRS

[noleen111]

as per the title.

I am getting SRS late January. I intending to take about 2 to 3 months off to recover. I can because I am part owner in a business, so I can work from home.

But my question actually comes from this.. I am gonna be a bridesmaid at my friends wedding in late June.. and I kinda want to find someone to hook up with at the wedding..Its gonna be one of those weekend hotel wedding. Will my new vagina be ready for action by then. 

[calico]

6 to 7 months from most that I gather now when I went in to the gyno's I was all golden and everything was as it should be ph/moisture/ yada yada so for me it was 7 months, but I had been sexually active since 4 months so I hope this helps

[Jenna Marie]

Brassard recommends three months before attempting vaginal sex.  Personally, I still felt too fragile to try it until at least the six-month mark, but that's me and I was paranoid anyway. (I am not going to be having sex with men regardless, so this is a hypothetical - but since it's hard to ask the guy to control how vigorously or aggressively he hammers away, I know I'd be jumpy until I was 110% sure everything was not just healed but as sturdy as possible.)

[Robyn]

Oh to be young again. <sigh>

Robyn the Elder

[lilacwoman]

You will actually be fit and able to walk round town shopping about ten days after your op - I did and I had the big doube colovaginoplasty.

Going back to work at a desk job will be no real problem so long as you take your ring cushion to prevent squashing the muscle and tightening yourself.

[Jenna Marie]

lilacwoman : She seems to be asking about one specific aspect of healing.   But in the more general sense... I was up and walking 18 hours post-op, and doing 10-minute trips around the residence every hour or so by day 3. I could go for short (1/2-mile round trip) walks by 2 weeks. I was pretty much back to normal in all respects except for energy (needing lots more naps) at 2 months. I could sit comfortably around then, too. Yet it took about six months to be able to get back on my bike, and to be able to sit on hard surfaces for as long as I wanted to. I wasn't actually able to get back to the 30-50 mile bike rides I'd been doing until over a year later, although to be fair some of that was due to weather (waiting for winter to end).

I have to admit, I'm puzzled about this "squashing the muscle" aspect you refer to; I had to adjust to the idea that sitting now involved resting on my *vulva,* since I was used to being able to push my genitalia out of the way rather than plop down on them, but all the muscle action was internal. I didn't have any issues with pressing on my pelvic muscle unless I was using a dilator to do it!

[lilacwoman]

making the hole involves cutting and stretching the muscle which then protrudes for a while so we need the ring to prevent squashing it.

[Jenna Marie]

lilacwoman : Huh. I wonder if that's a feature of the colon procedure, because neither I nor anyone else who had GRS with me had that problem. The doughnut pillow for us was just to prevent putting too much pressure on the very sore, recently stitched, and swollen vulva. If anything, we had the reverse problem - the muscle kept tightening up and closing, which can make dilation difficult in the beginning.

[divineintervention]

Sorry to Hijack this thread - but I am also curious as to the recovery time.

  I'll be done with my undergrad exams in early June, but I'm likely to start my Masters in Mid August.

  If I do the surgery in early July, would I be able to function in terms of attending school etcetc

  Or should I do it right after my exams, say mid June?

  Thanks! Any advice would be appreciated...

[Jenna Marie]

divineintervention : I'd say you should go for earlier is better (=mid-June). It took me four weeks to get back to work but more like six to feel like I wasn't exhausted and on the edge of collapse most of the time, and I have a desk job. If your Master's program is demanding (and most are!), two months plus a bit might be *just* enough time for you to feel back on top of your game.

[Nicolette]

I never used the doughnut except occasionally in the first week. I found it less painful simply resting one bum cheek on the chair instead of two. Even on the 6 hour flight home, on day 12, the aeroplane seat was far more comfortable than the doughnut, which was more like a torture device than anything else!

[calico]

divineintervention : I'd say you should go for earlier is better (=mid-June). It took me four weeks to get back to work but more like six to feel like I wasn't exhausted and on the edge of collapse most of the time, and I have a desk job. If your Master's program is demanding (and most are!), two months plus a bit might be *just* enough time for you to feel back on top of your game.

I considered going back at almost 4 weeks but than decided I couldn't handle it ,since I don't have a desk job and the job I do have is a bit demanding, I ended up going back in 7 weeks but even then wearing pants (job requirement) was a nuisance for me for a couple more weeks after I had returned, the doughnut pill pretty much was discarded after the 5th week for me.

[lilacwoman]

lilacwoman : Huh. I wonder if that's a feature of the colon procedure, because neither I nor anyone else who had GRS with me had that problem. The doughnut pillow for us was just to prevent putting too much pressure on the very sore, recently stitched, and swollen vulva. If anything, we had the reverse problem - the muscle kept tightening up and closing, which can make dilation difficult in the beginning.

No, you all had it for the simple reason that making a hole where there isn't one does involve stretching the muscle that covers the area.
If you look at diagrams of what the surgeon will do you can see that the hole is created directly where we sit and as the surgeon will insert a pack of perhaps 40mm diameter for a day or two or more the muscles will be stretched and forced down creating the bump, obviously it may vary a little from person to person but we all have to have it.

As for it being muscle I find that mine opens and gets itself nicely lubricated at odd moments of the day involuntarily and as the hole is totally unnatural I have to think that the hormones are working on the introduced skin and making it into something approximating natural female vagina lining which is fairly logical when our penises start off as vulvas and only turn into penises under the influence of male hormones.
This lubricating could perhaps be due to the usual male lubricating Cowpers glands but looking back into the murky past those glands only worked while actively thinking about sex so for mine to work involuntarily is amusing and rather nice.

[Vicky]

My surgical discharge instructions said to wait 6 weeks before having PV intercourse, and if I did have it, it would count as one dilation (at that point of 3 per day).  I did not have a boyfriend to work with at that point, so it did not happen.  Ask your surgeon what their advice is before having PVI, but is should be in their pre-op packet too. 

[Jenna Marie]

lilacwoman : I don't mean to debate you, but I've seen the actual operations report of what was done to me, and it... didn't happen like that. If anything, the muscle was cut through and tries to *contract,* as I said.

Possibly we're talking about two different things, b/c I'm referring to the muscle that stops urine (the pubococcygeus muscle). The PC muscle is located a little ways up into the vaginal vault, and does not directly contact where we sit, because the vulva is in the way. In me, the PC muscle is located about 2" into my vagina, for example. Also, the muscle itself will never lubricate for me; like a cis woman, I have a hole directly through it where my vagina passes through, precisely like poking a tube through a hole, with the muscle lying alongside and *squeezing* the vagina from the outside. My vaginal lining is self-lubricating, but that's different. Of course, one of the big advantages of the colon vaginoplasty is that it's supposed to lubricate continuously, so it sounds like you do enjoy that benefit.

If you are still having problems with squashing the muscle or having it protrude after the packing was removed, you honestly might want to get checked for prolapse. I'm glad that you're now happy with your results, though!

[Agent_J]

I'm heading for 8 months post-op now. I don't have any pain or anything of the sort, but I also have only the slightest sensation in my labia and none in my clitoris. Lack of sensation can last up to 2 years (and, rarely, is permanent.)

[Donna Elvira]

Just over 7 weeks post-op, I have experienced a recovery which has so far gone smoother than I ever imagined (no issues at all)  and am already back to a very normal life eg.  6 very hectic days in the bustle of Paris last week, including quite a bit of partying. I have even starting using my bike again, not for long outings but no problem at all doing short trips.

Frankly surprised that by this unexpected outcome , I have discussed it off line with a couple of other girls and one of them spoke to me about an article in the New Scientist which is probably worth being aware of http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26304-immune-signature-predicts-recovery-time-after-operation.html#.VDbuY_l_uuJ

Based on the research presented " immune system activity accounted for 40 to 60 per cent of the variation in recovery time."

Interesting to keep that in mind when we try to understand why there is so much variabilty in the way we recover from GRS, FFS and other major operations, even with the same surgeon.

They still haven't come up with a predictive test and a preventive treatment but no doubt it will come....

Vive le progrès!!
Donna