First a little side story:
I went to the Papillon Center yesterday to get my upper lip done with a local anesthetic. The Papillon Center is in New Hope, PA, about a three-hour drive for me, but it was the closest place I could get it done with a local anesthetic.
When I walk in, who is sitting there, but Christine Kitzler, that poor woman with the parents that tried to get a court injunction to stop her SRS. I filled out my paper work, and went outside for a while (I was very early for my appointment), and when I went back in, Dr. McGinn is standing there, talking to Christine. I must say, they both look just like their pictures. I wish I had introduced myself to Dr. McGinn, but I felt a little star-struck, and Dr. McGinn looked very busy as she rushed off afterward, so I kept to myself.
I found out later from the staff, Christine had her SRS last week, and was up and walking around like nothing had happened! (She might have been in pain, for all I knew, but she certainly didn't show it.)
Enough gossip. For the electrolysis, the PA, Crystal, gave me the injections. I thought it was going to be something like a dental block, but what it turned out to be was three injections on each side of the lip with about a 1-inch needle. They. Hurt. Like. Hell. The last one, to the center-line of my lip, I nearly came off the table. Beads of sweat were running down my face, and tears were involuntarily coming out of my eyes. The electrologist, Lori, was asking "Are you okay?" "Yes," I panted.
So she did my lip. There were still some whiskers that were real zingers. It was done in about 45 minutes, so I asked for my throat to be done. Crystal came back in and shot up my throat. It did not hurt nearly as bad.
My lip was a bit puffy afterward, so I took some ibuprofen and applied some ice when I got home. This morning I got up and Oh-My-God - my lip was twice as big! I look like Bugs Bunny. My throat, where the injections were made, puffed up too, so now I have big jowls as well. I'm icing my lip and throat down down periodically, and I can only hope I look semi-normal by the time I go to work on Monday.
This was not what I anticipated. I expected some swelling, which is why I made the appointment on a Friday, but I didn't expect this. I didn't expect the injections to be their own special form of torture. I'm not sure I would recommend this for others unless you have no other options. The plus side is the staff is nice, and obviously they are very trans-friendly, and New Hope is a very cute little town if you have time to visit.
Terri
