Okay, I'm going home on monday after almost 3 weeks in the hospital, and have a few minutes to spare. Which means: it's finally time to write my in-depth review of my sugery in Munich, carried out by the fanastic doctors Schaff and Morath.
The TechniqueAs said before, the technique carried out in this hospital is one of a kind. For the vulva, Schaff and Morath mostly work along the lines of Suporn and Chettawutt, thus using penile skin for the labia minora and pudendal cleft, and using the inner part of the foreskin to create a sensitive clitorial hood. However, they use the (homogue) scrotal tissue for the labia majora, instead of penile skin (as Suporn does). The urethra is sewed into the front part of the vaginal wall, which for the other part consists out of a non-meshed, hair-free scrotal skin graft. This means Schaff and Morath do not perform a penile-inversion technique, what they offer is their own unique take on Suporn's method. Other than the aesthetics, another benefit with their technique not being PI, is that there's much less tension on the penile skin, thus benefiting bloodflow and reducing the need of complications. Also, there's no need to construct a mons veneris afterwards.
And it shows! The results they produce are spectacular, visually and functionally on-par with the top Thai surgeons and fully lubricating with arousal, because the urethra is included into the vaginal wall. They urethra has lots of glands in them, called Littré's glands. These normally prepare the urethra for the coming ejaculation, lubricating it. With the urethra being placed in the vaginal wall, it keeps the vagina naturally clean and lubricated, providing enough moisture or penetrative sex. On top of that, Schaff and Morath also keep the Cowper's glands, which exit into the vulva, as their homologues do in cis-women. This means full natural lubrication while aroused, both inside and out.
Schaff and Morath operate in two steps, they do this mainly to leave excess skin in the first go so they can allow for more swelling without damaging anything. The second step mostly revolves around your own personal wishes, it can involve a labiaplasty, clitoroplasty, FFS, BA and a host of other procedures. Everything having to do with the vagina is covered in the initial costs, you will have to pay for FFS and BA though.
The Administrative PartNeedless to say, Schaff and Morath get customers from all over the world. This also leads to a long waiting list. When you call their clinic, you're invited to come for a physical examination and a run-down of their technique and its associated risks. You might need to wait a couple of months for your appointment, depending on who you see exactly. I had my initial appointment with Dr. Morath and had to wait 5 weeks, but if you want to talk to Dr Schaff (who invented the technique) you'll have to wait up to 4 months. After the talk and examination, you get your surgery appointment, which will lie 3,5 or 4 years into the future. Not to worry though, there's another waiting list.
When you live inside Germany, you can get your german health-insurance to pay for most of the costs. Germans will have to pay an extra 3000 euro though. When germans send the written confirmation from the health-insurance, they get placed on another waiting list, which is only 1 year long. The same counts for international customers, if you pay the costs upfront, you get placed on this much shorter list. You will then get a call a few weeks in advance with your final surgery date.
The second surgical step has to be at least 6 months after the first one, and can be scheduled by phoning the clinic after the first step is done.
The Hospital StayWhich brings us to the most important part: the hospital stay! You will be asked to check into the hospital in Munich 24 hours before your actual surgery, so you can go over the details one more time with the surgeons. Also, you get an appointment with the anaesthesiologist and get to drink a nice amount of disgusting water laced with a laxative. After that, you spend the rest of the day on the toilet. Fun guaranteed!
The next morning, you get to dress in a nice sugical gown and compression stockings. Half an hour before you're up, you get a benzodiazepine (lorazepam) to relax you a bit, after which you get wheeled into the operating theatre and the docs get to practice their magic. The surgery itself takes around 4 hours, so you can expect to be back in your room sometime in the evening. There will be a bladder catheter running out of your urethra into a pee-bag which you get to carry around all the time.
The first week, you have like a sponge sewed between your labia majora, this is to keep the area under a moderate pressure to enhance blood flow. Also you will have a huge tampon in your vagina, which also stays the first 6 days. This tampon serves to suck up blood and to have the vagina heal into its final position and configuration for as long as possible. In order to prevent swelling, catheters are placed into the vulva to let go of any excess exudate. As long as this sponge between the labia and the huge tampon are in place, you can't shower and walking also isn't that much fun.
The amount of care you get is phenomenal. Doctor Schaff or Morath will check on you every day for as long as you're in the hospital, keeping a close eye on your healing process and thus minimizing the risk of complications. On the 6th day, you get to get your first gynaecological survey! Yep, you get to walk over to an examination room with a gyn-chair, place your legs onto the pedestals and up you go
This is when they pull the condom and remove the sponge. They will then clean your vagina with a saltwater solution, and drench a piece of bandage with wound-healing ointments (Furacine and Iruxole). This then gets inserted into your vagina again, and a thorough examination of the vulva follows. This ritual is then repeated every day. Taking out the bandage, cleansing the vagina, putting a new bandage in and inspecting the area.
The bladder catheter will be removed between the 9th and 14th day after surgery, depending on how well and fast you're healing. Two days after the catheter will be removed, your vagina will be thorougly looked at again and as soon as it has healed adequately, you can start dilating. As soon as you've managed this, you're released from the hospital. My hospital stay was 20 days in total for the first surgery.
During this time, the nurses will check on you 5 or 6 times per day, changing your bandages and providing you with ice packs for cooling. They provide you with antibiotics, painkillers, sleeping pills and whatever other pills you might need. Also, the hospital food is actually quite good, you get to choose between 3 menus, including a vegetarian one. The food isn't overly cooked and the cooks clearly like their job. For me, this was the first time hospital food actually made me feel like eating, hihi. Furthermore, as soon as you can walk around, you can go to the hospital gardens and make acquaintance with one of the cats who hang around there, or with the squirrel which gets so curious it might actually eat the food right out of your hand. If you sit still enough that is!
ConclusionThe technique, surgeons, hospital and staff are phenomenal. Contrary to many other great surgeons, you don't actually get discharged from the hospital after a week, having to spend the rest of your stay in a hotel room you will have to pay yourself. On the contrary, you get round-the-clock care from the surgeons themselves, other doctors and a great nursing staff. And the results of their works are fantastic!
I would recommend Dr. Schaff and Dr. Morath in a heartbeat, there aren't any better places to get this surgery done.
