SRS with Dr. Chettawut - May 9th 2017

[threewestwinds]

May 16th, six days after surgery.

Ok, I'm going to be a bit... biological here in this post, because I want to let other people doing / considering SRS know what to expect. If you don't want to read about private parts, this dashed line is where you should stop reading.

------

Peeling away the coverings was a little painful, but in the expected "removing tape from skin which has hairs on it" way, nothing new and exciting there. Underneath, I got my first look at my new lady parts.  They're all purple and bruised, and it's hard to get a good look because the catheter's in the way and I only have a hand mirror.

They're within the range of 'human female normal', but that's all I can tell right now. Again, catheter and bruising. The first look is filled with emotions, but not filled with beauty.

I was giddy. I also still had nurses poking around at me with sterile swabs and rubber gloves. Everything was really sensitive. Not painful, just... sensitive. My brain does not know how to process these nerves yet. There are definitely a lot of nerves on the outsides and on the vulva, but beyond 'lots of nerves', I can't really say more at this point. It mostly didn't hurt.

Removing the packing was the strangest sensation I've ever had. It as all one long cotton strip, stuffed up in me, so the nurse took hold of one end, and, well, started pulling. And pulling. And pulling. There was a lot of it, and it felt so strange, like having my insides slowly pulled out through a hole I didn't have two weeks ago. It didn't hurt until the very end, but pulling the last little bit out made me tense. Not screaming pain, but... more than a medium spank, less than a hard cane is the best way I can describe it. And now you know more about my sex life than maybe you wanted to. Sorry. ^^;;

After unpacking, the nurses took a photo to show to the doctor, then poked around a bit more with sterile swabs, and then began my first test dilation. They had me lay on my back, spread my legs, and relax. Don't feel tense, relaaaaax, don't worry about the fact that we're slathering lube on a plastic dildo and about to see how deep we can shove it in you, relaaax...

Twist and push, twist and push, she put it in, me watching via hand mirror. There was surprisingly little sensation - perhaps there will be more once things have healed better and my brain has rewired more, but almost everything is right around the opening, no feeling at all past the first inch or two. I could feel something pressing into my guts, but it wasn't pleasant or painful... until she reached the end. 6 1/2" is what I've got, ladies, and you'll know when you hit the end of that particular cavity.

It hurt a little, she pressed a little more, took another photo, and told me to mark exactly how deep it was in in my little hand mirror, then took it out. Baby wipes, a sanitary pad, and I'm wearing panties. Without a bulge. It's giddy. It's exciting. It's wonderful.

Well, there actually is still a bulge - I'm all swollen, and the catheter tube is still in place. But you know what I mean.

I took a shower (no baths for the next three months though), walked around the room a bit, played computer games. I'm feeling much more human again after the shower.

-----

May 17th, seven days after surgery. First day of dilation, 15 minutes.

At this point, I can walk around and take care of myself pretty well. All told, it wouldn't have been terrible doing this on my own - ladies considering getting SRS solo, take note. It was nice to have someone fetching things in my first few days post surgery, but I could have done this solo if necessary. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done of it's too scary. You won't be helpless and in pain and alone and... it's just not like that, or at least it hasn't been for me.

After breakfast in the hotel restaurant, I came back and waited for the nurses for my first real dilation (rather than just the test from yesterday). I won't go into the exact mechanics again - on my back, lots of lube, twist and push, easy and almost sensationless until we find the end, except this time with me in control.

Then she had me hold is place for 15 minutes, correcting me every time I let up the pressure a little. It's supposed to stretch / hurt - that's how you know you're maintaining the depth, not letting it slowly close up. She went to go check on another patient, I read a book. She came back, nodded at how I was still holding it at depth (it still hurt a little bit), and helped me clean up.

Now I'm back in bed. I can walk around a bit, take care of things, but if I walk too long, parts of my crotch start to hurt - the exact parts where the stitches are, in fact. So I'm spending a lot of time laying down in bed, even though I mostly feel fine. Probably won't have too much more to write about today - gonna play a lot of computer games, since I'm confined to the hotel.

[threewestwinds]

Six days, May 16th?  It's still May 15th here!  but you were always ahead... 
Glad you can eat now.  Wishin' you waffles.  and eggs!

Thanks! Now that the unacking is done, I can eat anything I want - no more dietary restrictions. Mostly that means a ton of fried rice right now. Dusit Princess has some very nice restaurants... but the vegetarian options are a bit limited. At least their fried rice with vegetables and flat noodles with vegetables are fantastic.

Can't wait for your updates now and can't wait for my surgery too  hope your "unpacking" went well 

I'm excited for you too, when you get to this point! The whole recovery is turning out to be way easier than I had expected. Seriously, the Swiff was by far the worst part. It's all been uphill from there!

[Jacqueline]

Six days, May 16th?  It's still May 15th here!  but you were always ahead... 
Glad you can eat now.  Wishin' you waffles.  and eggs!

Dad?

Hi and welcome to the site. I am guessing you are monitoring your child's progress. That is so great. I would like to thank you for that on behalf of our site as a whole.

I also want to share some links with you. They are mostly welcome information and the rules that govern the site. If you have not had a chance to look through them, please take a moment:

Things that you should read

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By	Standard Terms & Definitions	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar)
Reputation rules	News posting & quoting guidelines	Photo, avatars, & signature images policy

Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, ask questions and join in.

With warmth,

Joanna

[Jacqueline]

threewestwinds,

Not really sure how to address you. However, we have been negligent in welcoming you to the site. So sorry.

I am thrilled to see how well your progress has gone. I also want to share some links with you that have all the rules and some welcome info. However, I just posted it.  So if you scroll up to Dad's welcome(is that your Dad, that is so cool if so) please consider it a welcome for you two.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I hope your progress continues as smoothly.

With warmth,

Joanna

[Jessika]

threewinds,

Thank you so much for the update. So glad you are doing ok. I am learning a lot since my choice atm is Dr. Chett around the end of this year.

I was going to ask you which hotel you stayed at but you answered that already.

Keep us posted and Heal well.

Jess

[threewestwinds]

threewestwinds,

Not really sure how to address you. However, we have been negligent in welcoming you to the site. So sorry.

I am thrilled to see how well your progress has gone. I also want to share some links with you that have all the rules and some welcome info. However, I just posted it.  So if you scroll up to Dad's welcome(is that your Dad, that is so cool if so) please consider it a welcome for you two.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I hope your progress continues as smoothly.

With warmth,

Joanna

Thanks for the welcome! I feel like someone already shared those link with me before, but now looking around, can't find it. I've seen them before though, browsing around through the forums. Always amazes me how many people don't read the rules before posting places. ^^;;

I think that's my dad! Not 100% sure, but he speaks like him, and I gave him the link to this thread, and the name's right. So probably.

[Jacqueline]

I think that's my dad! Not 100% sure, but he speaks like him, and I gave him the link to this thread, and the name's right. So probably.

Thanks for the laugh. Continue to heal well and take care of yourself.

With warmth,

Joanna

[threewestwinds]

May 18th, eight days after surgery. Second day of dilation, 2x 20 minutes.

Again this morning after eating the hotel breakfast (a fantastic buffet of foods, most of it static but some parts changing each day), I settled in for a nurse-guided dilation. I described the exact process in my previous post, so I won't do that again, but will give some less 'mechanical' impressions.

It definitely gets more 'routine' quickly. I'm still a little clumsy at the preparation and insertion part, but given a few days I'll have this down to a science - and uncomfortable, "needs privacy and then hold still" science, but nothing at all to worry about. I read a book again this time, and was more able to pay attention to other things than before.

The rest of the day was pretty standard at this point - I rested, I wrote some, I read some, I played some computer games. Talked a lot over IRC with the girlfriend. Life is good.

------

May 19th, nine days after surgery. Third day of dilation, 3x 30 minutes.

Today the nurse only made a few comments and corrections at my morning session, adjusting  my posture for easier penetration and reminding me to use more lube. Almost always good advice, that last bit.

Going down the line - and I'll be doing this intensively for two years, and then still for the rest of my life - dilation will be an annoying chore, a little boring but not that disruptive. I need privacy and stillness, but I'll be able to use a computer one handed, read, type posts, play games, think, make phone calls, talk with my partner... almost anything that can otherwise be done from bed.

So while this will eventually be consuming two and a half hours per day, they won't be wasted. Actual setup and teardown and switching time, unavailable for other things, will be more like 5min, 3x/day. It's more of a scheduling problem than a "I will spend half my waking hours taking care of this organ."

I'm spending a lot of words typing this out now, because when I first got the chart showing 3x/day, 50 minutes each time, for two years, it was really, really worrisome. My very first thoughts were 'what have I gotten myself into', 'I can't keep up this schedule', 'If I do this right for the first three months, what will be cost if I skip the full course and only do it twice per day?'

I'm not worried that much any more. A bit of practice has made it a lot more manageable, and I wish people had talked about this more in previous threads. Dilation is an order of magnitude larger time commitment than the actual surgery. I'll be in Thailand for 720 hours. I'll spend 7300 hours dilating over the next decade. That's a scary big number not to have gotten more discussion in advance.

So... dilation. Big time commitment, bigger than anyone ever told me. It will warp my daily schedule for years to come, and factor into every decision I make of "can I come to this particular event". It'll be annoying, but it's also not nearly as boring as the big numbers make it sound.

I will probably still cheat on my schedule. 3x / day is a lot. I'll try to do it, and I'll be very diligent especially at first but... 2 1/2 hours. Every day. I'm going to be honest rather than optimistic here - I know myself. I'm going to start cheating eventually. 6 2/3" of depth isn't worth that much time to me. I'd be willing to give up some of that to reduce the amount of time spent maintaining it.

[Barb99]

A lot of us do really well with 1 or 2, 20 minute sessions a day. I still don't really understand why there is such a wide variation of dilation requirements from one surgeon to another.

[EmmaD]

I had my surgery with Chet on 22 December, 2015.

I dilated 3 times a day until 7 weeks was up and I was back at work, then twice a day until August 2016. Once a day until February 2017 and now at every 2nd day. Each session is about 1 hour 20 minutes. It is probably too much but I was very small and things were tight, even with a graft. I am now going to try every 3 days and see if things stay the same. I still start with #1 and work my way up but most of the time is at #4. My depth has stayed at a bit over 6.5 inches the whole time.  Yes, a big commitment but Chet's chart is there for all to see in advance. I think everyone modifies the schedule. You just have to be aware of how things are reacting and go back a step if things deteriorate.
All the best.


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[Dena]

PI surgery tapers off on dilation pretty quick and the schedule is livable within 3 months. If the skin is meshed, it's much more likely to create scar tissue which requires intensive dilation to prevent loss of size and depth. Should you see signs that dilation is becoming more difficult, you must step up the dilation schedule to avoid any more loss. Some people don't develop as much scar tissue and and taper off faster but not everybody can.

[Dad]

Dad?

Hi and welcome to the site. I am guessing you are monitoring your child's progress. That is so great. I would like to thank you for that on behalf of our site as a whole.

I also want to share some links with you. They are mostly welcome information and the rules that govern the site. If you have not had a chance to look through them, please take a moment:

Things that you should read

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By	Standard Terms & Definitions	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar)
Reputation rules	News posting & quoting guidelines	Photo, avatars, & signature images policy

Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, ask questions and join in.

With warmth,

Joanna

Joanna, thanks, the "Things that you should read" were very helpful. 
Threewestwinds yes it is me.  I was unsure whether I should post or not, but I wanted to let you know I am here for you and have been following the posts, A is too.  Very happy for you, glad you are OK, I was worried how it was going to go.  We had questions about how it works but have found all the answers we needed, thanks to this site and others.  I'm learning a lot as you go on this journey, thanks so much for sharing. Lots to talk about, look forward to your return and conversations.

[threewestwinds]

PI surgery tapers off on dilation pretty quick and the schedule is livable within 3 months. If the skin is meshed, it's much more likely to create scar tissue which requires intensive dilation to prevent loss of size and depth. Should you see signs that dilation is becoming more difficult, you must step up the dilation schedule to avoid any more loss. Some people don't develop as much scar tissue and and taper off faster but not everybody can.

A lot of us do really well with 1 or 2, 20 minute sessions a day. I still don't really understand why there is such a wide variation of dilation requirements from one surgeon to another.

It's interesting to hear how much variation there is between surgeons - I don't understand either why there's not at least a little bit more consensus, a smaller range.

Dilation first got easier, but after a few days started getting a little harder again - at least the last 1 1/2" did. "Formation of scar tissue" sounds just about right.

To be clear, the 50 minute number comes not from a single stent, but from the recommendation that you always start from a smaller size than you can take. So it's more #1/10 min + #2/20 min + #3/20 min (for example) than it is just a single absurdly long session.

[threewestwinds]

May 20th, ten days after surgery. Fourth day of dilation, 3x 30 minutes.

Surprise, I get my catheter out a day early! The nurses don't work Sundays, so they decided to do it a day early rather than a day late. I wish I'd had warning of that in advance so I could pop one of the pain pills.

The rest of this post is going to be a bit biological again - if you want to know intimate details about sensations and my body, read on. If not, skip to May 21st. As always, I share these experiences in detail in the hope that they'll be helpful in informing and setting people's minds at ease if they're considering the same operation.

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The first step is removing the tap that's held the catheter tube in place, and (mostly) prevented my from jostling it in my urethra while moving around. This isn't bad, it's just a slow burn from tape being pulled off. I'm used to it, no big deal, though my thigh did twitch a few times.

Catheters, in turns out, are held in place by an expanding ring. When they insert the tube, it has a little ring-balloon-thingie at the tip, which they then inflate inside your bladder. That's why you can't pee it out, no matter how hard you try.

So the second step in removing the catheter is to deflate it. This was sensationless - the nurse attached a syringe to a second hole in the catheter tube (other than the one connected to the pee bag) and pulled out a bunch of clear liquid. I felt nothing at all during this process (other than nerves).

The final step is pulling out the tube. This burns. It burns a lot. Ouch. It's almost exactly as bad as I'd imagined it would be, but no worse. It took probably half a minute, but felt like 5 minutes instead. There's a lot of tubing inside you.

Then, pop, it's free. Throw the bag in the trash can, and suddenly I have no more tubes coming out of me! I'm free! My penis burns. Well, it feels like my penis, even though I don't have one of those anymore. Regardless, there is burning in the groin region. It faded a bit over the course of half an hour, then more overnight. But before that...

I have to relearn how to pee. As another girl warned me, it's messy. Your bits are all swollen and new, still a little raw. You'll piss a tiny bit of blood, but wostly you'll piss all over yourself. It sprayed, instead of a sensible direction, straight up and back - covering my labia and ass with pee. Sorry, I warned you this was going to be gross. I had to wipe myself off with toilet paper, then hop straight into the shower to get clean.

Subsequent pees have gotten better... slowly. I still cover myself with urine, but less of it each time.

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May 21st, eleven days after surgery. Fifth day of dilation, 3x 30 minutes.

Peeing is a little better today. Still need to clean myself off afterwards, but it's starting to go more "down." Hopefully will complete the process in another day or two once the swelling's down more.

Finally, though, a non-body-related update: I met another Chett girl at the hotel today. My mother and I had seen her mother several times here and there, but we girls finally got together to hang out.

We met in the lobby, Me, my mother, her mother, and ";", as I shall call her, since I have an enduring hatred for people being able to make sense of my writing.

; started off almost silent, but the mothers filled the air with conversations - ; and her mother are also from the US (again, I reveal nothing about her), she had her op a few days before I did, they'll be having her followup checkup soon... all the usual 'getting to know you' conversation, carried on between me and both mothers while ; stayed quiet, only occasionally adding a word.

After about 45 minutes though, she finally started feeling relaxed enough with us to begin contributing, a few words here and there then opening up more. She was quite cute, and very shy. I envy how well she passes - after an hour long conversation, I would never have guessed she was trans without it coming up. She gets to choose exactly how much people know about her trans-ness. I know not everyone wants to 'pass' - but she very easily has the option if she chooses. I envy that option. Maybe someday I'll have as good a female voice and as feminine a face.

They haven't gotten out to see the city much yet, but are going to try to fit some touring in at the tail end of the trip as ;'s health allows. Getting all my touring done in the first few days was definitely the right choice.

[ClaudiaPitCar]

How  are things going now? Hope you're healing well   

[threewestwinds]

How  are things going now? Hope you're healing well   

Thanks for asking, it means a lot to me. I'm doing really well, finally starting to get out and about again.

May 24th, fifteen days after surgery. Eighth day of dilation, 3x 40 minutes.

The 24th was my first day with the #1 stent, weighing in at 23mm diameter compared to the 20mm #0 I've been using so far. The procedure is to start with 30 minutes of #0, then take it out and insert #1.

#1 hurt a bit. Not a sharp pain, not like anything's tearing, just... a bit of pain. I talked with the nurse, and she reassured me that it's normal, including just a little bit of blood. She also reminded me that it's ok to take my pain meds - I've been skimping on those, not really feeling like I needed them. But with the new #1, yes, yes I will take some of those opioids, even if they do make me a little nauseous. New hurdle crossed, and I'm doing OK!

May 25th, sixteen days after surgery. 3x 40 minutes dilation.

Today was the birthday of one of the other girls here at the hotel, who I shall refer to as ~. My mother and I took her some cake as a surprise visit, which was very nice. ~ is from Canada, a bit older than me, and very, very fit. She's been going absolutely stir crazy, and has been chided a couple of times by the nurses to stop walking so much.

I wrote about the Night Market earlier in the thread, and it remains awesome. ~, my mother and I went there this evening. Both ~ and I were worried about the pain, but it turned out to be fine. I have a 28" waist, and the vendors here all size me as Large - since ~ is pretty big (in an athletic way), she had no luck at all finding clothes that fit her. Thus while I browsed the clothing, she paid more attention to the nick-nacks and street food.

We wandered the market for about two hours - me accumulating a bag of clothing, her getting a few gifts for various people and eating fried meat - until she started hurting too much. We headed back to the hotel. A very fun night for all of us! I'm definitely getting stronger every day.

Also, I was a bad girl and only dilated twice. I skipped one! Don't tell the nurse. ^^;;

May 26th, seventeen days after surgery. 3x 40 minutes dilation.

Today was my follow-up appointment with Dr. Chettawut. After morning dilation (day 3 with #1, it's definitely getting easier) the driver picked me up in the lobby at 8:00am.

Back to the surgical room, with me far more alert and less stressed than last time I was in there. Chet opened me up with a speculum, prodded various bits of my new anatomy with qtips, asked about the sensation I had, took a few pictures... then left me in the hands of a nurse to get some of the stitches removed.

While most of the stitches are dissolveable, the ones joining my labia majora and my inner thighs were not. Snip snip! It was a bit painful, about on par with laser hair removal on the face. I've never had stiches before, so that was a new experience. I look forward to experiencing it seldom ever again.

Back in the lobby, Chettawut asked if I had any questions, and I asked if he'd send me the photos he'd taken. He said not right now - that if I want to take some new ones in 4-6 months and send them to him, then he'll send this set to me. Basically, the current appearance isn't representative of the final healing, and "easy to misinterpret". I suspect he just doesn't want me worrying about the current appearance, complaining to people and posting on the internet. I wouldn't do that - I understand that things will look different once they're healed, but I didn't press the point. I don't really need the photos anyway.

-----

Tomorrow, another trip to the night market with ~! We both enjoyed it, and it's within easy walking distance of the hotel. Definitely a winner to visit if you're even staying at Dusit Princess Srinakarin.

[ClaudiaPitCar]

Very good to know you're enjoying the vacancy, are able to hang out and make friends 
big hug 

[Jessika]

Thank you for the update Threewestwinds. So glad you are doing good. I just made an appointment for my first Psych for me Letter.
I emailed a second for more information.

Slowly but steady.

Should I schedule with Chett now for a Nov 2017 to Feb 2018 Surgery or wait until I have my letters?

Thanks
Jessika

[threewestwinds]

Thank you for the update Threewestwinds. So glad you are doing good. I just made an appointment for my first Psych for me Letter.
I emailed a second for more information.

Slowly but steady.

Should I schedule with Chett now for a Nov 2017 to Feb 2018 Surgery or wait until I have my letters?

Thanks
Jessika

I waited until I had my letters ready before contacting Dr. Chettawut. Having all my ducks in a row for one step gave me more confidence to pursue the next step. One of the letters ended up taking several months to arrive (unrelated to anything I had done or could have affected), and if I'd had a surgery date creeping up on me while I waited, it could have been nerve wracking instead of just annoying. It also took me about a month of inquiring to different psychologists to get an appointment for the second letter.

Especially given that you're looking 5+ months into the future, I'd be inclined to take it one step at a time - at least start the process of getting your letters before you schedule a surgery date. Just my thoughts though, I only have my own experience as guide.

[TinaVane]

Anybody been getting this message when emailing Chettawut
"Re: Delivery Status Notification (Failure)"


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