How long does it take to be "in the clear"?

[Ruth Ruthless]

Hello there!

I had a conversation with a friend about my recent MTF SRS I had a month ago (march 27th) here in Israel. 5 days after surgery the packing was removed. The next day, 6 days after, they removed the catheter and I was allowed to walk and I immediately was able to go to the bathroom and pee normally and several hours later had bowel movements too. Since then I have felt great except that it hurts to have any pressure on the surgery area, whether from clothes, sitting or standing so most of the time I am in bed. My energy and strength returned very quickly and I feel like all my body is 100 percent except the surgery area.

The operation also included breast augmentation (from less than A to C!) which went very well and is a mere nuisance compared to the situation downstairs which is forcing me to stay in bed most of the time.

I had my first post op checkup 8 days ago and the doctor said everything looks fine.

My friend said so it seems you have no complications. I said, it's only my first checkup and everything is still healing a lot down there. I think I need to wait until I'm 3 months past to be sure there are no complications. She says that most chances are that if there were complications they would show up by now.

Just curious... is she right? Does the fact everything is okay so far make it almost certain I'm in the clear or am I right that I should wait until 3 months after before I can be certain it all went okay?

[EmmaLoo]

March 28th here. Pretty much the same here. Had a checkup this morning with Dr Gallagher in Indy and got the thumbs up. No blood during dilation but, yes, my vagina is still sore.

We even had a discussion over the lack of information concerning healing time and post-surgery depression. This definitely needs to discussed more as it relates to GRS. It sounds to me like your well within the normal range of recovery. I dont know if you're ever really out of the woods from complications. I think they can just as easily happen because of user error if you know what I mean.

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[kelly_aus]

Yes, at a month post-op any serious complications should be evident. Granulation could still be an issue, but that's easily treatable. Just take it easy and don't burst any stitches.

[Ruth Ruthless]

As long as I am lying down with nothing covering the area I have zero pain except the occasional irritation. If I wear something, it hurts... but it takes a while for the pain to build up to really uncomfortable levels. Close to after the surgery it would only take a minute or two for the pain to build up. Now it takes half an hour to build up to the same level.

Another difference is that starting about a week ago, I can at least walk around my apartment without significant pain if I keep the area uncovered. So at least within my apartment I can walk around freely which made cooking and washing dishes much more comfortable. (it's a good thing I live alone, so I can walk here half naked freely)

I'm already doing my own grocery shopping for a couple of weeks and got back to cooking a few days after being discharged (was discharged 8 days after).

I was told not to lift anything heavy for 6 weeks but I already feel my arms back at full strength and no pain from lifting anything. I'm keeping the groceries light and going out often to replenish them just in case without having to lift a big amount in one go.

The healing down there has gone a very long way since I was discharged but there is still a long way to go and the pace of change has slowed down. I would imagine like every wound it heals in a reverse exponential pace.

[Dena]

Congratulations on your surgery. At 2-3 months much of the healing is done however the exception is proud flesh/granulation. If you have it, you are talking between 3-6 months for all the healing to take place and being cleared for sex. This is why it's important to be checked after surgery as complications are minor if treated early. If left untreated, they can become a real problem. 

[Ruth Ruthless]

Yes, at a month post-op any serious complications should be evident. Granulation could still be an issue, but that's easily treatable. Just take it easy and don't burst any stitches.

I did google images on granulation tissue and I don't see any such tissue on the surgery area, though I do see white stuff being secreted in various places. Mostly from the vagina but also on the lips surrounding the vagina and a bit on the connection of the tissue surrounding the vagina above it.

Could I be missing granulation tissue on the lips? i.e. would it look all yellow and red like in google images or could it also look a pink with red since the lip tissue around the vagina is pink?

[Dena]

It can be internal and that's why you need a doctor to check out the results.

[Rachel]

Congratulations 🙂

At 4 weeks I was just going back to work and it took a lot out of me. I was sore from sitting, dilating walking with a pad and from occasional bumping.

You have come a long way in 4 weeks and have a way to go to be fully healed. However, the worse is over.

There are no guarantees.

It takes time. Dilation is a major chore which will taper off in time. My 1st 9 weeks had 5 dilations a day, 10-26 weeks is 3 dilations a day and on May 15 I can go to 1 dilation a day 🙂 . I am excited to go to 1 dilation a day. I hope to not have to wear a pad during the day !!!!!

[Ruth Ruthless]

In my last visit I remember him only looking at it externally and asking me how I feel. Next visit is in June 1st. Until then I am to continue 3 dilations a day. He said 15 min each but I am doing longer because it takes longer to get to the most depth I can reach and I am also using silicone dilator which happens to be wider before using my plastic dilator which happens to be deeper so I do at least 15 min each to be sure and sometimes 30-45 min with the silicone until 10-15 min pass that I can't go any deeper.

Their average diameters are 3.5cm, the silicone one is wider at the base (about 4cm) compared to the plastic which has a more uniform diameter. Silicone depth 14cm, plastic 16.5cm. Right now can almost get entire silicone in, missing maybe a cm and am missing about 3cm from the plastic.

Is that supposed to be adequate for most penises or should I strive eventually for the largest 4.2cm average diamater silicone dialator with 15cm depth?

Also, the white stuff kind of looks like cheese, except white instead of yellow. 🙂 Is that common?

[Dena]

That is dead flesh much like a blister that's protecting what's underneath. It's part of the healing process and in time will flake off so don't rush it. At some point you should attempt the larger dilator but don't do it before the doctor says it's time. For now concentrate on maintaining your depth. Before surgery I would have matched the 4.2 cm dilator so penises  of that size exist and I currently use a dilator that size but I don't know how common that is. As for depth, 15 cm is doing pretty good and you shouldn't have any problems with it other than the ones a CIS woman might have.

[Ruth Ruthless]

Thanks for the info! How much outward protrusion can I expect when it is all healed? Is all the protrusion temporary due to inflammation or will it still protrude somewhat, just less?

Hope it's clear what I mean. 🙂 Still looks awesome to me even now.

[Ruth Ruthless]

Also, how the hell does the body know which tissues to put where? How does it know for example when I had a big sore that underneath it here starts the pink flesh of the lips wheras here starts skin color flesh... how does it know what to put where if it never had all of this?

Besides being happy with the change I am also amazed at how it happens that the body accepts this new organ and I wonder how it works, how will the body know to heal this new organ properly?

[EmmaLoo]

It's not really a new organ as far as your body is concerned. All the skin and nerves have simply been reassigned or corrected surgically into the appropriate configuration. After millions of years of evolution, our bodies have developed a wide array of healing processes to survive. All of those biological systems are involved over the course of your recovery to repair the tissues. It's the skill and knowledge of the surgeon to put all of these skin, nerves, and muscles together so they will heal to the desired outcome. Sometimes, the body doesn't know what to do with the new configuration and causes problems. It can happen.

[Rachel]

You are still swollen. The swelling will go down over the next few months.

I do not have a protrusion; I am at 5.5 months post-op.