GCS with McGinn (After so many years waiting)

[jentay1367]

Hey Laurie, totally true....and genius! You get contacts and then you can get all the awesome sunglasses you want! I get em' at thrift stores for like next to nothing. Best thrift stores are ones in pricey neighborhoods. Rich folks dump stuff all the time there and you can get all kinds of groovy designer stuff for next to nothing. It's awesome!

Excuse me Moni....I'll give your thread back now

[Michelle_P]

Prescription sunglasses?  Pardon the plug-like nature of this, but I've been buying my glasses through Zenni Optical.  They are really low priced, like my everyday outdoor glasses (distance + astigmatism) cost me about $15, and my big cat-eye progressive lens pair was about $56.  You'll need your prescription and your inter-pupil distance (usually measured and not disclosed by the sales desk, but your optometrist can give you the measurement if you ask during the exam...).

I'd order a cheapie pair first to make sure you and they have the prescription right, then go for the humongous sunglasses.

Now back to dishing on GCS...

[Laurie]

Prescription sunglasses?  Pardon the plug-like nature of this, but I've been buying my glasses through Zenni Optical.  They are really low priced, like my everyday outdoor glasses (distance + astigmatism) cost me about $15, and my big cat-eye progressive lens pair was about $56.  You'll need your prescription and your inter-pupil distance (usually measured and not disclosed by the sales desk, but your optometrist can give you the measurement if you ask during the exam...).

I'd order a cheapie pair first to make sure you and they have the prescription right, then go for the humongous sunglasses.

Now back to dishing on GCS...

  Thanks for the tip Michelle.

Minica: Sorry, it seems I've derailed your thread again.

Hugs,
   Laurie

[HappyMoni]

That's alright with me with derailing a bit. It kind of reminds me of when I was a kid. Sometimes the kids would play in my yard sometimes we would play in a friend's yard. The unfulfilled thought that comes to mind is playing imaginary or role playing games and just about busting because I couldn't play a female character. So, we would play army men practicing our dramatic dying, climbing up a three foot tall hill. You know macho crap.
The sunglasses thing is relevant to the thread. I am looking for a pair for my new best friend when we go sunbathing at the nude beach next year. Only need one lens though. I see the next topic for discussion with be vagina monocles. Hey, that sounds like a good name for a play. Nah!
Moni
I will write about the doctor visit in a bit, it seems my well has sprung a leak and my front yard is all wet. Oh, that sounds like a terrible euphemism. Well, maybe no one will notice.

[Laurie]

The sunglasses thing is relevant to the thread. I am looking for a pair for my new best friend when we go sunbathing at the nude beach next year.
Moni

We're going to a nude beach!!! I've never been to one!! I wonder if they will allow a beached white whale? /sigh

Laurie

[Jacqueline]

...
I will write about the doctor visit in a bit, it seems my well has sprung a leak and my front yard is all wet. Oh, that sounds like a terrible euphemism. Well, maybe no one will notice.

Ummm. Not to be rude but how? You might as well put up a blinking sign with flashing arrows on your post.... 

Jacqui

[Kendra]

Moni I hope you, well, are well. 

[HappyMoni]

   I went for my six week post op check up yesterday. I didn't see the doctor but saw Brianna. I was actually very happy with the visit as she was able to spend a lot of time and she very pleasantly walked me through a lot. I am very fortunate in that things are looking very good. My behind is still swollen, but I figure this goes with the territory of healing, and I didn't mention it. She talked more about how things get rearranged in the surgery. The areas that turned black did so because it is impossible to retain blood flow to every tissue. With no blood flow, the tissue dies off. It turns black  then white as collagen (and other stuff) forms around it. They left it in place earlier since it protects the new tissue under it. Now I am to stuff the coarser type gauze in that area in between the dilations and urinations. It is abrasive enough to start removing the white stuff gradually. When it is gone, I will be allowed to swim. I have been taken off lifting restrictions also. I did have some granulation and some small scar tissue that she found. She treated the granulation with silver nitrate which isn't painful but it does kind of burn a little later on. (The silver nitrate looks like the big wooden matches you start fires with.) After the silver nitrate treatment, the white stuff really started coming off.  For the scar tissue, I am to put hydrocortisone on twice a day. The actual appearance of the vulva will be discussed at the 6 month follow up. They are correct that things do continue to change as time goes on. The big change is I can go to 3 times a day from 5 times a day with dilations. In 3 or 4 days I can start #4, orange. They wanted 2 weeks on the green before advancing. I will probably still do 4 times a day while I am off work in order to try to work up to the orange. It seems a bit scary to me to be honest. The other step ups in size have not been that scary.  4 times is so much different than 5 times.
   I did see Terri at the hospital on my way home. It was weird because she had the same room I had with my surgery. We visited for a while til she kicked us out. She is tired just like I was. I will let her tell any more than that as it is her story to tell, not mine.
   TechGirl, from the news I hear it is a good thing to be with McGinn if you are involved with the military.
   Jacqui, if they miss my blinking sign they may see your neon beacon. Now that wasn't rude was it? lol
   Sorry Laurie, I meant my new 'little' friend. I won't offend anyone who knows me with the sight of this naked body. Of course you and I might just be crazy enough or mean enough to do something like that to someone.
Moni

[Jessica Lynne]

Congratulation's Moni! I'm so glad things are going nicely for you. It's good to have all thE information you're providing and I'm sure it will be of help to those having future GCS.
Regarding McGinn and Military Personnel:
My understanding is that anyone in McGinn's Que at present that is active Military will receive their surgeries free of charge if this Administration discharges trans personnel.

[HappyMoni]

Moni I hope you, well, are well.

Kendra, are you kidding me? Is that a well well reference? I am a little sensitive about that right now since my well is not well. My well is a bit under the weather. Of course if it wasn't, it might be a dry well. Oh well, all's well that ends well. Oh, such a deep subject. Jacqui, this is your doing!
Moni

[Laurie]

   Kendra, are you kidding me? Is that a well well reference? I am a little sensitive about that right now since my well is not well. My well is a bit under the weather. Of course if it wasn't, it might be a dry well. Oh well, all's well that ends well. Oh, such a deep subject. Jacqui, this is your doing!
Moni

  Well well well.... Nope I'm not touching this one. I'll just let it become water under the bridge and wash my hands of the hole subject as I flush it from my mind. Like the sands of an hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

  Glad all is progressing as it should, Maya. Maya it continue to do so.

  So no nude beach?

Hugs,
   Laurie

[Jacqueline]

Jacqui, this is your doing!

Ya gotta have a hobby... 

Glad to hear you are recovering well (oh no) and getting explanations to some of your earlier worries.

I totally agree with Jessica Lynne (congrats on the new name). I really appreciate the attention to detail you have added to this topic. It will help many soon and into the future.

With warmth,

Jacqui

[Rachel]

Monica, I am glad you are progressing well. Brianna is awesome.

[HappyMoni]

Thanks Rachel, Brianna says she enjoys teaching others. I will try to reciprocate what you sent me in email when I get  a chance here soon.

My deep subject will require bringing in a backhoe. It is another expense on top of a lot of others lately. Oh well!

I started the orange dilator and I can see it needs to go very slowly. I am totally used to green and it felt similar to this at first. The last thing I want is to strain something or tear something. I keep putting all these things in there and have the fear that it  will cause it be open all the time. Guess it is something everyone goes through. Either you worry about this   or that. Just gotta go with the flow. I am told it will change and that has been true. It is hard to not think about whether   it will turn out okay. It is not life and death so I am extremely grateful for that. It is good to keep it in perspective. People deal with horrible things and I am really dealing with nothing.
Moni

[SadieBlake]

Moni, I'm glad for you working up to orange already! As a confirmed size queen and liver of size queens, I feel so inadequate with my only 2x attempts at orange.

I don't have your anxiety, imx (and having handballed my share of vaginas), I can say my experience has been that they snap back! I've also known a fair number of post-op women who enjoy vaginal fisting. Hugs and damn those torpedoes, full speed ahead! ;-)

[HappyMoni]

I discovered something new. I have felt sensations since surgery of having like a mini erection. I know, not possible. This morning I am feeling like I have the morning stretching thing, I am laying down doing dilation, and I get this feeling again. I start feeling around and there is a line that sticks up above the surface of the mons. I figure it is where they place the (dorsal?) nerve. It is weird because it feels like it expanded  to create that ridge. Now it is gone and so is the feeling of the mini erection. It doesn't make sense  to me that a nerve could do this. I take it as a good sign for functionality. Don't know if this is typical.
Moni

[Jessica Lynne]

I have spoken to others about this. It seems that you can, like natal women get an erection of the clitoris and that if some of the erectile tissue is left it can become engorged. I would think it shows excellent blood circulation and is most probably a very good thing. I've spoken to other TS women that equate it with morning wood and is proof you will eventually be able to orgasm. Yay!

[SadieBlake]

I wouldn't say erectile but for sure I can feel where the nerve and blood supply for my neocltoris are placed above the pubic bone.

Some erectile feelings I get are clearly simple sense-memory expecting the old hardware to do what it did. The most prominent feeling at least at first I took to be the small bit of the erectile bodies left behind. I still feel that, maybe less strongly but I can feel something there and I don't mind it. I sorely wish I could have an erectile clitoris, still very happy with what's there. :-)

[HappyMoni]

Moni, I'm glad for you working up to orange already! As a confirmed size queen and liver of size queens, I feel so inadequate with my only 2x attempts at orange.

Sadie,
   I don't try orange on the first dilation of the day. I wait for it to loose up. I don't try to go all the way in with it, but try to go a little further each time, if it goes okay. If I went all the way in in one shot, I would probably be hurt. Patience has its rewards.

I know the doctor said that they had to move a lot of fat down to a lower position. I suspect this is an attempt to cover and protect that nerve. The feeling is not just a psychological thing but also a physical thing, stuff changes down there. They say after surgery you really have to relearn your body. I think I am starting this. The doctor's office said I had homework. I have to learn how and if I can climax. Best homework ever!
Moni

[Rachel]

I had to relearn how to orgasm. At first it took a while but now it is fairly quick after I am in the mood. If anyone needs help I can explain what I learned.