Becca's HRT Journey

[Becca Kay]

going home today.  here is a pic of me a few weeks ago and one from last night, one week after FFS

[Northern Star Girl]

@Becca Kay
Dear Becca:
Thank you so very much for your "post FFS" updates and pictures.   
Perhaps it the terrific smile on your face but it appears that your surgery recovery is going very well. 
You look so happy.

I will be looking forward to your future updates and pictures as you feel free to post them. 
Again, thank you for letting your followers know how you are doing.
Hugs and well wishes.... and wishing you a speedy recovery.  I can hardly wait to see your pictures once you are healed up.

Danielle

[Nicole70]

Becca,

You look sore and swollen, even so you also can see you look very feminine and happy, you can already see the difference. Good luck with your further recovery.

Thank you for posting, I have been reading your progress for a long time and find your updates interesting [emoji4]

Nicole

[Karen]

Becca, you are amazing.  Thanks for sharing with us rookies.   

Congrats on going home.  I can't wait for the next update.

Hugs

Karen

[Becca Kay]

I got home from Chicago (and my FFS surgery) on Thursday night.  I've been alone in my apartment ever since.  I made one trip to the supermarket across the street.  Two of my friends stopped by Friday night, but they'd been drinking and showed up two hours late and i could barely stay awake to talk to them. 

I get up in the morning, eat breakfast, shower and go back to bed.  My surgery was less than two weeks ago and I'm already loosing my mind of boredom. 

[Northern Star Girl]

I got home from Chicago (and my FFS surgery) on Thursday night.  I've been alone in my apartment ever since.  I made one trip to the supermarket across the street.  Two of my friends stopped by Friday night, but they'd been drinking and showed up two hours late and i could barely stay awake to talk to them. 

I get up in the morning, eat breakfast, shower and go back to bed.  My surgery was less than two weeks ago and I'm already loosing my mind of boredom.

@Becca Kay
Dear Becca:
Oh, for sure, recovering from surgery can be a a trial particularly the waiting for the recovery process to get past all the discomfort and sleep deprivation.

I have always been a very active person with lots of things going on that I am involved in.... sitting back and not being able to keep active in those things would drive me crazy... well, perhaps crazier than I already am.

Please don't be bored, you have your very supporting fans and followers here on the forums....  we always want to hear from you.  Consider your time recovering as an opportunity to catch up with all the others here on the forums.

Hugs and well wishes,
Danielle

[Michelle_P]

I got home from Chicago (and my FFS surgery) on Thursday night.  I've been alone in my apartment ever since.  I made one trip to the supermarket across the street.  Two of my friends stopped by Friday night, but they'd been drinking and showed up two hours late and i could barely stay awake to talk to them. 

I get up in the morning, eat breakfast, shower and go back to bed.  My surgery was less than two weeks ago and I'm already loosing my mind of boredom.

Yes, the FFS recovery can be damn boring.  But that beats 'interesting complications' by quite a bit.  At some point soon you should be healed enough to do some makeup, concealer and corrector (orange over bruises, etc), and be able to get out a bit.

It is temporary in any case.  Keep up the massages and compresses, and soon enough the bruises will be gone.

[Donica]

I got home from Chicago (and my FFS surgery) on Thursday night.  I've been alone in my apartment ever since.  I made one trip to the supermarket across the street.  Two of my friends stopped by Friday night, but they'd been drinking and showed up two hours late and i could barely stay awake to talk to them. 

I get up in the morning, eat breakfast, shower and go back to bed.  My surgery was less than two weeks ago and I'm already loosing my mind of boredom. 

Hi Becca! I just found your thread and am now following. Your before and after pictures are amazing. Even through the swelling and bruising, I can see a more feminine difference. Wow, I glad to here you get to take a shower less that two weeks post-op. I will be looking forward to your updates as you recover. Thanks for sharing.

Wishing you a speedy recovery Becca!
Donica.

[pamelatransuk]

Hello Becca

You look happy. I wish you a speedy recovery and continued happiness.

Also congratulations on your return to HRT.

Hugs

Pamela

[Laurie]

Hi Becca,

Glad to see you made it home. Congrats on the FFS and the healing looks to be going well. You already look pretty darned good girl. Keep the updates coming.

Hugs,
  Laurie

[Becca Kay]

i've been posting regularly in my FFS thread, including some pics.  I thought I'd make a few HRT and other updates, since i've been back on HRT for over a week.  I was off HRT for 2 weeks prior to surgery and restarted 4 days post op.

The fact that I am only 14 days post op from major facial surgery might have something to do with it.  But I'm not having any erectile incidents. The second week I was off HRT I started getting regular erections.  I'm glad they're gone. 

Otherwise I feel very normal.  Like I did a month ago.  All the little side effects of stopping HRT seem to have been erased rather quickly after restarting. 

I had a consult today at a new clinic that I'm going to use for laser and electrolysis.  I start Laser on Saturday in preparation for GCS.   

I would like to schedule my GCS at the end of next year.  I have a short list of surgeons I'm considering.  I would like to use Bower, but her waiting list is 4 years long so I decided against that.  The top of my list now is McGinn.  I have a Consult scheduled with her in May of 2019.  She typically schedules surgery less than a year out from Consults.  There's a chance I could get an earlier consult as well if there are cancellations.  I like McGinn because she's trans, she has done a lot of GCS work, she is close to where I live and is well spoken of by her former patients.  However, she doesn't work with insurance.  Her fee is approx $17k, There's another $5k paid directly to the hospital.  I'm going to use my time between now and May to see how difficult it may be to use McGinn and get her fee reimbursed to me by my insurer. 

I'm also going to follow up with Rachel Bluebond Langner, who practices in NY.  She also has done a lot of surgeries and tends to have positive comments online from her patients. 

I may make an appointment with Karen Elizabeth Boyle, who is near Baltimore and I think has trained with Bluebond Langner, but hasn't done a lot of GCS surgeries.

I'm considering the Mayo Clinic, but their program is new and I don't know much about Dr Martinez.  They would be very easy with my insurance, though. 

My biggest concerns are that I do not want to wait years go have GCS, I want to use my insurance which covers GCS, I prefer to have a female surgeon and I want a positive outcome, aesthetically and functionally. I would prefer to stay on the East Coast as well.

Here's a pic from today, by less swollen and less bruised side. 

[Northern Star Girl]

@Becca Kay
Dear Becca:
Your followers really appreciate you keeping us all updated.   Your FFS recovery picture looks really good and will be getting better every day.
I love your head scarf!!!   That could become a fashion statement again much like it was many, many years ago.

You GRS consult in May 2019 is just around the corner...  good move getting it on the calendar, and making sure that your insurance gives you coverage.

Again, I appreciate your timely updates.... I am always eager to check in on your threads when I log in to the forums.
Hugs and well wishes.... and a continued good recovery.
Danielle

[JudiBlueEyes]

Thanks for the update! I've been following your other thread.  You're making great progress as this photo clearly demonstrates.  Take your time to find the surgeon you are happy with as we only get one shot at this!
Judi

[Donica]

Great update Becca. You are certainly doing your research for GCS. I hope you don't have to wait very long. Your picture was already gone when I got here. May I ask why you stopped HRT before your FFS Surgery? I haven't been told I would have to stop. My endocrinologist told me that even with GCS, she would only reduce my E a little before surgery? Congratulations. Your recovery is going well.

Donica.

[Becca Kay]

i used a third party hosting service for my pics and it seems to have crashed.  all the image links are there still.  hoping it comes back on line.

Going to try posting using my google account and see how that works

[Becca Kay]

Great update Becca. You are certainly doing your research for GCS. I hope you don't have to wait very long. Your picture was already gone when I got here. May I ask why you stopped HRT before your FFS Surgery? I haven't been told I would have to stop. My endocrinologist told me that even with GCS, she would only reduce my E a little before surgery? Congratulations. Your recovery is going well.

Donica.

there are clotting risks with Estradiol.  Everyone I know who's had FFS or GCS had had to stop completely.  Your surgeon, not your Endo, should be giving you instructions prior to surgery.  If you're on injections instead of oral E you may need to stop a full month before surgery.

[Kendra]

I wasn't asked to stop Estradiol for FFS in Spain.  I was asked to temporarily stop Estradiol for GCS (US) and VFS (South Korea).  FFS required the most hours under anesthesia. 

It's up to each surgeon, and I think in some cases is a policy set by the hospital. 

[Donica]

Ok thank's. I'm waiting for my second consult for FFS. It should be less than three weeks from now. I'm sure Dr. Kim will let me know then.

Donica.

[Becca Kay]

Ok thank's. I'm waiting for my second consult for FFS. It should be less than three weeks from now. I'm sure Dr. Kim will let me know then.

Donica.

if you do have to stop.  Don't worry much about it.  I let it crush me with anxiety last month and it turned out to be not that bad. 

[Becca Kay]

posted the pic below in my FFS thread as well.

I've been trying to meter our my energy and plan a trip out of the apartment each day.  Today I had lunch with another "Z Girl" who is also a boarder here.  It was a nice long lunch and I was so happy to catch up with her.

at this point I am good for full normal energy level for 3+ hours per day.  Then I'm toast.  I did feel much more 'normal' today all morning and afternoon but now tonight I am sooooo exhausted. 

I've had some bad insomnia the past week as well.  I'm not getting enough quality sleep.  I've tried going to bed early. Late.  Taking Dyazapam.  Nothing seems to really help me sleep through the night.