Hey Ryuichi, I'm glad this has helped you too. Im starting to feel like certain aspects of this surgery aren't being talked about as much as they should so I'm glad my own queries have been of some help to you.
As for your question, are you referring to just the metoidioplasty, vaginectomy, hystorectomy, all of it together? Pain could vary between each if done separately. Personally, having everything at once, yes, it did hurt but not for long and yes, pain medication was readily available. This is in the UK so if you are in another country it may differ again but I'll break down my own surgery for you.
The hysterectomy has not been painful or terribly uncomfortable. I sometimes got twinges of pain that would come and go but generally the only discomfort was feeling other organs rearrange themselves in the new space which was quite an odd sensation. I wouldn't have needed medication just for this.
The urethral lengthening, and scrotoplasty as part of the metoidioplasty were painful and at first I was given morphine to combat this but I stopped taking it after two days and moved on to just paracetamol. I'm just over 3 weeks post op and while I'm still a little sore, I haven't had any painkillers in a week.i am now peeing normally but it stings like hell at first and I have a small fistula which stings like lemon juice in a paper cut but fades quickly.
As for the vaginectomy. That is... Odd. My surgeon doesn't do full vaginectomy (I forget the correct term for it though) so take that into consideration, but it was very painful for the first day then became a low burn for a week. It has slowly gotten better but has itched the entire time. I find it perhaps the most uncomfortable part besides the catheter. I'm also not very happy with it. I had hoped it would eliminate secretions and that the remaining hole would be unnoticable but so far this is not the case. It's still early days so may improve but right now I'm wishing it was gone entirely.
Now, the suprapubic catheter (a catheter inserted directly into the bladder via the abdomen) has been, by far, the worst experience. Most people find them no issue apparently but for me it has been uncomfortable to the point of distraction. I could feel it move with every step, it caused painful bladder spasms and migrated further into my bladder, irritating my urethra. I was so uncomfortable one night I asked my girlfriend to knock me out in desperation and was having to grip my bed sheets to stop myself pulling the thing out. This would, of course, not be a good idea, but I was half delerious with it. In the end my girlfriend had to wrestle me into a hot bath to try and relax my urethra and gently pull the catheter out a little. I do not recommend this, it should be left alone to do its job, but something had to be done at this point. We didn't have to pull it far before the immense releif kicked in and suddenly I was just exhausted. I slept through the night for the first time since surgery that night. It now turns out that I may have had an infection AND may be allergic to latex which may have caused these problems along with the spasms drawing the tube further into my bladder. It is not my intention to worry you unduly, this was a pretty rare problem but I want to be as honest as possible in case anyone else experiences this and comes looking for others. This will be removed tomorrow morning (finally! Got delayed a little because of the remoteness of where I live!) And I expect to feel a lot better for it.
In all, the only thing that really causes me pain now is sitting up straight. Its just not possible yet and could partly be due to the separation I have behind my scrotum. This is healing well now though (thanks again Dex for your suggestions and reassurance). As I said, I'm no longer taking any pain medication but my energy levels are very low. I put part of this down to having been scared to move because of the catheter discomfort leading to longer periods lying down than was really necessary. As a result I've lost a fair bit of weight and muscle but I've been able to move more in the last few days now that the catheter is taped to my side and not being used. Hopefully that will mean I can get a bit more done in my day than just one email and a slow walk to the bathroom and back.
So anyway, I'm sorry this is a bit of an essay but I wanted to be detailed and honest. Paracetamol was enough to take the edge off the pain after two to three days and I was given enough for a week on prescription.
One more thing I want to mention though, is related to the hystorectomy and is the reason my surgeon does not fully close the vaginal opening. I was not ready for it and so I want to tell people about it. Somewhere during week 1-2 (I'm a bit hazy on that time as I hadn't fully recovered from the general anesthetic) I began to bleed a lot from the opening. I panicked and called my surgeon who said this was to be expected, that it was from the hystorectomyand that it needed to come out. It often comes on 2-3 weeks after surgery and can last a few days to a week. For me this went on heavily for a week and a half and I still get a little bit but that may now be from the vaginectomy itself. But like I said, I was not ready for it and it was like the period from hell. I felt awful the whole time having not had one in six years. I'm still annoyed with my surgeon for not having told me when I asked what to expect in recovery. I had researched pretty thoroughly before hand, or so I thought, but missed mention of this. It was not fun and may be part of the reason I'm unhappy with the vaginectomy at the moment. I don't know what happens with different surgeries/surgeons in other countries but when pressed mine said this was the safest way to allow that blood out... Whether or not that means I can ask him to close things up fully later I'm not sure. I really don't want more surgery after this experience and am considering telling him not to bother with the testicular implants I was previously set on. I'm hoping things improve but I'm a bit up and down at the moment. Many people have much more positive experiences though, so don't assume mine is the norm. I hope if you do decide to go ahead with meta that it works out well for you and I hope this was at least a little helpful
