And if I had to do it again, I would certainly go back to the same place.
For the suspicious: I am not being paid or asked to give this review.
Back to story time:
Unlike many other places in the USA this outfit does SRS outpatient. Kind of scary for some people, and a bit of a hassle having to do an Airbnb or hotel for a couple of weeks if you're from out of town. I have friends from way back who live nearby and offered to let me stay with them, plus I hate hospitals so it worked for me.
As expected getting the insurance thing done was a bit of a pain, and the ladies who do the insurance work at this facility needed more hand holding than I believe they should need but it worked out in the end. I was an extra painful case due to having out of network exceptions and such with my plan.
I arrived the weekend prior to surgery and spent time hanging out in the Plano area. My surgery was on Tuesday with a preop appointment on Monday. On Monday they did basic paperwork, a quick chat with Dr. Raphael, and his nurses took a couple of before photos. I got my prescriptions, went and got them filled and went back to the house.
I was on clear fluids all Monday and had to do an oh so fun bowel prep with magnesium citrate (which actually tasted better than expected with the grape flavored one). So other than being glued to the toilet for most of the afternoon, it was a pretty uneventful evening. I had a call from the anesthesiologist who went over all of my concerns, and was told to be there the next morning at six.
Surgery day <cue dramatic music>
One thing I'll say about the surgery center staff is they really, really have their act together. My partner and I pulled in, and within a half hour I was already in the prep area gowned up and getting an IV started. That part is always a bit of a mess since I'm a difficult stick, but she managed to get one going on the second try. My surgical nurse was really fantastic. Mr. anesthesiology showed up, gave me a bit of a pep talk and asked if I was ready to go. When I said "Well Pete's here and his hands look steady so lets do this" he put a few CCs of something magical into my IV line, I kissed my partner, and down the hallway I went. I remember getting into the surgical suite, looking over at the leg brace on the table and it was all recovery room after that.
Surgery took about three and a half hours (not that I had a clue.) While I was in recovery my girlfriend stuck a "newly renovated" sign on me and took a photo, the nurses and my surgeon thought it was hilarious (admittedly so do I.) As I woke up I really felt like I had to poop. My higher thought functions weren't working well enough to realize that I hadn't actually eaten anything in a couple days so it definitely wasn't that. It was the packing. So after a couple hours of coming to my senses I was ready to go. Out came the IV line, I got plopped down into a wheel chair, and it was off to a nearby hotel. I had a checkup the next morning so we elected to grab a hotel close by instead of staying with my friends that night. Ordinarily you get sent out with a nurse to keep an eye on you, but since my partner is a nurse practitioner they just told her what to watch out for and off we went.
Day 2:
I came back early in the day for a quick look over. I had everything iced down pretty well and the Vicodin was definitely helping. Dr. Raphael looked everything over, asked if either of us had any questions, said everything was looking good, and off we went with an appointment 1 week from surgery. I spent the following week sleeping for the most part but my partner made sure to get me up and walk around a few times a day to help healing and prevent DVT. They also gave me some neato battery powered calf compression devices to help when I was sleeping. Walking around with a catheter and urine purse was kind of annoying but I managed, and boy can I do some marathon sleeping when I don't have to get up to pee.
I got a photo of my new parts and yes it looked more or less like a normal vagina. (A normal vagina that had been run over a couple times by a truck, chewed on by a stray dog, and stitched back together that is.) Thankfully that improved rapidly as swelling went down.
Week 1 checkup:
This was the REALLY exciting one. I was nervous in a bit of pain going in so my partner gave me one of the dilaudids that my doc prescibed. I was a little loopy, but wasn't feeling any pain at all. So when it came time to pull the catheter out I couldn't help but giggle like an idiot the whole time. That was a VERY unusual feeling. Up next was the ten feet or so of packing that Pete had jammed in at the end of the procedure. Of course I giggled like an idiot there, despite it feeling like I might get a rope burn while it was being pulled out.
And that's when it got really interesting. Out came the small orange dilator, all greased up, and in it went! I was still giggling, and Dr. Raphael was explaining the physiology of how everything was laid out to my partner and I while doing it. It definitely was not as sensual of a way to lose my virginity as I had imagined, but I took it to the last dot on the first try so I had that going for me.
After addressing concerns and commenting on how good things were looking, I was free for another week. Since I was mobile I finally got out of the house and got out on the town a bit to go out to eat, but things still hurt so it was a bit limited. In short it is nothing unexpected at all. Dilation felt just plain odd as my brain still had all of the nerve endings mapped out the old way, so it just felt bizarre to feel something sliding in past things that used to be way outside. It still kind of feels like that, but it my brain is adjusting.
Week 2 checkup:
At this point the swelling has really dropped and it honestly looks like a slightly swollen natal vagina. My two week checkup was the last one before I could go home. Dr. Raphael and his nurse came in and everyone took a look at how things were going, and he seemed pretty pleased with his work. His exact words were "give that thing a couple of months and it'll look like a factory item." His bedside manner really is without equal. He might be the most genuinely caring physician I've ever met.
He had to do a check of the internal sutures, so he gloved up, greased up, and slipped a finger in. Being the smartass that I am, I couldn't resist saying "But I just met you!" And a good laugh was had by all. He asked how well I was sticking to dilating, and was happy to hear that I was doing it religiously. Sadly some patients don't and end up with complications later.
So after that I was cleared to head home, I set up a 3 month follow-up appointment, and off we went. 9 hours in a car later we were home, I am really happy that we split that into two days because car rides are NOT your friend at that point.
Things learned:
Surgery is super easy: you sleep through it. This is kind of a big one for me since I had never had a "real" surgery before and was kind of freaking out about it.
Donut pillows put too much pressure on the entrance to the vaginal canal, a neck pillow worked way better for me.
Get REALLY big panties for recovery since you're going to be jamming a pad, an ice pack, and some foam in the front.
Dilation isn't as scary as some make it out to be, it is a bit of a time sink at first though.
And that's about it so far, all in all it's pretty grand to have the right stuff finally even if it's still sore and healing up.
