Hello! It's such a shame that so much history was lost from this site. So unexpected as well.
For those who remember me, I have an exciting update! I had full vaginoplasty on 21st March 2024. I've only had some minor complications and my experience seems to have gone better than most of the anecdotes I have heard. This was on the UK NHS, around 4.5 years after I first saw a GP about transitioning.
The operation was carried out in Wimbledon. I was there for seven nights in total; one night before the operation and six after. I was already mobile the day after having the surgery and able to continue exercising, and I was able to travel back to Wales on the train unaided. The skin of my penis was sufficient on its own to create the neovagina.
There have been some minor complications as I alluded to earlier. I had wound dehiscence (the stitches separated slightly) and the wound became infected. That happened in the first two months after surgery. I also developed some granulation tissue which was making everything down there rather wet. That's ongoing and I'm still having treatment for it, but the weirdest aspect of the treatment is that during my second daily dilation (I'm now down to two a day), I have to insert a sugar cube before commencing that dilation; it takes quite a bit longer than a normal dilation as a result.
I have not lost any depth. The gender nurse said that my depth was five inches (12.7 cm). I've mostly kept to the schedule of dilation - beginning with three dilations per day basically for the first two months and then dropping to two; I believe I've only missed one dilation during that time which was quite recent and doesn't appear to have caused any ill effects. I'm able to push my dilators in as far as the fifth and last dot.
I think I've partly been lucky and partly taken some wise decisions. My health was excellent beforehand and it still is excellent. I stopped drinking in January 2023 since I knew this operation was coming up and I wanted to be as healthy as possible. I don't miss alcohol at all. I've also kept to the WHO guidelines for aerobic physical activity for the past several months, not even having a break for recovery from the surgery. (I suppose that may be partly why I experienced the dehiscence.)
When I have fully recovered from this surgery, I will consider my transition complete. Of course, there will be bloods every now and again, and titration of medicine levels; I'm going through one such titration now, as I require lower levels of medication after the surgery.
Some people may remember that I used to post regularly to this site, and then it became occasional. I plan to keep updating this site occasionally. I owe a debt of gratitude to this site which helped me so much in my early days of transition.
Thank you for your time reading my post!
