Hey Everyone,
Well it's been a month since my surgery and I realized I never really posted anything about my experience. It's amazing how time goes by so quickly.
Surgery went well. I'll admit the worst thing after, for me, was laying flat on my back in a hospital bed for so long. I had a lot of back pain, and asked to sit up a bit, probably too early. This actually ended up pulling on the catheter a bit and causing bleeding from my urethra. This necessitated me having to lay flat on my back for three more days with a sandbag and ice on my groin until the bleeding stopped. I also spent an extra day in the hospital because of this. Advice, don't ask to sit up until they say it's time, the back pain actually goes away after a while on its own, if you have any.
As for pain, I didn't really have much. I felt more pressure from my BA than I did from my GRS. I mostly just used the morphine because they said I should to stay ahead of the pain. In the end the nurses were surprised how little pain medicine I used throughout my stay in the hospital.
On the fifth day I was discharged to the hotel. The first three days out of the hospital were very uneventful. Mostly laying down in bed, sitting is not at all comfortable or recommended with the packing still in. Again, no real pain. Only took one pain pill when I felt some pain beginning to grow.
The tuesday, the week after surgery, I had surgery on a Monday, I had a follow-up with Dr McGinn. During that appointment the packing was removed, and I was introduced to dilation. At this point I was very swollen, partially probably a result of the days of having the sandbag and the urethral bleeding. The next two days were again spent in the hotel room, keeping up with the dilation schedule of six times a day. On that Thursday I had a second appointment to have staples removed, and Dr McGinn did a speculum exam and confirmed that the grafts had all taken. That was a relief to hear.
I went out to lunch that afternoon, and actually found it quite uncomfortable to sit, even with a donut pillow. This made me a little nervous about travelling home the next day. When traveling home, when you check in at the airport, ask for a wheel chair. It's the best way to go. Zipped through security, well except for a secondary screening because the dilators caused issues until they realized what they were. It was kind of funny since they were in my moms carry on. I had wheel chairs at my connection and at my arrival home.
Since then, all is going well. Last week my swelling went down dramatically, and my energy level went way up. Each day I feel better and better. It will still be a little while before things look good down there, but they are looking better and better. I feel great, and I am so happy to have things finally aligned. I have had not one moment of regret, and just finally feel that my body is right!
