Gender Reassignment Surgery Continued....Weeks 2 – 6
Week 2 – The pain remained the same at level 4 assuming the level 1 – 10 with 10 being the worst. My routine was awake at approximately 8am, coffee, dilate with both 25mm and 30mm dilators, bath and douche. Most of the time was spent laying down mostly on the bed as this was the comfortable position. Any movement brought on the pain and could only waddle to the bathroom and back. Mid week I found it increasingly hard to dilate and stated to panic and phoned the hospital. They said I had probably become a little swollen and the entrance of the vagina which was rubbing off most of the lubrication so hardly any was entering the vagina. They suggesting buying an "Orthro Vaginal Applicator." This I did the following day by agonising to the bus and making my way to the doctors. This solved the problem and dilation was OK again. Sleeping was difficult and to get a comfortable position was nigh impossible. I never liked sleeping on my back so I decided to try a folded pillow between my legs and lay on my side. Seemed to work. Decided that I would only take pain killers at night before I go to sleep. My reasoning was that without pain killers my body would tell me when I had done enough.
Week 3 – This week was fairly similar to week 2 although I had a bleed from the bottom of the entrance near the vagina and perineum. I panicked, phoned the hospital again (they loved me, lol) and it was explained that it was probably a small hemirage where the stitches were. This turned out to be so as it only occurred the once and was fairly brief in duration. I also started to walk a little to the library and shops which were only 100/300 meters away. It was painful to walk any distance.
Week 4 – Dilation became routine and maintaining depth. Interestingly the larger size was easier to get full depth than the smaller one. By now I was walking a little further down to the harbour about a mile. I had bought some walking poles which meant I was not putting so much pressure down on my feet and hence genital area. It meant I could walk a little further than if I had not had them. The best thing I had bought and a God send (They cost just £10/$15). I did this every other day to begin some sort of exercise. By now I had put on 12lbs/6kg. Not what I wanted. So I began to restrict my diet to more fruit and veg as well as the small amount of walking. This seemed to have worked because it stopped the weight gain and had now started to lose it again. The pain was now at level 3 a little less but still very swollen.
Week 5 – Much the same as week 4. Boredom is a real issue with me now. I did have books, mags and TV, but not getting out much and just being in the house was getting me down and I had a few tears thinking I would never be the same again. I wanted to do the things I did before but couldn't. A friend of mine who is a nurse said it was also due to post op depression which can and does occur in operations that require extensive recovery time. Because of this I was determined not to focus on the negatives and only on the positives. Decided to start to do things that could be done sitting down or with little effort. I made some jams (strawberry and blackberry) and pasties (these are like pies filled with meat, potatoes and carrots. I felt better by doing things like that and it has the bonus of giving me jams throughout the winter, lol.
Week 6 – The pain seemed to have got a little worse again this week and back to level 4 with a little more swelling again. It meant that my activity was curtailed a little and it was back to laying on my bed again. I also had another bleed, this time it really freaked me out because it was a lot and ran down my leg. I panicked looked at where it was coming from (thankfully not from the vagina). It came from the left side of my inner labia and I could see it oozing out. My heart felt faint but I applied pressure and several kitchen towels later it seemed to stop. This during the evening so I went to bed. I seemed like it was like my first bleed as it did stop and I began cleaning the area each day with a cotton bud soaked in hibiscrub. This was five days ago and there has only been a little weeping since but no red blood. Also yesterday seemed to be my worst day since my surgery. The pain had increased to about level 7 and I had hardly slept the night before because of it. I was due to have lunch with a friend but had to cancel because I felt so bad. The outer labia also seemed rather swollen. As of today and of writing I am back to normal. In fact I feel so much better and the pain has gone down to about level 2 with no pain what so ever while laying down. I have started driving and drove to a nearby beach as it was so sunny. I did some sun bathing in my bikini and thinking it was so nice in the warmth of the sunshine and a bikini that fitted properly for once. The recovery is one day at a time and I cannot understand why the day before was such a contrast with today. Dilation continues to be routine and reaching full depth.
Many thanks
Stardust
