Post op recovery time frame

[4348]

Hi. I just have some questions for those of you who have had vaginoplasty.

As a university student scheduling a surgery could be challenging depending on the time frame. If I have to take substantial time off, I would be limited to having surgery in the off-school months, which could mean a scheduling delays of up to a year (until a following summer). This is compounded by the fact I am experiencing very serious challenges in getting approval at the clinic I am going to, but that's a different topic really.

After what period of time, in weeks immediately after the surgery, could you resume commuting to work/school every day? What time period should be set aside just for immediate postop recovery? After what period of time could did you experience a full physical recovery in terms of resuming normal physical activity? Also, unrelatedly, how long did it take for wounds to heal and sloughing to stop?

Thanks =)

[spacial]

Sadly, this is outwith my personal experience.

But I know for certain there are many here who can advise you first hand.

Hopefully some will offer some advice.

[Kristyn]

Hi, I had  my surgery Sept 15 in Montreal.  I recently started to workout again around eight weeks post-op and, it was around this time that I felt well enough to go about my daily routine--mind you, I'm not working right now but I'm still pretty active.  Currently, I have no pain, just a little discomfort in the clitoral area which comes and goes.  This is probably due to swelling and the fact that I had asked Dr. Brassard to make the clitoris larger than his normal.  I still have some sloughing primarily around the clitoris/hooding, and a spot which is slow to heal just at the entrance to the vagina and under the urethra.  The areas are getting better and the amount of discharge is minimal.  Other than that, I occasionally  have a light spot of blood at the tip of my dilators.  This spot is very light which results in a slight discoloring of the lubricant, but it did cause me enough concern to contact Montreal this morning as this has been happening for a while.

[pixiegirl]

Not speaking from direct experience here, but I've spent some time thinking about relevant stuff to this so I'm just going to butt in

First off, I don't think you're going to get a definitive answer since everyone heals differently, regardless of how a procedure goes. Second, which surgeon/type of surgery is important - Suporns method seems to take a lot longer to recover from going by what people have been saying for example. You'll need to wait for others to chip in with how recovery exactly goes, but depending on how far you need to travel and how long your days are, doing college within 5-6 weeks from an energy/mobility/concentration perspective is doable, possible even earlier but at a cost to overall healing time from going too fast.

I really don't see it working out apart from summer though, even if you get a 4-5 week Christmas break, and here's why - dilation. Again this kinda depends on the surgeon but lets use McGinn for an example - her schedule is, I think, 5 times a day for a couple months then 4 times per day up to the 6 month mark.

Without knowing where you live in relation to campus or what your course schedule is like, times etc. I can't comment properly, but I'll put myself last semester into that position: 20-30 mins from uni to home driving, say 50 mins to get comfy, dilate, clean up then another 30 mins back... thats 2 hours gone without traffic or any problems taken into account. Even with a light course load there would have been my lightest days that would have been: wake up, dilate, go to morning/midmorning class, go home dilate, get to afternoon class, go home dilate... oh look its 6pm already... and that would have been on days with only 3/4 hours of lectures. If I was any further away it would have been really hard to do without trying to organise a space to use in the health centre or finding a really really really good friend living on campus res who didn't mind losing their bathroom 2-3 hours a day to that. On the easiest days, not including work after classes.....yow.

I don't mean to make it sound impossible or anything, and I know even that is a lot easier than trying to do it around work, but it's something to think about properly, unless you're a 10 min walk from class ... even if you had surgery in May right at the start of summer you'd be dilating that much for most of the next semester.

[peggygee]

I would agree as has been stated that YMMV, dependent on the surgeon, how the person heals, etc.

From time to time, I try to recall my healing process, when someone asks a question of this nature, as it has been a while.

I do remember that I stayed in in Thailand for a few weeks post operatively. I had rented an apartment, would go grocery shopping, my own cooking, do light sight seeing, rest and dilate.

I had my procedure in the Summer months, Thailand Summer, and it was hot as 

I like to think that recuperating in such a tropical clime, and getting my sea legs back really prepared me for getting back to work, and the rigors of day to day existence.

As to a dilation schedule, I would dilate before going to work in the morning, and then dilate at night before bed. In the weeks immediately after my surgery, I would dilate 3 times a day, when I got back to the states I would dilate 2 times a day. Now, years later I dilate every 2 weeks or so, if I haven't been sexually intimate.

For me, I would say that it was about 2 weeks or so before I felt that I was getting close goes to normal in my daily tasks. I did take it easy, didn't want to pop sutures, or other-wise exert myself

Again, I would say those hot weeks in Thailand really prepared and hardened me, so that when I got back to the states and a usual environment it was smoother sailing.

[Cruelladeville]

I know from memory ish..... that original SRS was a big deal on the recovery front.... 3 months or so..... walking long distances took a fair wee while to get back....

Second stage 2 weeks I was driving again, but it was painful.... and I was still bleeding....

4 weeks is a good bet to be back into a sorta normal routine....

But even now and I had an op on the 31st of August.... bits are still improving changing...

In fact even previously I found things getting better and better as time went by.....

So I would say 4 weeks as a safe bet to get back into work, at a level that will count...... 8 weeks and you should be back to 9-5 without too much difficulty....

Good luck!

[4348]

Thank you for all the excellent responses. =)

I hope you're all well.

[Sarah B]

Hi 4348

I was thirty one when I had my surgery and after one week in hospital I walked from the hospital to my car slowly and very carefully got in the passenger side.  My long time dear friend was driving and it was a short trip home.  I was laying down on my bed and walking gingerly around for the second week.

Two weeks after surgery I was back at work.  This was possible because I was young, fit, healthy and the type of work (contract) I was involved with at the time, was drawing roads, designing roads and drawing plans for bridges.  This type of work only involved standing and sitting mostly and I did walk around very carefully.

I'm still surprised at what I did, but I had to get back to work to earn my living and I wanted to be one who could get back on their feet the quickest and no I would not do it differently.  In regards to dilation I did it before work and after I got home.  As others have said before it depends on your circumstances. So two weeks is the absolute minimum amount of time that you would need to recover from your surgery.  That was 20 years ago and I'm still smiling to this day.

Take care and all the best for the future

Kind regards
Sarah B

[Suigeniris]

very informative ,im hoping for 3 weeks or so to at least try to start to get back on track , well somewhat

[K8]

I am reasonably fit and active but older.  I was able to drive soon after surgery but it was three weeks before I felt able to drive to the next town, which is an hour away.  I usually walk 2-3 miles every morning; it was four weeks before I could do the full 2+ miles.  At three months I took a several-week car trip that completely wore me out.  My strength and agility came back quicker than did my stamina.

The swelling went down rapidly in the beginning, but it was close to six months before it was completely gone.  The sloughing lasted about that long, too, but like the swelling it was much more in the beginning and gradually tapered off.  I never had any blood after the first week except when I tried cramming a bigger dilator in when I wasn't ready for it.

The reason I waited until three months to take my car trip was that was when I went to dilating twice a day.  I never dilated more than three times a day, but even with that I had to schedule my activities around the dilation schedule.  Especially in the first six months, skipping a scheduled dilation makes the following ones more difficult.  (And remember that dilating is not something you can do just anywhere.)

You will heal faster if you are in good physical condition.  Don't smoke.  Exercise.  Eat good stuff.  If you are overweight, trim down.  These things make a difference.

- Kate

[juliemac]

I was back at work 10 days after surgery.
The company I work for would allow no more.

Little to no pain, but sitting at a computer was a pain 
It took several weeks for the swelling to drop. I still need some "remodeling", but happy for the most part.