Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I depart for Bangkok this coming Friday, July 17th and arrive on the evening of Saturday, July 18th (thanks international date line!). My actual surgery is July 22nd.

Even when I booked this months ago, it still seemed like a dream that might never happen. But now it's happening. I'm all caught up in last minute preparations. All sorts of emotions tug at me randomly every day - anxiety, nervousness, excitement, euphoria, exuberance, and, at least according to friends, an extra heaping of giddiness. :P

I do plan to post here as things progress. I'm not sure how often and some of my posts may just end up being links back to my blog since I plan to document things there primarily.

However, before I launch off into the wild blue, I want to thank every single one of you who has gone before and documented your stories, even with other doctors. Learning about GCS and all the personal details that people experience has just made me more certain than ever that I need to finish this, for my own peace of mind, for my own wholeness. So thank you, each and every one of you for being a helpful, informative, and sharing community.

Good luck and safe trip. Hugs
Mariah

I wish you a successful surgery and a safe trip

Sent from my LG-H220 using Tapatalk

Cara,

I'm so very, very happy for you!
You've been very, instrumental in helping me in my journey as you know, so each and every step you make I totally applaud you for your courage, and determination. You lead by example, and that's what helps to encourage me to continue towards my own goals.
For that my dearest sister I thank you!! Come home to us safe :icon_love:
LesleyAnne

I certainly plan to come home, safe, sound, and finally me! :)

And when I do, it will be in part because of the wonderful people I've met online here and elsewhere who've educated me on the finer points of this surgery.

You could have a look here:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,190515.msg1697107.html#msg1697107


hugs

Thanks for that, Laura!! Thank you!

You're welcome :)

Glad it helped.

hugs

Foodpanda.co.th

To order takeout after your packing come out. Scoozi and Fortune Cookie are both amazing.

Also, could you feed the black cat? He's my buddy :D

Good luck with the tramadol. It's a rite of passage lol

good luck

Surgery is complete. I'm back at the cottages at Bangkok Rama now. My vaginal packing is scheduled to come out the 29th, one week after surgery. The catheter comes out the 31st, a Friday. I'm still on liquid diet but this girl is sooooo going to chow down when the opportunity finally comes.

Dr. Chettawut and his staff have been wonderful thus far. I've had no complications thus far. And I'm hoping that my recovery continues without incident.

I'll have more to say when I get home in 3 weeks. For those coming to see Dr. Chettawut, there's a very convenient Tesco shopping center about 5 blocks from the hotel as you exit the hotel grounds to the right. It's got a bit of everything, sort of like a Target or Walmart - groceries, pharmacy, clothes, etc. Plus there is a bank there where you can do currency exchange.

The Rama isn't as new as the Dusit Princess but having seen both, I like the cottages more myself.

More to come later.

Congratulations and wish you a speedy recovery  :)


hugs

Awesome Cara,

I'm so very happy for you  :icon_hug:

How is it going sister? Did you get the packing removed? I hope you are happy how things are developing :)
hugs

How was everything? I'm headed over very soon, staying at the cottages... We're there other girls recovering at the same time?

Hi Liz Marie,

Congrats on a successful surgery, Sorry I've only just took to paying attention on here again after a few weeks needing to concentrate on the human world.

Tesco Lotus is a fine store but slightly more expensive than I remember it from way back. I mean they seem to have gone slightly upmarket as obvious prices will have risen  ;D There are a number of BigC outlets which carry almost everything Tesco Lotus do but you'd need a taxi ride to get to the BigC Extra near On Nut BTS station. If you're stocking a cottage for a long stay it's definitely worth the effort if you need more than basic food. They also do online delivery so it would be possible to order from Home before setting out and have it all delivered to you  ;D

Hope all is going well

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

We stuck with Tesco as it was still affordable enough and convenient.

I'll write more when I get home but I am right now 5 hours from leaving for the airport. I have a letter from Dr. Chettawut explaining to the airline that I should have a wheelchair and special seating. My donut will be nearby at all times. And I've done some special dilating to make the 22 hours on the plane as minimally problematic as I can.

We're 99% packed. I'll finish after the last dilation session in about 2.5 hours. And then back home to the USA.

I will state that thus far I am very pleased with the outcome of my surgery. My traveling companion, a cisgender woman, has stated that I look "completely normal" aside from the stitches and should be just fine once healing is complete.

As I said, I'll write more later, but this trip has let a personal dream come true. I feel completely normal and I can't even remember what "that" felt like already, which was a startling realization, that my brain was that ready to let go of those memories. :)

I look forward to the rest of my life now, as myself.

Have a safe trip and yes life restarts now only this time it's really you :)

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Have a safe trip. As one of Dr Ch girls I know how amazing his results are. It is funny how the brain deletes all the memories. Being a man is something more of a dream to me than reality. I hope one day I forget about all this and I get myself to believe that I was born this way... Who knows...

I'm at the one month mark of my surgery (actually that was Saturday) and doing very well.

I am not in any pain at all, just tenderness and general discomfort.

I began dilator #3 this week and that was, at least at first, a breathtaking experience in a very wincing way. Now it's just tight and I need to be patient and persistent with myself. I'm on day #5 with dilator #3 so I've been impressed at the rate that I seem to be stretching to accommodate it.

Regarding the trip to Thailand, I chose to stay at Baansiri, the Bangkok Rama Hotel, in the cottages in back. The first two weeks there they seemed to have issues with their WiFi which were annoying but I was also not there 4 of those days anyway. Once they got the issues fully resolved, I had only rare hiccups with their WiFi.

The food at the restaurant of the hotel was relatively inexpensive compared to other places (and most places were far less expensive than the US anyway) and was quite good. Being at the hotel, we were afforded breakfast coupons to get breakfast for free if we so wished. Lunch and dinner we either had to purchase somewhere, such as the restaurant or elsewhere, or cook our own, which we did a fair bit of as well.

The cottages are fairly basic. If you want to be pampered you might choose the Dusit Princess instead, but I was more than pleased with the cottages and the close proximity to so many other of Dr. Chettawut's patients. We spoke often, exchanged information, contacts, and shared food and drink on occasion. One of the women chose to not offer contacts as she said she was essentially going stealth after her return to Europe. She was witty, funny, and I'd have liked to have known her better but I understand her choice.

If you have a functioning phone when you get to Bangkok, consider downloading the Food Panda app. You can order from a huge number of local restaurants and have it delivered to your cottage.

Outside the hotel, immediate to the left of the grounds, is a nice little sandwich shop. We enjoyed that. Immediately to the right was a Seven Eleven and then several small local restaurants or other shops, such as a bakery.

About four blocks down to the right you will come to a large concrete bridge going over the street for pedestrians. On the other side of that is a shopping plaza that has a small replica "Big Ben" clock and English themed shops. Across the same parking lot on that far side of the street is Tesco Lotus, a very large store, much like a Target here in the US. It has a grocery area, clothing, house supplies, cosmetics, toys, appliances, etc. Inside the same building as Tesco Lotus are a few shops, such as a bookshop and several bakeries, candy stores, etc. There are also three or four banks inside the Tesco Lotus building, which can give you the most current exchange rate for your dollars to Thai Baht exchanges.

The Bangkok Rama is on the north side of a "loop" and Dr. Chettawut's office is on the complete opposite side *(south side) of that loop, about 15 minutes away. On the east side of that same loop sits the Dusit Princess. I had a friend staying there who arrived two weeks before me so we stopped by there to visit. Right next to the Dusit Princess is the Seacon Mall (I think that's the name) which is a very large and interesting mall if you are looking for that sort of shopping.

I was not physically up to it, but my traveling companion took one day near the end of the trip to take the 10 hour round trip and excursion out to the Tiger Temple. She got me some well appreciated souvenirs and her photos just make me want to return someday to see the tigers, both adults and cubs.

If you have questions about the Bangkok Rama, feel free to ask. If I think of anything else to add, I will. The facilities were comfortable and I experienced no serious issues post-operatively while there nor yet at home (knock on wood).

Hi Liz Marie!

Glad to hear that you are recovering well and things went as expected.  Really appreciate all of the tips about the hotel and surrounding stores.  I'm still holding on to my Jan. 21 date with Dr. Chett.  It will be here before I know it.  At least I'll get the holidays behind me and then slip away in the dead of winter!
Hugz,

This was me, worn out, tired, a bit disheveled, no makeup, but happy and recovering, after my last appointment with Dr. Chettawut before returning home. Dr. Chettawut is a very kind gentleman, though also very to the point and focused on his work.

Be aware that he tends to prefer to do surgeries in the afternoons and evenings! Do not be surprised if you get asked to come to the clinic on the day of your surgery at 1pm or 2pm. And remember, you can't eat or drink at all that morning either, and you'll have been on a 3 day liquid diet coupled with purges to clear the intestines as well.  I buried myself in Facebook that particular morning, trying not to think about being thirsty or hungry. :)

(https://lizdaybyday.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/imag0099-resized.jpg)

I love Dr Chettawut so much. Shame, I didn't get a photo with him. How are the results of the surgery? How much depth did you get? I don't ask about aesthetics and sensations we all know Dr Ch always gets those right :)

Well, nerves are still all waking up and figuring things out. "Hey, how did I end up HERE?" :D

But depth is not quite 6.5 inches which is exactly where it was when I was unpacked. And the aesthetics? My natal female travel companion saw me and said, "You look completely normal."

She also made this observation:

QuoteWhat was totally freaking awesome was seeing you lose all body modesty and shame the day you came back from the clinic.

Prior to surgery, you went to shower clothed and stepped out of the closed bathroom clothed. First day home you walked naked across the room talking about politics while looking for a dress. No self-consciousness at all.

That made me tear up. I knew you'd crossed into new territory in your life.

What's amazing is I didn't even notice it til she said it. She's right. Suddenly I was comfortable with myself. This is amusing because I and several cisgender female friends have traveled together before and none of them were modest when we shared a room, just me. But now? I didn't even think about it, which indicates how comfortable I was, but also how much my own mind had shifted without me consciously considering it after surgery.

Quote from: LizMarie on August 25, 2015, 10:58:25 AM
She also made this observation:

Quote
What was totally freaking awesome was seeing you lose all body modesty and shame the day you came back from the clinic.

Prior to surgery, you went to shower clothed and stepped out of the closed bathroom clothed. First day home you walked naked across the room talking about politics while looking for a dress. No self-consciousness at all.

That made me tear up. I knew you'd crossed into new territory in your life.

What's amazing is I didn't even notice it til she said it. She's right. Suddenly I was comfortable with myself. This is amusing because I and several cisgender female friends have traveled together before and none of them were modest when we shared a room, just me. But now? I didn't even think about it, which indicates how comfortable I was, but also how much my own mind had shifted without me consciously considering it after surgery.

That is so beautiful to hear and I am so very happy for you!!  I hope to reach that point myself sometime next year, I will be scheduling with Dr. Chet soon.

Love this thread LizMarie and congratulations :) x

That is wonderful! I am sitting here not knowing where I will end up. I do know that what you are experiencing is exactly what I have been looking for all my life. Early stages for me and at my age, I will have to work out the how and the where for.  In reading your thread, the word that comes to mind is 'beautiful'!

As a followup, I passed the 6 week post op mark this last Wednesday. Tenderness continues to decline and I'm adjusting to dilator #3 now. It's still tight but no longer difficult inserting.

It's time to resume walking for a bit of exercise. I don't plan to walk fast or far at this point, just start getting moving again on a daily basis. I'm able to drive though I wouldn't want to drive very far. My donut and I are inseparable when I'm not in bed. :)

My appetite remains good and only this last week have I finally seen a few pounds put on, meaning I need to cut back to a more normal daily diet. For me, for the first 5+ weeks, it seemed my body was burning everything I threw at it.

I also began sleeping clear through the night finally about two weekends ago and that's been a blessing, getting a full night's rest. Since I'm working from home, weekends let me sleep in, and I do!

Life is slowly returning to normal, or perhaps a new normal.

Everything sounds promising Cara!

Were there any extra charges pursuant to your surgery?  Just curious.  Trying to plan my budget for the trip.
Hugz

Glad to hear you're feeling good and stuff :D
I'm totally going to get a picture with Chet!

Quote from: Joi on September 06, 2015, 12:39:01 PM
Everything sounds promising Cara!

Were there any extra charges pursuant to your surgery?  Just curious.  Trying to plan my budget for the trip.
Hugz

I had an additional charge for BA since I chose a slightly larger implant, just above the 450cc cutoff where additional fees begin. And I had the skin graft additional charge. To be honest, it seems most girls are going to get hit with the skin graft charge. A few do not but every single one who was there when I was there did get charged that. I would recommend planning to have that included from the start.

In several posts that I have read, I saw that it was likely for most of us and your confirmation bears that out.  I'll definitely confirm the amount with Som the next time I msg. her.  Thz!

I'd say 95% of us get the skin graft fee which Chett wants in Thai Baht, 32000 of them at that :) I used the need to change money as an excuse to go exploring on the evening when I arrived but it depends on what time your flight lands of course.

For those who are trying to get as much for their money as they can here's a useful site that shows the current rates available and where. http://thailand.megarichcurrencyexchange.com/index.php?cur=aud (http://thailand.megarichcurrencyexchange.com/index.php?cur=aud) Even if you're only going to use an ATM the different banks are quite different rates.

Quote from: Isabelle on September 06, 2015, 01:12:44 PM

Glad to hear you're feeling good and stuff :D
I'm totally going to get a picture with Chet!

You just have to :) He's the guy who sorted out natures mess :)

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Just curious.  Where does he harvest the skin graft from? (if you don't mind my asking)

Quote from: Joi on September 06, 2015, 06:00:03 PM

Just curious.  Where does he harvest the skin graft from? (if you don't mind my asking)

In my case it was the inner thigh, My right one I think. There is no evidence of where it went from so I asked Sri who was present during my op and that's where she pointed to.

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Thx Sorcha

Somehow this all seems kind of magical to me!

Left inner thigh and I had no evidence either. I think that gets taken up with other sutures in that same area so it just vanishes.

So I was right "Magic"  ;)

Quote from: Joi on September 07, 2015, 02:06:16 PM

So I was right "Magic"  ;)

If I hadn't been so small I'd have thought he didn't do a skin graft so yes he's a magician  ;D

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

As an update, I'll be at 9 weeks on Wednesday, the 23rd of September. Healing is going very well. I am not aware of any remaining sutures. They appear to have all dissolved.

I do have what appears to be a small patch of granulation tissue just inside the vagina. There has been a little spotting  that is probably due to this but I'm going to give it a few days before I make another gynecology appointment. It may resolve on its own since it's so small.

Otherwise the appearance is superb, in my opinion, of course. Sensation continues to return. There are fewer random neural "pops" or "zaps" as nerves decide something isn't quite right, but they do still occur at a low rate.

Depth remains spot on at about 6+ inches. It really hasn't changed much at all which is good. The third dilator now fits very easily so I am hoping the fourth dilator isn't a difficult adjustment on Wednesday.

All in all, I remain very happy with my choice of Dr. Chettawut and the outcome, thus far, of my surgery.

As an update, I will be 12 weeks post op tomorrow. Dr. Chet provides 4 dilators that are the 4 smallest common sizes of dilators issued by most surgeons. I bought, on my own, the "Mr. Green" and "Mr. Orange" from the Sole Source set.

I was planning to start Mr. Green tomorrow, when I hit 12 weeks but I got a little impatient and started Monday. Thus far there have been no issues and Mr. Green goes in up to the last dot and a tiny bit over. Getting Mr. Green into place is like the first week with Dr. Chet's #4 - it takes a couple minutes to get all the way in. This will get easier over time, just like #4 did.

There have been no complications to date, but I've stayed away from self exploration too much, wanting to hit my 12 week mark to give healing as much time to work as I could.

I've begun shopping toys to help me explore this new topography and all the sensations that come with it. I may or may not have comments about that later. :)

I'm just starting with #3.... Yikes. I know they get easier as you go but still...

Go LizMarie :) I concluded that as I'm not planning sex with a man I don't need to progress past number 4 which now goes in really easily, Because of my revision I couldn't dilate on number 3 and 4 for 5 days but it still went in to full depth as easily as number 1 did :)

Please keep us informed.

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D