Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Holy crap!  it's just a week away!!!!
 
Somehow it feels like it caught me by surprise even though it hasn't. 
For the record I met with Dr Bowers in August 2015 and got on both the wait list and the cancellation list.  My original date was May 2017 but the cancellation list does work if you can be flexible. 
I expect to down there 11 days.  After surgery I have three days in the hospital, three days out, post op, then can fly home a day later. 
The follow up with my doc is a month from the surgery date.
Dilation is 3 times a day for 3 months and then 2 times a day for 9 months. 

My procedure is at Mills Peninsula in Burlingame CA.  I'm staying at the Staybridge Suites nearby. 
I had to stop all my meds, estrogen and spiro, two weeks ahead of time.  Also vitamins and fish oil. 

My various doctors have all seen her work before and say that you can't tell it apart from the 'real' thing.  I'm definitely looking forward to not seeing what I do now though feel oddly sentimental about it going away. 

My main worry is where to dilate in the middle of the day.  I don't have a good place at work to do this.  There are no private places I can lock up except perhaps some single person bathrooms. 

Anyhow, shout out with any questions you might have about the experience and wish me luck. 

Congratulations and good luck!  My surgery is a few weeks after yours.  We will just miss each other.

regarding meds, this is the information I received:
Reduce your estrogen dosage <Dosages Not Allowed> two weeks prior to surgery. At the same time, stop Progesterone, Anti­androgens, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, herbal supplements, blood thinners. YOU MUST STOP ANY BLOOD THINNING PRODUCTS. Call if you are taking any additional medications or have questions.


So, based on this you should still be taking some estrogen up until you need to stop everything but clear liquids the day before surgery.

I will be very interested in seeing updates here if and when you are up for it!

Moderator Edit

Yays on getting in early!  :)  I've seen Dr Bowers work, I expect that you'll be pleased.

Hugs, Devlyn

Congratulations.

OMG, that is awesome news!  Best of energy for you and cannot wait to here how you are doing post :)

Thanks all for the well wishes.  I will totally update with a follow up.

Quote from: KimSails on August 31, 2016, 11:34:16 AM
Congratulations and good luck!  My surgery is a few weeks after yours.  We will just miss each other.

regarding meds, this is the information I received:
Reduce your estrogen dosage <Dosages Not Allowed> two weeks prior to surgery. At the same time, stop Progesterone, Anti­androgens, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, herbal supplements, blood thinners. YOU MUST STOP ANY BLOOD THINNING PRODUCTS. Call if you are taking any additional medications or have questions.


So, based on this you should still be taking some estrogen up until you need to stop everything but clear liquids the day before surgery.

I will be very interested in seeing updates here if and when you are up for it!

Hi Kim, Sorry I will miss you!  I will try to update right afterwards with my experience.

The information on their site indeed has you reduce your estrogen dosage and cut out the rest.  I should have been a bit clearer but honestly I didn't think of it until you asked.  My medical doctor added onto the advice from Dr Bowers her own recommendation that I cut it all the way out to reduce the chance of blood clots.  While the chance of problems are low, they are lower yet if you cut it all the way out.  She even says that I should make sure I am ambulatory after surgery before resuming hormones.  I miss my wonderful blue pills but I can survive two weeks to help avoid issues.  (Why are they blue?  Seems like they should be pink.)

Hey CrysC,

Congrats on getting a surgery date 8 months early!! If I may ask, how far in advance were you contacted about the new surgery date of Sept 7? I myself am on the "wait-list/Cancel list"  and everyday I hope to get the life changing call. I'd like to get an idea of how much advance notice to expect if I'm lucky enough to get an earlier surgery date too.

Thanks in advance for any insight...

Jenni

Hi Jenni,
In my case I got the call about an opening in the last week of July.  Normally it sounds like you get more like 3 months notice but sometimes stuff happens. I was lucky enough to be able to make my schedule accommodate this date on short notice.  What helps is that my insurance stuff was complete and approved.

I totally know that feeling on waiting for the call.  Every day I would wake up and wonder if today was the day.  I'm just real glad that my employer was so accommodating as to let me do this on short notice.  It screwed up things I had been committed on forcing other people to pick up my work. 
Good luck!  I hope you get the call soon but if you are like me, you'll also feel bad for the poor girl that canceled. 

Hi Jenni,

I will add another data point for you:  I set my original surgery date of 2/14/17 in late May 2015.  I was contacted mid-July (the 18th?), about possible dates for September 8th and 27th -- about two months out.  The 27th worked better for my schedule. 

Thank you so much CrysC and KimSails for your insight. It's very much appreciated.

My surgery date is currently scheduled for Jan of 2018. Ugh, It hurts my soul to even type that date. My insurance approval is all said and done but my prior authorization expires in Nov of this year. It freaks me out to think about having to get another authorization after all the trials and tribulations I went through to finally get this approval.

That being said, I must admit that although it saddens me to think about anyone having to cancel their surgery for any reason, I'd be completely dishonest if I said I didn't hope for an earlier opening, even if it came via a cancellation.

So, until that day when I get the call, I'll continue to keep my arms, legs, fingers and toes crossed for an earlier surgery date.

Thanks again ladies..

Jenni

Quote from: Jettin Jenni on September 01, 2016, 09:19:23 PM

That being said, I must admit that although it saddens me to think about anyone having to cancel their surgery for any reason, I'd be completely dishonest if I said I didn't hope for an earlier opening, even if it came via a cancellation.

I understand that sentiment. I'm not sure it is entirely like that though. First, I will say that I have no special knowledge of Dr. Bowers scheduling process. But once your backlog is at the two to three year point, I have to imagine that there are open dates left in her schedule so that she doesn't have to schedule vacations and conferences and such that far out. So I would guess that most patients will have moved up to an earlier date for their surgery.  So, I would be surprised if your surgery doesn't get pulled ahead to less than a year from today.

The Staybridge Suites is wonderful in that the people who work there understand post-op trans people. If you need to go some place they will drive you to and from a location. The hospital staff are great too, when I returned home all the nurses sent me a best wishes card which they all signed.

In short, you are in great hands from start to finish.

I arrived in the area on Sunday and we enjoyed SF on Monday.  The BART was annoying as a section of the rail was closed and they shuttled us around that via bus.  The weather though has been fantastic.  It has been sunny and not much wind.  Supposedly it will be like this into October.
I met with Dr Bowers yesterday.  The folks at Staybridge gave us a shuttle ride over which was very helpful.  After meeting with Dr Bowers I got my prescriptions and walked over to Walgreens.  Some of the awesome girls here for the same thing as me gave us a ride to the hospital which saved me from learning how to use Uber for the first time.  It took a little while to get my pre-op processing completed.  It's mostly forms, detailed Q&A and then they pulled some blood. 
To get back to the hotel we walked to the BART station and took that back.  It's a bit annoying though so I would call the hotel next time instead and get a shuttle.  After we got back it was time for the bowel prep.  I rather hated this stuff but used ginger ale to get it down a bit better. 
Anyhow, I go to the hospital this morning. 

Best wishes!  :)

Hugs, Devlyn

Sending positive thoughts your way!! I expect you are in surgery right now. :-) :-)

Wow.  I did it. The people are great here.  My voice sounds male though again due to tube and anesthesia side effects.
Pain is being managed. The catheter is odd. Sad to have that 6 days it so but I will deal with it
While trying to sleep the pain faded a bit and I instead felt pleasure for a short while. That was a surprise
Going to try and rest.

No regrets. Uncomfortable but happy.

Happy news! Congratulations :-)

Congratulations!  :)

Quote from: CrysC on September 07, 2016, 11:59:09 PM
Wow.  I did it. The people are great here.  My voice sounds male though again due to tube and anesthesia side effects.
Pain is being managed. The catheter is odd. Sad to have that 6 days it so but I will deal with it
While trying to sleep the pain faded a bit and I instead felt pleasure for a short while. That was a surprise
Going to try and rest.

No regrets. Uncomfortable but happy.

Congrats :)

Congrats! Rest is good! Look forward to hear how your recovery goes.

Very happy for you!!

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1279.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy537%2FDevlynMarie%2FModstuff%2Fp120128b_zps5bb84833.jpg&hash=392b515c1c1b611e038eedc089df3bda42da5ccb)

Yays! Speedy healing!

Hugs, Devlyn

Thanks all for the congrats! 

Devlyn. I love the pink kiss!

I am so happy right now. If somebody could happy dance for me I would appreciate it. :-)

 :eusa_dance: :icon_dance: :icon_joy: :icon_walk: :icon_pelvic_thrust2:

I danced out into the living room for you and my better half thought it was a great reason to pretend I can actually dance for!  Congrats Girl!  Here's to a speedy, whole and happy recovery! :D

<3

Nice Devlyn and thanks Kaity!
I love it!
Tomorrow I get to walk but no dancing for a while. :-)
Today has been a great day for me. I can't shake this grin which only got wider when reading your posts.

Congratulations! May you have a speedy recovery! Hopefully you'll continue to post about your recovery. When the time's right, my wife would like Dr.Bowers to do mine. Thanks

Deanna

More recovery updates is a good idea
Day 1 post op

I haven't slept much but it isn't for lack of comfort or care. The nurses here are all awesome. They take fantastic care of you. There is this compression device that squeezes your leg like a calf massage and it is a bit noisy. That might also be why I haven't fallen asleep for long yet.
I just finished my first day since surgery and I had no pain. Sure I was on Percocet and this ibuprofen thing but I honestly had no pain at all except when I accidentally got the catheter line under my leg. Don't do that as it then pulls and that is uncomfortable
I never even expected zero pain though. That's surprising and I hope it is true for most
In the morn I take the dressing off and get to see the new bits for the first time. That is followed by walking.  No walking at all for the first day and a half.
Oh yea, I also checked out my new acrylic lovers (the dilators) and they look and feel like police batons. Slightly intimidating size wise. They have serious weight too.
Ok. Going to try and sleep more.

Quote from: CrysC on September 09, 2016, 02:39:23 AM
More recovery updates is a good idea
Day 1 post op

I haven't slept much but it isn't for lack of comfort or care. The nurses here are all awesome. They take fantastic care of you. There is this compression device that squeezes your leg like a calf massage and it is a bit noisy. That might also be why I haven't fallen asleep for long yet.
I just finished my first day since surgery and I had no pain. Sure I was on Percocet and this ibuprofen thing but I honestly had no pain at all except when I accidentally got the catheter line under my leg. Don't do that as it then pulls and that is uncomfortable
I never even expected zero pain though. That's surprising and I hope it is true for most
In the morn I take the dressing off and get to see the new bits for the first time. That is followed by walking.  No walking at all for the first day and a half.
Oh yea, I also checked out my new acrylic lovers (the dilators) and they look and feel like police batons. Slightly intimidating size wise. They have serious weight too.
Ok. Going to try and sleep more.

Are they different colours?

Yes. There is blue, green and oh my god orange

I think I will name them later. :-)

Quote from: CrysC on September 09, 2016, 01:09:46 PM
...and oh my god orange

lol! Oh, that is funny!  And I imagine very true!

Thank you for the posts! I hope all continues to go well in your recovery!

Day 2 post op

So I have been very blessed to be pain free and the surgery went great.
With that said I pushed my luck a little. They hooked me with Percocet every 4 hours. I never felt pain though and this stuff will constipated you   Thus said I decided to push the line and wait for some discomfort before taking my next dose. Soooo. Around hour 7 I was educated in this being a mistake. Pain hurts.  It wasn't a gradual thing either but rather a swift ramp up on discomfort.  The moral of the story, the nurses know what they are doing. :-).   

Still. I walked around a few times and stood for a bit chatting with the girls in the next room. It was good to get up. Things look great. 

Congratulations, I am very happy for you. I am sending good thoughts your way.

Day 3 post op

Today was discharge day.  Dr Bowers yanked the wound drain. Ow. It takes a few minutes to stop stinging 
The awesome girls in the room next to us hooked us a ride back to Staybridge. You can get a shuttle though. They will do the shuttle 24x7 which is awesome 
After I got back to the room I rested for a bit and then decided to throw up. I decided n the same way I decided to be trans. Luckily there was a moment of warning so I had a pot that I could use.  I felt better afterwards.
I feel both better and worse. Hopefully the night is smooth.

So sorry, hope it was a one time event and you feel better.

Deanna

That does *not* sound like fun!  Had you been feeling nauseous over the last couple of days?  It that typical?

So, drainage tube is out, but you still have the catheter?

I hope you got some rest!

Yep. Deanna. It was a one time event. I had been calling it my tomato juice dispenser but I am glad it is out. There is a bulb they squeeze. It has a line that goes to the wound to suck out draining blood.
I still have the catheter. That thing is quite annoying I must say. It is mostly a mental burden to make sure you don't do anything where you move quickly or yank it. I have an issue when the nurses moved it quickly or lifted it higher than my groin. The back pressure is disturbing
I still have a lump of coal that may make it to diamond by the time I pass it. Constipation is s side effect of the pain killers. I just switched to trying Advil instead. I hope it works and I can drop the oxysomething
There is also the packing that doth fill my cooch. When I walk I really feel it. Not a great feeling. When I sit in a chair it feels like the chair is getting far more friendly than should be allowed
I get the catheter and stuffing out on Tuesday that is also when the police batons come out and I dilate for the first time.

Oh yes. I haven been naseaus at all during this. The throw up thing yesterday was a surprise. I figure it was the food or something.

Edit:
I just got rid of my coal, so to speak. That is one objective completed there was some dead blood back there that seemed to get pushed out the incision that made a bit of a mess.
I went for a walk around the pool. Sunny but chilly. No sitting at the pool today like I originally though 

I am glad you are doing better. You have a really good sense of humor :)

My positive mindset that I had going into this is waffling a bit. I expect it is due to general tiredness, some discomfort and hormone changes   I still need to use some mental effort to stay upbeat but I need to do that for the people who reach out to me

I just wanted to post this much for you other girls that you might want to expect something like this.

Glad you are enteral! Thank you for your posts. For major surgery, you do sound very upbeat. May your recovery continue to go smoothly.

Deanna

I had the same mental thing.  It will pass once you get back on E. Somehow tapering off E and then suddenly no T (blocked or otherwise) is a real thing.  I incorrectly assumed blocked T and no T were the SAME. Incorrect. Hunger, get healing and don't overdo it.

Thanks Kris!  So good to hear cause and that it will go away as my hormones fix themselves

Day 4 post op

Today I woke up a bit body sore.  I think I need to walk more.  Took a shower and was tired from doing that.  I've been changing pads twice a day.  I've been lucky that blood flow wasn't too bad.  I put ointment on the incisions twice a day.  Morning and evening. 

Tomorrow I get the catheter out.  I am not looking forward to that event but am to being past it.  The lower part of my abdomen is sore and tight.  There is a bit of swelling of the lady bits.  I have been putting ice, in an ice bag I got at the hospital, pretty much all the time.  it would be a lot worse if not for that I suppose. 

I'm on just Advil now.  I am not exceeding the dose prescribed on the bottle.  No prescription pain killers.  Antibiotics are 3 times a day and that is important.  I started estrogen the day after the surgery or so. 

things are a little scary but mostly in the unfamiliar way.  I will adjust.  I just need to heal more and that will help my mindset. 

Good to hear that you are progressing well! Ice and rest can be the best friend when dealing with swelling. Thanks for your posts. It helps me in getting ready for my GRS, date pending.

Day 5 post op - temporary regrets, orgasm, follow up doc appt and peeing

Today was a pretty big day but let's start at the beginning
Last night I couldn't sleep. I lay in the bed hour upon hour uncomfortable and began questioned what the hell had I been thinking. I had gone beyond going back. There was no way to undo what had been done and for what?  Did I really need to have done this?  So I replayed my life and how I got here. It was instantly obvious I did great to have delayed this moment so long. I remembered the relief and joy I felt right after surgery. I remembered how happy I was as my girls grew. As I thought about them, I reached up and touched them. That triggered a new and unusual response from down below which was not being touched. I quickly stopped but it was like I had charged something up. It didn't go away so after a short bit I repeated what I had done and triggered a toe curling orgasm.  The last ghost of something that smelled like regret vanished at that.
Also, how the heck?  I still had the catheter and the mile of gauze.   So I am just going to say that Dr Bowers knows what she is doing.  And again, anything smelling like doubts are gone. They were just a product of lack of sleep coupled with discomfort. Funny enough, there was never a future I envisioned where that first orgasm would happen so soon. Talk about a surprise.  I could not recreate that moment but I hope for many more chances.  Seriously, if I could already do this when I want there would not be many posts.
So after that I was able to eventually fall asleep. I showered in the morn had breakfast and we watched the tube while waiting for the shuttle.  I took a short walk and did some work. The folks here btw are amazing. They have been fantastic from room needs to the shuttle which is 24x7. If you have Dr Bowers and are from out of town you really should use the Staybridge.
So let's get through the post op. So I had the catheter removed. There was no pain. It was a little odd but I was mostly just worried about nothing. The next item was the packing removal. Again there was no pain but it was odd. Just try to relax. Finally I had the dilation. Ok. I was scared of this but it also was not a big deal.  It was a bit mentally stressful due to the newness
For the rest if the day I felt a lot better. It took a while to relax but walking was a lot better among other things. My cooch muscles are somewhat sore after dilation but that is to be expected.
I did have some oxy before the appointment but that was due to fear. I didn't need it.
So all in all it was a heck of a day. I had to do two more dilutions today after leaving the office .  It went well but it's still somewhat stressful just because it is new.  I only needed to plop a dollop of metrogel on the police baton for one dilation.

Lastly let me note the joy of urinarion  Girls have a built in bidet system but it takes getting used to.  It's an evolutionary reason to spray all over my arse but I still prefer something more like a stream. Ah well. When commenting to my bff, I was laughed at upon complaining and told welcome to womanhood.

Hope some of this is useful and please ask questions to hit on things I miss. 

Post op Day 6 - one week after GCS

This is the final report barring questions. 
Today has been good. The sky was sunny and I was able to relax after a long walk. I was tired after the walk but did pull off about a mile. My soreness is tolerable and I am off of all pain meds but am short winded. Dilation is what it is. It is not fun but it is necessary.
So here are some lessons learned.
- when they take the wrapping off it looks great already. I have seen pics of post op that look raw and wounded. Dr Bowers has improved her technique over the years and it looks great from day 1   
- do NOT get heavy flow maxi pads. Get the real thin ones. The thick ones are uncomfortable and not needed.  There is light spotting at most , at least for me.
- You don't need more than a few pads for the bed. I use a baby changing pad for dilation. Easy to clean up
- Don't go into this thinking you are all the way mentally. There are some adjustments afterwards. Just remember how you got here. When you feel a bit off it is most likely just due to being so beat. This does take a lot out of you. 
- Your new cooch will give you little nerve jolts. It is like a surprise shock. Happily it doesn't last but I will dread public speaking until they are gone. 

And with that I complete my last major bit of my transition journey.   If I remember things that should be added I will do so.  Good luck to the rest of you girls. 

Oh yes, make friends here. That was a great part if this journey.

Thank you for letting us all be part of your journey so far. Your comments are very helpful to me in getting my head around my surgery.

Thank you for the postings!  I've been reading the postings for the last few weeks for you, Shellters, and Carrie Liz.  It has been enlightening as I prepare for my own journey step in a couple of weeks.  It is amazing to me, and very encouraging, that you could walk a mile one week after surgery. Even if you were tired afterwards, the fact that you could do it at all is amazing. :) :) :)

Thank you for sharing your story and advise. I will be experiencing GCS in 7 weeks 6 days :)

Looks like things are going good for you! Congrats. It was fairly the same for me the first week after post op. Things probably would of been even better if I would of rested more. I ended up doing way too much walking in Bangkok. I could've prevented much of the swelling by laying more in bed. Flying home was a different matter, but then again I should of opted for wheelchair use at the airports. Again I walked too much. When I finaly got home it took a good day to feel a little better. Now 3 days later and I have a set back. It feels worse than day 1 out of the hospital.

As far as urinating, it's getting easier but still hard to completely empty the bladder. I also don't get the same satisfaction when releasing urine. Though that is getting better.

Hope the next few weeks go as well for you as the first week!

Thanks all for the well wishes.  It does make a difference to read them. 

For urinating I will add that you can reduce some of the bidet effect if you lean forward and bring your knees closer together.  I was sitting up too straight.  Being less than youthful when starting my transition, my hips are not rotated.
Anyhow, it makes a difference between being a bum wash or going down to the water below. 

I'm still surprised at how big a deal this is mentally.  Before surgery I felt that I was a woman but there was this barrier of my own devising.  I was and yet, I wasn't.  Heck, I could even change my mind if I wanted to (like that would happen).  Now though, my girl card works everywhere.  Locker rooms, bathrooms, airport scanners, yoga pants, etc...  For me it is now 'real' and when I look back, it feels like I wasn't before.  I am past the point of no return and nobody can ever take this away from me (Cue: Katy Perry, "Part of me")
Please don't take that to be an opinion on anybody other than myself.  It is just how I felt about myself.  I don't feel that anybody is any more or less for having gone through GCS.  It did make a difference though in how I looked at myself.

Also Shellster, I'm very sorry for your setback.  That stinks.  I definitely want to avoid that and am taking your advice to rest to heart. Healing is a good thing.

I read all the updates by everyone who has gone through the surgery. It is interesting that you mention urination. I was just thinking of this topic this morning. It is one of my big worries. Not that all the other things such as sensation, depth looks, etc., are not important but for some reason this hit me today.

Glad that all is progressing for you!

I have been following your and shellsters navigation of this part of the journey and appreciate all that has been said and discussed.  It is a part of my journey too (though it feels a long distance away yet) and having you out ahead of me in SRS is comforting.  Thank you, truly, for taking the time to keep us up to speed, so to speak.

I said I wouldn't write more unless asked.
I lied.

I just felt like popping an update.  I'm 3 weeks and 2 days post surgery.  Today I moved up a dilator to the green dilator.  I had popped some stitches a week and a half ago at the base and side of the entrance which looked unpleasant so the good doc said hold off on moving up in size.  I followed the advice until today.  Things appear to be healing fine.  It's still not going to win a lady bits beauty contest but it's all mine! 

I get around just fine with minimal soreness.  No real feeling from my clitoris yet which makes me slightly concerned.  It's also pretty retracted though I suppose as swelling goes down it will come out.  There are some pretty happy sensations inside which is great.   I will need to relearn how to make things work for me. 

I can't wait until I don't need to dilate in the middle of the day.  Not sure how the rest of you do it but I either come home early or take a break, find a one person bathroom and do my thing on a yoga mat while lying on the floor.  Sadly my employer could not come up with something better.  There are praying and nursing rooms but nothing for alternative private needs like what I need.

It might surprise you where you get blood.  I rather expected something more like a period thing but I tend to instead get some blood along the upper part towards the clitoris.  When you set your pads, make sure you put it high enough to cover the top or you will get a nice little stain on your panties that you won't want. 

Also, I'm using Always ultra thin athletic. Green packaging.  They seem to be most comfortable out of the ones I've used so far and don't move around.  The wings are overkill for me since I do not bleed there.

Mentally I can't convey the difference for me.  I will say that if you are not really trans that this would be a terrible thing to do to yourself.  I can picture how bad that would be.  Going all the way up to the surgery I had moments of doubt.  This is not trivial.  On the other hand, if you really are though, and are anything like myself, well then there is some small period of mental oddity and then confidence.  I love wearing jeans, leggings and anything else that I was worried about before.  Even without that I feel safe in the ladies room where I always had some concern.  I am happy in my skin for the first time ever. 

I know I'm way lucky to be past this point and to be doing well.  My heart goes out to every one of you that has to wait.  Keep your spirits up and feel good about how the procedures are continuously improving.   

Thank your all of the posts! I'm glad you added the last one especially at s was right for you. May you continue a speedy recovery.

In regards to dilating mid-day, what I did was dilate in the morning and after work, skipped mid-day. For the two sessions I tacked on an additional 10 minutes.

I'm at two years post-op and down to one time a day, four days a week w/o lose of depth.

Best wishes as you move forward and enjoy life to it's fullest.

I checked with Dr Bowers' office and they said it wasn't total time so much as minimizing the amount of time between dilations.  With that said they said I could go to twice a day but I should try to do it as soon as I got back from work.
My depth is down from the first dilation because swelling has gone down.  I suppose it is closer to 5.5" rather than 6" as it was on the first dilation but I can coax a bit more depth over time. 

My clitoris was a bit non responsive but that is changed.  It still has some ways to go but it looks like it is waking up nicely.  There were some suture endpoints poking some sensitive areas along with some nerve reawakening. 

It has only been a month but I think I can look at skipping pads very shortly.  I do not seem to have any bleeding or icky stuff. 

Thanks Karen and Deanna for the well wishes.  I am recovering fast and enjoying life a lot more. 

great to hear things are going well. I didn't keep up with the whole surgery thread but may I ask , did you get her new method of having the incisions in the groin instead of on the labia? I was fascinated by that....of course it's 5 years too late for me haha ....labia scars 4 lyfe ;)

In regards to your clitoris, did Marci inform you that over time it can become overly sensitive? About one year after surgery this happened to me and at times it got so extreme I had to sit down and do nothing as the sensations were (and still are) overwhelming. Went to an OBGYN and was told the hood was fine and could not figure it out. Same when I sent a photo to Marci's office. Just thought you should know this is a possibility.

Quote from: karenpayneoregon on October 05, 2016, 05:03:25 AM
In regards to your clitoris, did Marci inform you that over time it can become overly sensitive? About one year after surgery this happened to me and at times it got so extreme I had to sit down and do nothing as the sensations were (and still are) overwhelming. Went to an OBGYN and was told the hood was fine and could not figure it out. Same when I sent a photo to Marci's office. Just thought you should know this is a possibility.

Umm what do you do? This doesn't sound good., For how long has it been this way

It has been about one year now. One method I've learn to control this when it gets overwhelming is to basically not move or sometimes if wearing pants or leggings to adjust them so they are not in contact with that area. Thongs I found out will rub more than other undergarments so I am careful about not wearing them often but that is my fav undergarment.

Quote from: karenpayneoregon on October 05, 2016, 05:37:31 AM
It has been about one year now. One method I've learn to control this when it gets overwhelming is to basically not move or sometimes if wearing pants or leggings to adjust them so they are not in contact with that area. Thongs I found out will rub more than other undergarments so I am careful about not wearing them often but that is my fav undergarment.

Wow that is really tough, sorry you have to deal with that. I had a few complications of my own but nothing like that with my clit.

I didn't get that warning about an overly sensitive clitoris.  At the moment it's not that. 
There is one scar on either side that comes from the vagina that quickly goes into the leg crease.  It's near invisible though even now.  There are some other suture lines up the labia and inside. 
If my stitches hadn't popped at the vagina sides and entrance then it would look pretty amazing even now.  I expected a lot more drama in appearance but it really looks good even now. 

So sorry Karen about the overly sensitive thing.  I hope I don't get that.  The problem related to that now is the nerves reconnecting and that stuff.  Little nerve jabs that hit me off an on during the day.