Susan's Place Transgender Resources

My surgery was with Dr. McGinn.

I had a bleeding complication because my testosterone was so high.  Once under anesthesia the body responds with an erection, and my body pumped out tons of blood.  The complication was a mixture of other factors as well such as lots of erectile tissue.  It doesn't really happen much and it is rarely heard of...  Dr. McGinn made a new rule requiring patients to be on a certain amount of Spiro before surgery.

Dr. McGinn ordered 4 units of blood for me, and I had an additional operation.  She kept me one extra day in the hospital.

Quite amazingly, a lot of my skin survived the hematoma.  Dr. McGinn is seeing me on a near daily basis (I live 30 minutes away) and we have decided to keep the packing in a bit longer (as well as a catheter) since my swelling is still on its way down.  I am incredibly sensate and have been since the first time it was noticed (a few days after surgery).

My body was not big enough for more then a few inches of depth (which is what I figured).  A skin graft from the scrotal skin was not used as the penile tissue was long enough to go to the back, against my intestines.  This particularly pleased me since I know the healing will be so much better.

Everything is turning out just fine, I'm so glad I chose Dr. McGinn as I would have likely had this same complication with any other surgeon.

Hooray, Kira!!!

Good to see you up and about on the board. So happy for you.

Hmmm, it looks and sounds like Dr. McGinn did pretty well with an unforeseen complication!! Maybe she's a whole lot better than some have apparently thought. *smile*

All the best to you.

Hugs,

Nichole

Scary! Well I'm sure glad to hear that everything is turning out fine in the end ;)

And a BIG congratulations Kira!!!!!

~Kate~

Glad to hear your OK Kira.

I have not heard of the complications you endured before.

Take it easy, recover and then enjoy your new status!

Buffy

Congrats on your surgery. Sound like you had bit of trouble with your surgery. I hope everything turns out fine and a speedy recovery.

Anna

Wow Kira,  That sounds scary but I'm glad your ok and well, (Beni say's while swallowing a spiro pill.).  Hope you continue to rest and heal.  My day with Dr. McGinn is this comming Tuesday at DSI.

Take care and keep us updated on your progress.

Beni

Quote from: kirakero on May 24, 2008, 10:59:56 AM
My surgery was with Dr. McGinn.

I had a bleeding complication because my testosterone was so high.  Once under anesthesia the body responds with an erection, and my body pumped out tons of blood.  The complication was a mixture of other factors as well such as lots of erectile tissue.  It doesn't really happen much and it is rarely heard of...  Dr. McGinn made a new rule requiring patients to be on a certain amount of Spiro before surgery.

Sounds like a priapism.  In a trauma situation where the spine is severed, it is not unusual for a male patient to present in the ER with an erection.  As a matter of fact that is usually an early indication that there is spinal damage.

I wonder if this whole situation may have been avoided if patients were allowed to stay on estrogen right through surgery.  Like Dr Bowers does with her patients.


Anywho, I'm glad everything has turned out well for you.

Beni: I will try and stop by to visit you while you are there~  I want to bring the nurses cookies too!

Beyond: My issue was not so much the estradiol, but more so the fact that my body had a very resilient testosterone factory and also my Spiro prescription was rather lacking compared to what is being prescribed these days.

Kira,

Do you mind saying how long you'd been on spiro?

Nichole

Quote from: kirakero on May 24, 2008, 01:58:42 PM
My issue was not so much the estradiol, but more so the fact that my body had a very resilient testosterone factory...

Now I'm scared (what else is new?), as my pre-HRT testosterone was something like 800. Not astronomically high, but still above average. And I'm supposed to stop everything (both E and spiro) three weeks before SRS. I wonder how long it takes for the T levels to return once off HRT? Doesn't long-term HRT permanently reduce T production? It'll be two years of HRT when I have SRS...

~Kate~

I have been on HRT for 20 months.

Most interesting!

Congratulations! Kira

I don't think you'll have to worry about priapism any more ( >:D ;D)

Get well!

Karen

Quote from: Kate on May 24, 2008, 02:13:56 PM

Quote from: kirakero on May 24, 2008, 01:58:42 PM
My issue was not so much the estradiol, but more so the fact that my body had a very resilient testosterone factory...

Now I'm scared (what else is new?), as my pre-HRT testosterone was something like 800. Not astronomically high, but still above average. And I'm supposed to stop everything (both E and spiro) three weeks before SRS. I wonder how long it takes for the T levels to return once off HRT? Doesn't long-term HRT permanently reduce T production? It'll be two years of HRT when I have SRS...

~Kate~

Have you had a 'level' done lately, Kate?

And yes, the HRT spiro does indeed lower T, but the body also rebounds when one is off of it. And if the dosage is 'low' as Kira wrote about then there is some chance that the T might be high enough to cause what she wrote about.

And, as Beyond stated there may be reasons other than T. Thanks, Kira for the time.

Nichole

Quote from: Nichole on May 24, 2008, 02:26:22 PM
Have you had a 'level' done lately, Kate?

And yes, the HRT spiro does indeed lower T, but the body also rebounds when one is off of it. And if the dosage is 'low' as Kira wrote about then there is some chance that the T might be high enough to cause what she wrote about.

My T was 24 a few months into HRT. My doc hasn't checked my T or E levels since then (just the other concerns, like liver function, etc.), as my regimen hasn't changed at all since I started... and things certainly seemed to be "working," lol.

My spiro is the average dose, from what I've read and seen.

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit Kira, I'm just wondering if this is something all pre-ops should be worrying a bit about...?

~Kate~

If you were down that low Kate I wouldn't worry much about it. By the time you have a significant rebound there will be nothing there to rebound.

In a year w/o Spiro I went from 17 to 73 blood T about a year ago.

N~

Congratulations and to a quick recovery. :)

gina

Thanks everyone ^^~

My last appointment was Friday.  I had the catheter removed and also had the packing removed.  Dr. McGinn decided it would be best to repack the vagina since there was some tissue that was trying to heal near the opening (that would have been likely harmed and killed if I started dilating right away).  The hematoma pretty much extended the healing time.

Urinating was the next thing.  I was unable to with the packing in, and we decided to remove it (again) to see if I could urinate.  My body had the ability to urinate, but the swelling was still so bad that I couldn't let out more then a couple tablespoons at a time (and it was quite painful).  I gave in eventually and had a catheter put back in.

I dilated for the first time in the office.  My depth is quite what I expected with my small frame and I am happy with it.  Dr. McGinn repacked the vaginal cavity and restitched it in.  It was so tight that it eventually came undone slightly in the following 24 hours.  In order to prevent the stitch from pulling apart my skin I had my girlfriend cut it where it crossed the opening.  I removed the packing that wouldn't go back in and pushed the remaining amounts in.  Currently I am using two ABD pads and two pairs of underwear to prevent it from coming loose.  I am seeing Dr. McGinn today for a checkup in a few hours.  We plan to dilate, though the catheter and packing is not 100% for sure.  It just depends on how much I've healed and how much the swelling has gone down.

On a side note, the nurses at DSI were wonderful.  One of them came in on her day off to keep an eye on me.  redfish as she is known on this board stopped in and gave me a super cute stuffed animal before she left the hospital~  I am quite happy for all the support I got.  Saturday I was kind of freaking out, but things turned out really well in the end, ne?

Sorry to hear about the complications, but great to hear you're doing OK :)
Hang in there, hang onto that blood, don't let it go anywhere.
Every day will be easier than the last.

Glad your doing better Kari.  It does sound a little scary, but it sounds like you about over the hump.  Of course I meet Dr. McGinn Tomorrow moring at 6am

Take care

Beni

Kira!

I'm so glad that everything is working out for you!  It sounds like you had a bit of a scary time, but it will all work out!

Keep us posted on your progress.

I too did not need the scrotal tissue for my procedure and I am pleased with the results.  That is a bit of an advantage in that you don't have to worry about making sure that you dilate past the scar tissue between the two grafts.

Take care, hon!

-Sandy

WOW, BIG CONGRATS KIRA!!!! so jealous right now!!!

T down K up! I do hope that you are up and doing well.  The second week is always better than the first.  Within a couple months, you'll feel perfectly fine.

Cindi

Quote from: Kate on May 24, 2008, 02:34:33 PM
My T was 24 a few months into HRT. My doc hasn't checked my T or E levels since then (just the other concerns, like liver function, etc.), as my regimen hasn't changed at all since I started... and things certainly seemed to be "working," lol.

My spiro is the average dose, from what I've read and seen.

Sorry to hijack the thread a bit Kira, I'm just wondering if this is something all pre-ops should be worrying a bit about...?

~Kate~

My T level was immeasurable a few months before my SRS.  My endocrinologist had me on a hyper-feminization track.  Even after my orchi.  He did not want any testosterone from my adrenal gland interfering with my feminization.  Now I have stopped taking the spiro completely and as of my last test my testosterone level is now normal for a female.

As a result I have started to get a higher energy level and my libido is starting to return.

-Sandy

Sorry to hear about the complications. Hopefully nothing wonky goes wrong with me. My GF had something happen to her like you did. I'll have to ask her exactly, but I know that she lost a lot of blood at well.

--natalie

Thanks hon for the update.

I hope you start feeling well soon!!!

Catheter is out and I am on a regular dilation schedule.  This happened last week.

Today I went in and Dr. McGinn burned off the copious amounts of granulization tissue that built up over the last couple weeks.  From my personal experience it tends to build up on wounds where the skin is healing from underneath.  Since I have a few square inches of healing tissue like this, it was bound to pop up.  My nerves seem to be healing just fine, since I felt a mild burning sensation for a couple hours after the silver nitrate (pretty sure) was applied.  Apparently the oxidizing silver makes the skin gray/black.  Dr. McGinn said I was doing great and will be healed up in a couple months.  She is going to try to work with me on minor adjustments to the tissue in the office as well since the hematoma spread things out a tiny bit.  She's great~

I appreciate everyone's support!

I'm going to try to research this abit... It may be something more common in the younger graduates LoL...

Only one way to find out though. and glad your doing well Kira, congrats :D

Missed this earlier. Glad you're doing well, Kira and congratulations on the new you.

Dennis

Kira,
I am glad to here that everything is going well for you and I hope for a rapid recovery for you.

Great job, girl.

Much love,
Janet