Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hey, tis me and I'm here in Montreal. My surgery is on Monday, but I got here last night. It's a pretty cool place. The residence is the new one, so it's just beside the clinic.  It's very nice here, and the staff have been wonderful. I got to meet Dr. Brassard and talk to him for a bit and show him my bits, and he says things should be okay.

I get my own room, which comes with a tv, dvd, ipod docking station/radio, phone, and an electric bed. I also get a sink. We share the washroom however. This place kind of reminds me of a dorm/group home, just full of friendly people.

The food is homemade and good. I swear I'm going to probably gain weight here. LOL :P Allen, one of the staff members, whom is very friendly and always is happy and singing, just told me what he's planning for dinner -- he cooks really well -- We're having shrimp and rice and probably something else, too. Yum!

In the living room there's also a TV and a computer (mac) that we can use, along with really comfy couches.

Outside is a nice lawn with flowers and seating places, and accross the street is a park and a big river.

I've been having fun with trying to learn some French while I'm here, although the staff speak english as well.

I'm getting along with everyone here, so it's been fun. We've been chatting about all kinds of things, which is good. And I love getting to know everyone and their personalities.

I'm kind of the rock-star looking one here, but it's cute. A few of the staff members like my hair and like to play with the buzzed back (which is uber soft and grew in pretty thick -- much more than before, which is cool beans for me).

As for the others, we have two guys and three girls. Two of the girls had surgery already, and this other girl and I are having surgry on the same day. I heard someone else was supposed to be coming, but she missed her flight. One of the guys is from my City, which is really awesome and he's a lot of fun.

So, I feel pretty relaxed right now and the environment and staff has really helped me out.

--natalie :)

best of luck to you Natalie,  have fun this weekend and let us, know how it goes

Take care

Beni

thnx and I will for sure. :) Hopefully I'll get a chance to go do some shopping on Saturday.

Good luck!

(Lots of people having their SRS planned around the same month on this board lately, anyone noticed it as well? .......)

Sounds like you're in a wonderful environment, wishing you the best of luck  :)

Sounds nice Natalie!

So what's up between now and surgery day? Hang out and get to know everyone some more? Are there any "chores" and tasks to do in the meantime, or are you pretty much able to do whatever until sunday night?

Does it look like you can wander around the park (etc.) for something to do too? A decent place to exercise walking a bit post-surgery?

Is the shared washroom reasonably clean and all?

No wireless internet access? Just the shared Mac?

Yes, I'm taking notes, lol...

Congrats again!!!! Didya EVER think this day would come? So cool!

~Kate~

Congratulation, Natalie.

This is soo wonderful!! I'm very happy for you. Leave Brassard there when you go home!! ;) There are others waiting, ya know!!

Nichole

Take care of yourself Natalie and the best of luck!

Brassard? Oh he's soooooooo cute!  ;D

tink :icon_chick:

Best of luck Natalie  :)

go! goth princess! go! :)

you will be in my thoughts and prayers.



love, beth

:angel:

Good luck tomorrow, take it easy and enjoy the people and surroundings around you. It sounds like a wonderful place.

This is formula 1 grand Priix Weekend, the top touristic event of the year,
be sure not to miss the Crescent Street area downtown before your op.
Saturday will be very animated and crowded, you get to see the cars up close too,
(The subway station is "Guy-Concordia").

This is also next to the main
shopping area of the city, St-Catherine street between Crescent and Phillips Square

Going downtown is not hard, take the Bus to the subway 10 min then 15 minutes and your
in the middle of the action.

Tee-hee an older sister.  :)  My most sincere thoughts for a good experience!

Best wishes on your surgery, you're in great hands, you'll be fine.

Kate, the place does have wi-fi internet throughout the house.

Please tell Anne, Doreen and Allen that Cynthia says "hello"

I'll be anxiously awaiting your reports from Montreal. It's an awesome experience.

Marvelous!  Congratulations!!!

Wow, Natalie, I can't believe the day for your surgery is already here, where in the heck does the time go, really? We'll all be thinking of you and wishing you a quick recovery. Smile, hang in there, it's a huge moment  :) Meghan

Quote from: Kate on June 06, 2008, 02:34:55 PM
Sounds nice Natalie!


So what's up between now and surgery day? Hang out and get to know everyone some more? Are there any "chores" and tasks to do in the meantime, or are you pretty much able to do whatever until sunday night?

Just hanging out. And no, there are no chores or anything else. I can pretty much do what I want.

Quote

Does it look like you can wander around the park (etc.) for something to do too? A decent place to exercise walking a bit post-surgery?

Yes, I can wonder around the park as much as I'd like. I've been walking every day. Yesterday I went out for a couple hours, checking out a few stores I found and browsing. I haven't gone downtown 'cause I really don't want to go on the metro and get lost 'cause no one has wanted to come with me. So, I've just been relaxing and enjoying myself. The weather is really good here.

Quote

Is the shared washroom reasonably clean and all?

There are a couple of washrooms and we share them. They are constantly cleaned. You get your own sink and mirror in your room, however.

Quote
No wireless internet access? Just the shared Mac?

Of course there is wireless, a few people have laptops here (I don't have a laptop... well, i do, but it's at home broken). So, yeah, bring your laptop with you and you can totally use it anywhere in the house.

Bring your ipod (ipod docs in every room) and bring DVDs to watch (TV's and DVD players in each room). There are some movies here and one of the guys who's getting one of the surgeries went to block buster and found a ton of movies for uber cheap, so he bought them and donated them -- so, yeah, we've been having movie nights in his room.

I didn't know that it would be this much "fun" but they do a good job with making everything nice and relaxed. The residence is the newer one, because before they had a different place that was more hospital like. This place is way better than the old place they had.

You'll probably get close to everyone here, because it's like a big house and the staff are friendly. They always chat with us and are  uber friendly. I've gotten to know them really well.

And then the clinic, where they do the surgery, is next door. So, you don't need to travel far. You're at the clinic for a couple of days for surgery, and then you come back here. So, there is always a mix of pre and post ops, which helps out, and there is usually a few guys and girls. We have two guys now, but I hear another guy is coming today. And we have me and two other post ops, one girl is having surgery on monday with me, and the other on Tues. And we have two post op girls here. We have a pretty full house, but everyone is cool and friendly. :)

Quote

Yes, I'm taking notes, lol...

Congrats again!!!! Didya EVER think this day would come? So cool!

~Kate~

Thank you. :)

--natalie

Posted on: June 08, 2008, 08:29:13 AM

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Thank you everyone for your congrats. :)

--natalie

It's all finally happening for you honey. I'm so happy for you!!!

~Simone.

Wow, Natalie!  I am so excited for you! 

So is Dr. Brassard as cute as he looks in his pics? 

I know it will go great.  A big congratulations to you for making it to this wonderful step.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chins-n-quills.com%2Fforums%2Fimages%2Fsmilies%2Fflwr.gif&hash=2e2872656dc839e7d5e52437355c2df2f80f6b87)

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fganjataz.com%2F01smileys%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2FloopyBlonde-blinking.gif&hash=4545ddf8251cf9c32ae6074d56e48bc34a755857)Kristi

Well if Natalie was first on the schedule, she's almost finished her surgery right now. If she was second, she'll be moving up to the pre-op waiting area any minute now.

Wishing her the best of luck, but I know she's in great hands.

Quote from: MCMCyn on June 09, 2008, 08:19:00 AM
Well if Natalie was first on the schedule, she's almost finished her surgery right now. If she was second, she'll be moving up to the pre-op waiting area any minute now.

She's in my thoughts and prayers today :)

~Kate~

knoffel, knoffel, knoffel ...

~Simone.

Wow, it sounds like a wonderful place, I know where I want to travel if/when my SRS comes along.

Natalie,

You are in more thoughts, I hope you heal quickly.

Alice

I am so happy for you hun and heal up soon!

Woot Nats, by now you're done. I can hardly wait for your reporting post :)

Dennis

Still no word on how Natalie is doing?

~Kate~

Hi everyone, I'm doing okay.

I'm sorry I haven't been on, I had a few complications and a lot of extreme pain (not common). I also had a reaction to two of the pain killers they tried on me, but now I'm on another that works fine. I was a wreck for a long while, but I'm doing much better now and finally can get up and do things, etc. Still hurt a lot, but healing nicely.

The other girls had no issues with their surgeries or pain, so that's good. I didn't have so many issues with surgery, it was mostly after. I got a lot of fevers, reactions to the pain meds, felt a lot more pain that most people (happens 1 in 100 people), and had some peeing problems for the first bit. Also, I couldn't eat for a bit cause I would puke everything back up, so that made me pretty weak -- that cleared up now, so I'm eating again and starting to gain some strength. And all of the rest of the probs have cleared up. The pain is starting to calm down a bit. I'm now walking around, and sitting some. I'm healing pretty good.

And yes, Dr. Brassard is cute. He checked up on me a lot, and the staff were good at taking care of me because I was quite the wreck. I'm very happy that I'm doing a lot better now. Still a lot more to go, but recovering now. :)

I go home on thursday. I'm glad that finally, tonight, I've been able to sit down for a little bit -- I'm hoping I can sit down for the flight home, and it looks like I will be able too. Most people can by now, but with me I had problems sitting, standing, walking, and moving in general.

So, most people don't have many issues and usually won't have issues like I have -- even Brassard says it only happens here and here, so it's not common. But if it does happen, know that you'll be well taken care of. It's good that there's staff here, because if I was in a hotel or something like that I'd probably be much sicker as I ended up being bed ridden for a while. It's nice to finally be able to move around, talk to people, eat, and function. The pain sux, but i'm glad that it's starting to go away enough for me to do things.

Brassard told me that it's pretty good that I'd still smile when he came to see me despite having one problem after the other.

--natalie :)

Natalie,

I am so glad you are through the worst of it and are OK now. I hope you continue to heal well.


Alice

Natalie,

Glad to hear you doing alright.  You'll do better as the days go by, meanwhile just rest and get your strength back.

Love,
Janet

natalie.... i was very worried about you. i knew that you didnt have internet, but it was so long since you posted.. i sorry that everything was so hard. i hope things just keep getting better for you from here out.

hang i there "girlie" girl

love, beth

Natalie,

How wonderful to see you online.  Sorry to hear about the problems, though. Hang in there, tough girl.  Get well and enjoy your new life.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fganjataz.com%2F01smileys%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2FloopyBlonde-blinking.gif&hash=4545ddf8251cf9c32ae6074d56e48bc34a755857)Kristi

Sorry to hear that you had a few set backs, but glad to hear that you are doing better. Good luck.

I'm so glad to hear you are up and around honey. I'm so sorry about the complications, and I hope the worst is past and the pain behind you. Mend up soon! We demand a drag-king performance!!!

~Simone.

So sorry to hear that you had complications, Natalie! I'm happy and relieved to know that the worst is over.  I wish you the best and a very prompt recovery!
Take care of yourself and have a wonderful, safe trip back home! :)

tink :icon_chick:

Glad you're feeling better Natalie. May your recovery continue to go well. Complications after a surgery of this type must be really frustrating, but you have a good attitude punk-girl, so have at 'er :)

Dennis

WOW,  What a rough time.  Sorry to hear it but glad your up and about.  OH Welcome to the 2008 sore butt club...here's your donut.  Take it easy on the flight.  Let them pre-board you and get a bulkhead (front seat) if possible.  I sat every which way I could. 

Take care and happy birthday!!

Beni

thnx everyone for the well wishes. I'm home now. Things seem to be healing nicely, but there's still a lot of pain which makes it hard to do much. i hope the pain goes way soon, or at least dies down some more. Sometimes it's not too bad, but other times it just hurts pretty bad and is pretty sore.

--natalie

Aw honey. Hope you feel better way soon. Being home helps though, I hope?

~Simone.

Looks like we just missed you Natalie.  My GF & I arrived the 20th.  I'm at their MAC computer right now.  It's hard to argue that this may be the best GRS facility in the world.

Julie

Yes, you just missed me. I left on the 19th. And yes, it's a great place and they offer a lot that other places don't. If it wasn't for the nurses, I wouldn't be in as good as condition as I am.

Be sure to say hi to everyone from me -- they'll remember me. :)

Posted on: June 24, 2008, 10:08:46 PM

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Quote from: lady amarant on June 21, 2008, 09:54:34 AM
Aw honey. Hope you feel better way soon. Being home helps though, I hope?

~Simone.

Oh yes, being home has helped a lot. Although I still have pain, it's gone down some, and I've been healing really, really fast. I ran out of pain killers, so I've got to get more from the doctor tomorrow. I've been two days with no pain killers, so it's been a bit rough, although I've been walking around with out too many issues. Just mostly sore.

Quote from: gothique11 on June 24, 2008, 10:11:27 PM
I've been two days with no pain killers

:icon_omfg: :icon_omfg: :icon_omfg:

*HUGS*

~Simone.