Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi everyone,
I'm in Charing Cross hospital in London and had my op yesterday morning.
Today they took off the large external dressing and took away my drip and morphine dispenser and changed my catheter bag to a leg-bag, so today I'm up and about and can wander around the ward.

So...... so far, so good

Congrats!  Nice to hear you are doing well!

Congratulations on your new life.  Hope you're "out and about" soon.

Congrats!



Jay

Congrats, and keep us updated.

congratulations Steffi! Wow up so soon, you must be doing great! Nice to hear :)

S T E F F I.   Alrighty then you name is now officially on my list. :D

Congratulation Steffi.  Heal fast and heal well.

Congrats!!!  I bet you are thrilled beyond belief!

yay congrats!!!! So what was your first thought when ya woke up?

Congratulations, Steffi.

Just wait until you can pee normally. >:-)

Congratulations and please give my regards to Mr Bellringer - if that is indeed who you saw.

Are you on the top floor in the corner room? In which case if you are in the first bed it was mine back in January when I was having my 26 years late second stage.

Heal well Steffi.

Jenny x.

Best wishes and speedy recovery!

gratz!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay, congratulations!! That is great!

Congrats Steffi!!!  :eusa_dance: :eusa_clap: :eusa_dance:

Greetings from Hamerikha....

(And excuse the long post)

Well done Steffi, I wasn't allowed out of my bed from the Greenbaum until just before leaving....but don't push it....give yer body the very best chance for healing possible... and good luck with it all.

And I know for sure that here in Scottsdale four of us (tg ladies) this week have been under Dr M for labiaplasty's...how the other's are shaping up.... I have no clue? Or they're not keen to share there thoughts experiences on Susan's org?

So that's at least five of us gals with some form of ongoing surgical reassignment recovery happening this week, and if we dial in Thailand and Canada too..I'd wager thirty plus women with sore fannies right now, sweating and battling on through..lol

Though me being the only UK Brit chick here with an 18 year old fanny conceived ages ago by a long retired pioneering English surgeon proved more of a challenge to revise and bring up to date than expected, my internal urethra was too long and a mess according to Meltzer. So I had to endure a longer time down, and my recovery is more fraught (lucky me)......so I'll not be free of the damned catheter till at least Monday....(Labour day here)...

So here I am on bed-rest still only post-op day three for me, with my new girly parts steadfastly refusing to return to anything resembling more typical and pretty flower petal bits, (which is distressing the hell out of me)...as at the moment I look far worse than how I was on Monday pre any of this new surgery......(How long I now have to wait, to finally see if any improvements have been gained at all)... well of course no one can tell or answer me on that one? The big 'what if' elusive Holy Grail question...??.

(Jeeesus.. this is such a big-ask-n-act-of-faith-n-patience for any women whom are locked into our unique circumstances)...just trying for a shot of best chance of normal life possible....with pretty looking female anatomy!!

I feel many medics conveniently overlook this....with stock answers such as, don't compare yourself to anyone else, you all heal differently, results always vary....and there are never any guarantees... all totally true of course, so its your problem you signed the consent form...

So whatever happens, what will be - will be....the bottom line...its YOU that has then to live with the forever after consequences – while they bank the fees and move onto the next volunteer, guinea pig....

And due to my own (sobbing/crying) low point yesterday, I'm mentally prepared now for the very worst...last nights uber-swelling was my dark angst moment, ground-zero time (so had to get some Lorazepam down to steady the jitters)..... and I just have to accept that it will be weeks of waiting, and apparently I've a haematoma to bleed out also (nice) and will face days of discomfort...before I have any real idea as to what it is I've actually let myself in for this time around, and whether any small gains have in fact been achieved... if any?

(So a fun $35k holiday to the US, this has definitely not been, just a heart-ache trip, ongoing pain and the toughest mental challenge you can imagine....while locked in a hotel room solo watching the hours slowly tick bye....

It was all grim enough last time around during the 1990's, and maybe in yer 30's you're physically better to handle it?... I guess naively I thought this time around (having been through the main SRS before) it would be less traumatic/problematic for me this week as a big girl 52 year old.... (big mistake)...and on that score how wrong I've been!!

But i hope after next Mon to be a bit more mobile...but I did go out grocery shopping when it was cooler this morning with ma fab private N&T Nurse Michele, in her uber-bat mobile Merc today for some survival grocery's...she's such a sweetheart, and is great for boosting my spirits up. And she's well in with the Greenbaum team, so sourced me some more disposable knickers... forget real pants they are too uncomfortable...

So walking the first time around a mall did do me some good, so I'll try farther tomorrow...

I've decided, to help ease the solitude of this months time here for me..,to be ruthlessly honest with what's going on, so will update truthfully as we head through till the 29th.... as I feel that there is no valid reason for any 'mystery'....

And anyone undergoing this process should do so with their eyes fully wide open.... even if my truth is unique to me....

Equally if in 6 weeks time, if/when things for me settle down on my return to the UK and improve and the functional aesthetic results are fantastic (as is alluded to by Meltzer nursing staff frequently.. then I will share the outcome with you all, as I have nothing to hide on that score...either.

So all of you heads up for this in a month or two...the very best of luck!!

awesome! congrats!

it was indeed Mr Bellringer I saw.
I am on the Marjorie Warren ward, below Riverside - all SRS will come here now as there will be no nursing staff on Riverside upstairs at weekends.

Today, about an hour after my morphine was taken away, I suddenly vomited my dinner back in spectacular fashion  :(

I am pretty grossed out by my pads full of blood clots - I of course expected a bit of bleeding, but hadn't really prepared myself for pools of gunky blood   :o       I'm not really a Blood person...... especially when it's mine

When they changed me over to the leg-bag, I did not fill it at all for 4 hours, despite drinking a big jug of water and 5 cups of coffee.
I had a painful feeling of a very full bladder but had to hassle the nurses three times before anyone took a look.  Turns out the tube was kinked.  I immediately filled the bag two and a half times......

Two things to tell you about yesterday, before the op:-
The nurse came around and gave me an enema - the first I've ever had and a strange and somewhat unpleasant sensation.
She told me to try my best to resist the urge to go until fifteen minutes had passed.  I managed barely four minutes....... my bowel went into spasm and I could not stop it coming out...... I had to run down the hall to the bathroom, leaving a trail behind me all the way  :icon_redface:

I had to walk up to theatre under my own steam and climb onto the table.  Theoretically the anaesthetist is on hand to put you under pretty quickly - however, today he was very late for work and I consequently lay there with my eyes clamped shut for 20 minutes  :o
How I didn't crack and run away I'll never know

Quote from: Steffi on September 03, 2010, 06:23:24 PM
it was indeed Mr Bellringer I saw.
I am on the Marjorie Warren ward, below Riverside - all SRS will come here now as there will be no nursing staff on Riverside upstairs at weekends.

Today, about an hour after my morphine was taken away, I suddenly vomited my dinner back in spectacular fashion  :(

I am pretty grossed out by my pads full of blood clots - I of course expected a bit of bleeding, but hadn't really prepared myself for pools of gunky blood   :o       I'm not really a Blood person...... especially when it's mine

When they changed me over to the leg-bag, I did not fill it at all for 4 hours, despite drinking a big jug of water and 5 cups of coffee.
I had a painful feeling of a very full bladder but had to hassle the nurses three times before anyone took a look.  Turns out the tube was kinked.  I immediately filled the bag two and a half times......

Two things to tell you about yesterday, before the op:-
The nurse came around and gave me an enema - the first I've ever had and a strange and somewhat unpleasant sensation.
She told me to try my best to resist the urge to go until fifteen minutes had passed.  I managed barely four minutes....... my bowel went into spasm and I could not stop it coming out...... I had to run down the hall to the bathroom, leaving a trail behind me all the way  :icon_redface:

I had to walk up to theatre under my own steam and climb onto the table.  Theoretically the anaesthetist is on hand to put you under pretty quickly - however, today he was very late for work and I consequently lay there with my eyes clamped shut for 20 minutes  :o
How I didn't crack and run away I'll never know

Wow!  SOunds like a pretty cold hearted place.  Sorry to hear your experience was unpleasant.  They actually made you walk to the operating theater alone?  What's wrong with these people?

Quote from: Steffi on September 03, 2010, 06:23:24 PM
it was indeed Mr Bellringer I saw.
I am on the Marjorie Warren ward, below Riverside - all SRS will come here now as there will be no nursing staff on Riverside upstairs at weekends.

Today, about an hour after my morphine was taken away, I suddenly vomited my dinner back in spectacular fashion  :(

I am pretty grossed out by my pads full of blood clots - I of course expected a bit of bleeding, but hadn't really prepared myself for pools of gunky blood   :o       I'm not really a Blood person...... especially when it's mine

When they changed me over to the leg-bag, I did not fill it at all for 4 hours, despite drinking a big jug of water and 5 cups of coffee.
I had a painful feeling of a very full bladder but had to hassle the nurses three times before anyone took a look.  Turns out the tube was kinked.  I immediately filled the bag two and a half times......

Two things to tell you about yesterday, before the op:-
The nurse came around and gave me an enema - the first I've ever had and a strange and somewhat unpleasant sensation.
She told me to try my best to resist the urge to go until fifteen minutes had passed.  I managed barely four minutes....... my bowel went into spasm and I could not stop it coming out...... I had to run down the hall to the bathroom, leaving a trail behind me all the way  :icon_redface:

I had to walk up to theatre under my own steam and climb onto the table.  Theoretically the anaesthetist is on hand to put you under pretty quickly - however, today he was very late for work and I consequently lay there with my eyes clamped shut for 20 minutes  :o
How I didn't crack and run away I'll never know

Well you are in good hands then. I would say the best - but then I am probably a little biased after he revised my vag which is somewhat older than even Cruella's! I was a private patient of course which probably explains the different ward.

Give my regards to the team there, including Iffy Middleton if you see her, and of course Mr. B. himself.

In my experience day two is the worst, once you are past that its all downhill. (Being a bit of a hard nut, I refused all pain relief and toughed it out on both the original op and the revision.)

Anyway I wish you a really good outcome and a swift recovery.

I'd echo concern re: you wandering on yer tod up to the theatre...Steffi...when some last minute calming strokes from empathy alligned staff is what's required....

On that score the Greenbaum 5star...all the way. Dr B the sleep-easy specialist...was a lovely, genuine warm-hearted guy, and handled my anaesthetics with aplomb... he's know Meltzer since he was an intern....

I don't remember going out at all around 7:15am....just sitting in ma freebie snugly-thick Bear Paws socks... watching all the surgeons come up to desk for final brief checks....while comfy in ma pre-op-cot....warm microwave blanket cosseted....

The next thing I remember was focusing in on the recovery room clock which was indicating 11:20am... and all was done...

But the big need to pee thang a universal if catheter is popped in..par for the course with fanny ops!!

And I'd go with Jen on not over doing pain relief as it gives you a better sense of the ongoing recovery...if it feels better it is...ditto if it feels worse keep checking you're serious infection or bad swelling free...

If in any doubt about anything...don't suffer..or live in angst, just push the button and get attention!

And no more jokes Jen about the age of ma Mary Jane...lol, as she's just had the full 5 star Meltzer make-over so I'm now banking on some prime time adventures to come....fairy fanny-angels willing....*s->-bleeped-<-s*

Quote from: Steffi on September 03, 2010, 09:29:54 AM
Hi everyone,
I'm in Charing Cross hospital in London and had my op yesterday morning.
Today they took off the large external dressing and took away my drip and morphine dispenser and changed my catheter bag to a leg-bag, so today I'm up and about and can wander around the ward.

So...... so far, so good

Congrats Steffi, hope all goes well for your recovery.

by the way my top tip is to forget about fiddly and messy ice-cubes into paper kimberly-clark pouches...

Michele bought me a large bag of petite poise....wd just split the intoes thee panty liner shaped plastic zip bags and keep them in the fridge freezer box just keep rotating out as you need them - good new peas never melt just keeping yer mary jane nice a kool....

Steffi, Congrats & Best Wishes

Quote from: Kristyn on September 03, 2010, 06:41:10 PM
Wow!  SOunds like a pretty cold hearted place.  Sorry to hear your experience was unpleasant.  They actually made you walk to the operating theater alone?  What's wrong with these people?

I've had 6 surgeries in last two years and had to walk to theatre four times.   Hard to know what the reason is.  However I do feel a bit embarrassed to be wheeled along on a trolley when I could walk perfectly well.

Quote from: lilacwoman on September 04, 2010, 03:49:31 AM
I've had 6 surgeries in last two years and had to walk to theatre four times.   Hard to know what the reason is.  However I do feel a bit embarrassed to be wheeled along on a trolley when I could walk perfectly well.

It's not a matter of walking to the theater, it's a matter of walking to the theater alone--alone being the key word here.  When my Mom went for her cancer operation, she was accompanied by the anaesthesiologist and a nurse.  I'm pretty sure that if Steffi had paid for her op as opposed to being funded, her treatment would have been far better.  This isn't the first negative criticism I've heard of the treatment of trans people at that hospital.  I've read plenty of bad experiences from people who frequent a board based in the UK--everything from humiliation to severe mistreatment.  THis doesn't only extend to trans patients, but to other patients seeking various treatments as well--cases of people having the wrong organs removed to patients needlessly dying at the hands of incompetent doctors and care givers.

Please don't read into this the wrong way and take my commentary as a swipe at your country--it isn't.  I'm just very vocal when it comes to the mistreatment of others, classism, and the sheer incompetance of people who call themselves professionals.  I live in a country which is 15 years behind the rest of the world and overrun by very narrow minded people and am the first to yell, kick and scream about it.

Quote from: Kristyn on September 04, 2010, 07:26:18 AM
  I live in a country which is 15 years behind the rest of the world and overrun by very narrow minded people and am the first to yell, kick and scream about it.

Krystin, I didnt know you lived in the US. LOL

Thank you all for your good wishes    :)

I'm not at all sure what my first thought was on waking up.  I must have come to in the recovery room upstairs or they wouldn't have sent me back to the ward, but I don't remember that and nor do I remember actually coming around on the ward.  I wish I had some profound or even interesting thought to relate, but the whole waking up thing is just a grey fog.

I seem to have done some pretty extensive bleeding in the night, although no one seems at all alarmed about it, they just gave me some more pads and net knickers.
I've had a more extensive glimpse of my new anatomy today as I did try to clean up a bit with a feminine wipe as it seemed pointless to put clean stuff straight on.  There's a lot of swelling and bruising so nothing down there seems very promising yet.
I'm dreading the thought of having to poke anything into it in a couple more days, but it will have to be done - I didn't come this far and go through all this just to let it close up.


I have to correct a wrong impression I gave earlier - I didn't walk to theatre alone, I was accompanied by one of the two specialist gender nurses, a new one who has only recently joined the team.
My complaint was that I walked at all and didn't get knocked senseless by a pre-med and wheeled into theatre, as happened the previous two times that I've had a general anaesthetic.  I used to be utterly terrified of hospitals and stuff and I'm still pretty frightened now, so the calming effect of a premed would have been very welcome indeed.
That my stress was compounded by the late arrival of the anaesthetist was unfortunate.

The nurses in here are caring but I think that they're a bit short staffed so I do find some aspects annoying and having to wait and repeat my catheter difficulties was one of them.

Quote from: Kristyn on September 04, 2010, 07:26:18 AM
It's not a matter of walking to the theater, it's a matter of walking to the theater alone--alone being the key word here. 

Stephanie did not walk alone - she went under her own steam ie walked not rode.

If we are going for surgery and our legs are fine then we can walk IF NO PORTERS ARE AVAILABLE to push a trolley.
In each of my surgeries I was given the pre-med outside the theatre and was fast asleep before the doors were opened so I have never seen an op theatre.   Maybe the room is empty and they have a time machine that zips us off to China for cutrate service?

Hi Steffi,

Sorry, missed this one, congrats and heal well. I am surprised you are up after the first day, I wasn't allowed up until the fourth day, I also had very little bleeding and I was also on low residue meals until the fifth day.

BTW, I had my surgery in Brighton with Mr Phil Thomas, When I went down to theatre I went down on my bed with two porters and two nurses. As soon as I entered the pre op room there were about six people there as well and everyone started plugging me in and gave me the pre op meds and spoke about everything they were doing. In a few minutes I was out. Funded by the NHS UK as well. Excellent staff, surgeon and hospital.

Stardust 

Congrats! Steffi

I'm so happy for you. Best wishes and to a speedy recovery!

A wee point of caution to those spending hours, days & nites in a hot bed, lying still with ice-pack in place waiting for swellings to ease...

After six days now of lying in warm beds with panties-n-pads pressed on, I noticed a wee bed sore developing today, so have binned everything off this afternoon to let the fresh cool air in....

So will sleep tonight sans all, but with a special leak sheet under my butt....my private nurse sensibly left me a couple...I'm still bleeding lightly and have been warned this could go on for a couple of weeks !!

But I think every-now-and-then lets some air in and around yer new found Mary Jane... as covering all the time me thinks might be bad...

But thankfully today I've also managed to ease off the 4hrly pain meds and stretch it out a bit...every little helps with steps back to normality....lol

And my positive thoughts to all in the thick of it....or just about to enter the twilight zone...

congrat for your surgery post-op

Good recovery.

CONGRATS STEFFI!!



I'm so Glad to Hear everything is going well!!!!

Congratulations!

Congrats hope you have a speedy recovery

Great news. Happy recovery!

Caroline

Congrats, do as your told and have a speedy recovery!