Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hello!

I'm going under Suporn's knife in early April and was wondering what kind of bodily changes follow the operation.  I know my friend went through a lot of physical changes after the surgery was done - larger breasts, for one, and a change in appearance from "lanky" to "willowy."  (Best I can come up with to explain it, honest!)

What experiences have you all had in the months and years following surgery?

Larger breasts...fuller head of hair, and bigger hips for me. But ive also lost my sex drive...which i thought would never happen (because i used to be so uncontrollably horny). I thought it was a myth but it really does happen.

For me, nothing major.  I still look the same as before the knife.  i had to lose 40 lbs to get the surgery done and i looked fine prior to surgery but i LOOK the same as for my sex drive, mine went though the ROOF.  I have loss a lot of hair which i had to buy a wig.  I was told by my endocrinologist that the anaesthesia is the reason for it but it came out 6 mths later.    It will be different for different people and I started having total hot flashes. 

My hips and butt got noticeably bigger. My breasts... not so much. I always had a ton of hair on my head to begin with as well.

 :(  I really don't need my bum to get any bigger. My mom teases me already that I've gained so much weight on my hips and backside. Then again I looked like a bean pole as a boy.

Oh well, I guess we'll all wait and see?

Breast growth, plus a 'refining' of my facial features - kind of like a second wave of feminisation.

I guess that means that getting an orchie instead of using T blockers would give you better and faster feminization?

Quote from: StacyBeaumont on January 19, 2011, 01:36:38 PM
I guess that means that getting an orchie instead of using T blockers would give you better and faster feminization?

Probably. But I would avoid going for 'fast' feminisation. You need to give your body time, so that the puberty is more natural.
I suspect - but have yet to confirm - that trying to kick feminisation into high gear will net worse results than if you go slow. Imagine filling a glass slowly; you can fill it right to the brim. But if you try to fill the glass with a high pressure hose, tons will spill out and when you remove the hose, the glass is only 2/3 full.

Also, I believe that some SRS surgeons prefer that a girl be "intact." More scrotal tissue with which to work their magic.

Yeah if you do get an orchi and are planning on GCS down the line, make sure they do it the preferred/correct way that the GCS surgeon can work with better. I don't remember which way it was exactly but there's a certain way or place they can cut for best GCS results later on.

Just over 1 month left for me to go under the knife. I have to say I am hoping for some more changes =) Although I do have to say even when my sex drive was down, my emotional sex drive was still up when I was with someone I cared about. If that makes any sense.

I am 14 months post-orchi, which in some ways is like being post-op.  I have just begun to have fuller breasts and that is about it.  No wider hips, bigger butt, nada.

So the only change that is now important is SRS itself.  Pray that it happens in 8 months.

Hey Janet, i'm sorry if this question seems rather ignorant but i keep hearing the words "orchi" being thrown around in the forums and i was just wondering what it means or what this procedure is all about? I have read a bit about it but most of the terms that i come across are "castration" and "removal" of the testes. But i am under the assumption that for MtF's this is somewhat of a more complex procedure?

Actually KillBelle.  An Orchi, or Orchidectomy, is the medical term for the removal of the testes.  So Castration could be used.  So could neutered, or fixed.  But the term Orchi is generally use as it is a shortened version of the proper procedure.

And you did not seem ignorant.  I have always said the only dumb question is the one not asked.  You did not know, although you were in the right area, so you asked, and now you know.

Endocrinologically, the hormones, I am the same as any post-op.  The only different is the genitalia.  I still have a penis. :(

I see, i was wondering what the purpose of an orchi for a transgendered female is? Why not just get SRS or save the money to get an srs? Since both are bottom surgeries i would assume that they would cost relatively the same?

Actually no.  My Orchi only cost $1500.  Its purpose is to remove the testosterone producers and thus eliminate the need to take Anti-androgens, such as Spriolactone.  Those can be hard on one liver.

Usually a transwoman will elect to have an Orchi, if she does not foresee SRS if the near future.  Some may elect to have it, if they do not plan on having any further surgeries, for whatever reason.

I choice to have one  because:

• I had had a couple of strokes
• I smoked at the time
• I did not envision SRS in the near future for me
• I wanted to reduce risks of another stroke.

An interesting side note is that depending n how the surgeon writes the post surgical letter, one can change their gender identifier with the Social Security here in the US.

Very informative, thanks for the information!

Thank you for asking, as I am sure one of the girls wanted to ask but might have be afraid to ask.

My body changed a lot. My booty got much bigger and my thighs,hips. I've been sneaking taking my left over spiro to kinda lose a lil bit of water weight lol.

Quote from: Janet Lynn on January 21, 2011, 12:40:40 AM
An interesting side note is that depending n how the surgeon writes the post surgical letter, one can change their gender identifier with the Social Security here in the US.

Actually, changing your Social Security nowadays simply requires a letter from a Doctor claiming you are more than 50% through your transition. I had this done months after I went full time. Long before any surgeries.

This video talks about it in detail:

Social Security! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p-GI2NSlKU#ws)


That said, I have heard of girls who have had an orchi being able to change their gender on their BC or just about anything just like she has had GCS. The letter is supposedly the same.

Awesome for you, Jerica.  I knew about changing the SSA record after Orchidectomy, but with just a letter stating you are more than 50% thru.  This is very interesting.

Hi Tink

How old were you when you had your SRS?

Body changes? Hum ... that was a long time ago  ;) I was 24.

I had been on HRT for 6 years but the first thing I noticed after surgery was a change in body hair in the first year. What little hair I had on my legs and underarms disappeared and was replaced with a very fine fuzz, almost invisible, and my pubic hair shifted in to the typical female triangular shape.

Other changes came with 'maturity', such as gaining 2 bra sizes and facially growing more feminine (rather than the other way). I didn't gain in hips or butt but that wasn't in my genes - I grew to the same shape as my mother  ::)

I have noticed a general, over all "settling into" my female body, no body hair at all to speak of, even on my arms and legs; my breasts have gotten fuller, as have my hips. My belly has as well, unfortunately.

One of the most interesting changes is the remapping of the brain- I can touch various areas around my labia, clitoris, or even up inside, and that is exactly what it feels like to me- what it is now. There is no sense whatsoever of "oh that used to be this or that", because in a very real physical sense it is what it is now and not what it "used" to be. Inside my vagina feels nothing like what I expected it would before surgery, and nothing at all like a penis. Not only does the brain remap itself, but also the nerves and the various areas of the skin, once grafted together, grow and change over time to become only what they are now. It isn't "penis skin" in the shape of a vagina, it becomes simply vagina skin and meaningless to think of it any other way.

As the body heals from surgery, so does the mind. More than there simply being no vestiges of penis left, I can't even remember what it felt like to have one anymore- I only know what it feels like to have a vagina. I mean, of course I remember that there was something else there in a strictly academic sense, but that "feels" so foreign and alien to me because the the old sensations have been completely overwritten by what is there now. I think this is why we forget so readily, because the brain becomes literally no longer physically wired in those terms.

Chloe, that's one awesome and inspiring post you just made.

I had psychological changes 2 mths after i started on HORMONES.                         My sex drive went away COMPLETELY and when i DID have sex, (pre opt), parts of my body became sensitve that werent prior to hormones.  I never had my penis touched by a man EVA nor has a man seen it before, but AFTER immediately after surgery, i became so horney my head was about to explode.  Also I used to ENJOYYYYYYY performing oral sex on a man prior to but now being 9mths post,  the thought of it sickens me.  I have done it only once since surgery and that was on a man who REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLY turned me on physically but i didnt ENJOY it.  I havent had many men who wanted me to do that anyway.  Most men I have been with REALLY enjoy performing oral sex on me.  Which by the way I have become addicted to.  OH MY GOD nothing on earth like it.

Post op, I gained fullness in my butt and about half a cup size in my breasts. Pre-op, there were almost no gains at all.

Weight gain has also become a problem.

You've all given me a lot to think about!  Thank you so much for posting everything here. I'm excited to see how things "settle in" - I have two weddings to buy dresses for afterward and will probably wait just a bit before picking the dresses up because of what everyone offered here. I'd rather not get the dress now only to end up... well... _settling_ afterward. :D

Quote from: FairyGirl on January 29, 2011, 04:10:52 PM
I have noticed a general, over all "settling into" my female body, no body hair at all to speak of, even on my arms and legs; my breasts have gotten fuller, as have my hips. My belly has as well, unfortunately.

One of the most interesting changes is the remapping of the brain- I can touch various areas around my labia, clitoris, or even up inside, and that is exactly what it feels like to me- what it is now. There is no sense whatsoever of "oh that used to be this or that", because in a very real physical sense it is what it is now and not what it "used" to be. Inside my vagina feels nothing like what I expected it would before surgery, and nothing at all like a penis. Not only does the brain remap itself, but also the nerves and the various areas of the skin, once grafted together, grow and change over time to become only what they are now. It isn't "penis skin" in the shape of a vagina, it becomes simply vagina skin and meaningless to think of it any other way.

As the body heals from surgery, so does the mind. More than there simply being no vestiges of penis left, I can't even remember what it felt like to have one anymore- I only know what it feels like to have a vagina. I mean, of course I remember that there was something else there in a strictly academic sense, but that "feels" so foreign and alien to me because the the old sensations have been completely overwritten by what is there now. I think this is why we forget so readily, because the brain becomes literally no longer physically wired in those terms.

very nicely put Chloe =) It sounds like something you just have to experience. And I'm eager ;)

psychologically, just female, remapping of the body by the brain. Seems I've always had female genitalia (now six months + post op). Boobs have grown 1 1/2 inches from 38 to 39 1/2 inches over the bust. I hope they don't grow any more, lol. Bum and thighs are bigger and waist smaller. More lose of upper body strength and muscle.

All in all pretty good, lol.

Stardust