Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Well, hello everybody!  My name is Susan and whilst I've been a member for quite a while and have jumped through various hoops as most of us have, I must confess that I never posted anything here.  I have however, found several threads from others both interesting and useful.  I went through FFS in July 2015 with the Facial Team and shortly afterwards (10 days later in fact) BA with Dr Kai of OceanClinic.  Both are based in Marbella, Spain and I would highly recommend them both.

At the beginning of the year I decided to do some research into whether I should opt for Suporn or Chettawut for SRS.  As I was planning on travelling through Asia for work anyway, I took a couple of days off and arranged consultations with both.  Based on that visit I wouldn't say that I really came away feeling that either one was so much better from the other and I later chose Chettawut due mainly to some first hand experiences from some friends as well as some of the experiences detailed on Susans.Org.  I can however, give some thoughts on both options, but these are not based on surgery results, rather my impressions.  I'll be posting on my actual experience with Chettawut later.

Chettawut: Nice staff, but only a key few who are really able to converse in English.  Clinic is "ok", but not really very impressive and very small plus he does everything there, not in a local hospital.  It's nestled in between a couple of standard shops in a busy street and actually quite hard to find if you're not sure what exactly you should be looking for.  Plus point is that its close to Bangkok airport (30-40 mins).  For that initial visit, I stayed at the Dusit Princess which was a nice, well staffed, friendly and well maintained hotel with good food, but it was most definitely a hotel with nothing much else to recommend it.  It's close to several very large shopping centres which is very convenient.  I did go up and check the Bangkok Rama with its cottages and was quite frankly disgusted at the state of the place - downmarket, seedy and a bit scary - definitely decided I wouldn't stay there!  When it came to booking, Chettawut had added the Vertical Suite to his list which is just across the road from the Dusit and I decided on that - great choice, would definitely recommend it.  You get more than a room - an apartment, nicely appointed, plenty of facilities (full kitchen, living room, bedroom, balcony) and loads of space.  Only downsides are that the swimming pool is a joke and you need to go out and buy a bunch of basic things (like kitchen towels, washing up liquid and other things), but the staff are nice and friendly, food good and very clean.  All the hotels are a good 20-30 minute car journey from the clinic.  One thing though, it seems really hard to make friends around the Chettawut community, during that visit I met not one single other patient (and after 10 days here, I still haven't met anyone else).

Suporn: Chonburi is 2-3 hours from the airport and the place is just a small town with not that much which seems very interesting.  The Chonburi Hotel where everyone stays is .... crummy, at least that was my impression during the two nights I was there.  The rooms were probably great in 1963 and the bathrooms probably the height of luxury, but I confess I came away thinking that staying a month there would quicklyfacilities turn into a nightmare.  Having said that, plenty of people seem to find it just fine, if a little run down.  Good thing is that its about 3 minutes walk from Suporn's clinic which is definitely bigger and more socially friendly than Chettawut's place plus Suporn does his operations at a local hospital (which I didn't get to see).  It seemed to me that staying around Chonburi might become a little boring, but the big difference is that it's just so much more social.  Everyone is in the same hotel and you meet many other patients there and down at the clinic (not met one other patient at Chettawut's place).  During the 36 hours I was there I met up with at least 10 other girls, we went shopping, had drinks and dinner together and it was a lovely atmosphere which Suporn plainly encourages with suggested trips, arranged visits to local attractions and even events at his beach house.

So, based on residence options and local things to do, Chettawut wins hands down.  Socially, convenience and villagy atmosphere, Suporn bags it.  Hotel and other ancillary costs are pretty much equal, staff are equally friendly and helpful.  So if either of these different scenes help you make your decision about which of two of the top SRS surgeons in the world to go with, great!  However, there's plenty more detailed tech and surgery info around on this site that should be far more important in your reasons for a decision.

In my next post I'll start describing my actual experience with SRS with Dr Chettawut - I'm currently 4 days post op!

Hi Susan, I'm looking forward to the rest of your story.

You mentioned the swimming pool, but you can't use that post-op can you?

I'm curious what you thought of the two surgeons?

So, this is how it started.  I had decided to begin transition for a variety of reasons, which I won't go into, well over two years ago.  Afraid that just jumping straight in as the NHS GIC demanded I do would essentially end my career and kill my income, I decided to maintain my male persona when in public on business, but as I work a great deal from home that still meant that I was living most of my life as Susan.  Swapping backwards and forwards proved extremely depressing and difficult and after more than a year I finally decided enough was enough.  Support from my family and friends had been absolutely fantastic and as I thought through all the good friends and colleagues that I have around the world in my business - the satellite industry - I struggled to think of anyone who was likely to give me a really hard time.  The largest industry show in the world is held every year around March in Washington DC and, after a deep breath, I decided that I would try and talk directly to as many of my friends as possible and reveal I was transgender and was about to transition while at the conference.

March 2015.  I spoke directly to almost 100 close friends and explained my situation with my heart in my mouth (and on my sleeve).  I was stunned.  The reaction from everybody was unbelievably supportive and understanding.  The satellite industry is global, but tiny by other industry standards and everybody knows everybody so I swore everyone I told to secrecy knowing that I would have to send out a more general email after the show to many more friends and colleagues before the gossip started!!  I returned back to the UK and did just that - composed an email explaining that I was about to transition and that I wouldn't blame anyone if they didn't understand and would rather not deal with me in the future.  I sent this to 1,000 people, men and women, CEOs and Engineers from China to Colombia, from Russia to Romania, from India to Iran, from Saudi Arabia to Sweden, from USA to UAE .... on it goes!  Within just a few minutes the replies started to come in and within a month I received over 700 responses.

Why am I telling you all this?  Because of over 700 direct responses and another 100 or more people I have met with since I have had a total of three (3) negative reactions, all of which said although they didn't agree with my "choice" they still respected me and would not treat me any differently.  Everyone else was supportive, understanding, positive, complimentary on my courage, grateful for my honest and open message and many wanted to know if there was anything they could do to support me going forward.  Several said that they wanted me to tell them if I had any negative reactions because they would refuse to do business with those people any more!  Women in the industry thanked me for increasing the female contingent in our male dominated industry!  There were many other lovely, funny, witty, compassionate and inspirational messages.  All i want you to take away from this is that, if you are agonizing over whether to transition or not, you should know that we live in a different world now and most people are accepting, sympathetic, kind and tolerant - at least that has been my experience.  So don't be afraid and adopt the same attitude I quickly did after the wonderful conversations I had with wonderful people ... when someone tells you they have a problem with your transition, you can reply "Yes, YOU do have a problem, but its not mine!"

I simply can't name all the people who have been so overwhelmingly beautiful in this and other parts of my life, but you know who you are and please know how grateful I am to have you as friends and how much I love and appreciate you.

Shortly after this I began the real process.  I'd done the psycho referrals, had wonderful support from my GP, had engaged the best gender specialist in the UK (Dr Mike Perring) and quickly worked out that I was going to do things my way, on my nickle and not ruin my life in a way dictated by any government organisation.  I changed my name formally, made all the official changes (bank accounts, passport, driving licence, etc. etc.) and booked FFS with the Facial Team for July - there's a whole other story about that experience (all good).  When I'd had FFS and BA done I had to decide on which surgeon to opt for to do SRS.  I've given you the basics of my initial research in my first post on all this, but ultimately decided on Dr Chettawaut for several reasons - his results, the fact that he gave me confidence when I met with him, his dedication to getting the absolute best results and advanced techniques and, finally, the fact that his schedule didn't come across quite so production-line-ish as some others I checked out.

My way of dealing with surgery like this is pretty naive - once the decision is made I forget about it until the day comes when it happens.  I figure there's no reason to worry about things if you've done your research, chosen the best and booked the date.  This has helped me keep a positive attitude and rather than worry about the pain and healing, just deal with it when it happens.  However, this also almost tripped me up because I left Chettawut's requirements until the last minute and then my gender doctor refused to sign my certificate for surgery.  Now this annoys me, I have been essentially in full transition for over two years, but practicalities have meant that I had to pretend I was a guy every so often and there are certain people in the NHS that will challenge a letter of recommendation if it doesn't have "acceptable" proof.  This left my doctor in an impossible and difficult position - he simply couldn't risk the possibility of being censured, something I totally understand.  Fortunately, I was able to arrange recommendations from two Thai-based gender psychologists and - phew! - didn't have to cancel the surgery.

Hi AnonyMs, Sorry, I was already deep into my story when your questions came through.  1. Correct, you can't use the pool once you've had surgery, but it would be nice to have somewhere outside to relax and take in the sun.  Here at Vertical Suite the pool area is inside, hot, sticky and just not very nice, certainly not a nice place to hang around.

2. Views on Suporn vs Chettawut.  First I wouldn't claim to be an expert, but over the many years I've been following comments here and on other sites, it became apparent to me that Thailand generally had by far and away the best, most innovative and successful surgeons.  The US seems very expensive and I didn't ever come away with a comfortable feeling that it was the best place to go - I've been travelling around there for over 30 years now, so I do know quite a bit about the country.  UK SRS is simply a joke in my opinion.  So based on the fact that I was going to Thailand I came down to choosing between Suporn and Chettawut.  Personally, I don't think either is a bad choice, both are very innovative, have attention to detail, focus on the most important things (which for me are sensation, aesthetics and depth) and both have plenty of happy customers who would wholeheartedly recommend them.  My decision (aside of the various ancillary aspects I covered earlier) was based on the fact that someone else made comments on Suporn's operation becoming more like a production line these days and I could see that might have some truth to it after my visit down there plus I know people who are okay with their results from Suporn, but not totally happy and feel the need for some pretty heavy revisions (not something I fancy much!).  In the end, the fact that Suporn had no dates available for over a year and Chettawut was able to schedule me within six months (and even gave me options) left me feeling that his operation was not quite so production line-ish.

I would also comment that Chettawut makes the very valid point that everybody's body is different in many, many ways, so you can't necessarily expect a predefined, guaranteed result and I totally agree.  I'm sure there's people out there not totally happy with their final finish, but that's just life in my opinion. This is just a risk for us. Both Chettawut and Suporn left me feeling that they absolutely tried their best to get the most optimum result, but somehow I felt that Chettawut was a little more focused on what I really wanted and was more willing to listen and give me some time.  Suporn seemed to just want to do his standard presentation to me and then leave it to his assistants to deal with any questions I might have.

Hope this helps a little.

Gosh, I marked this as my SRS with Chettawut and haven't really said anything about my experience. 

Day 1: Arrived in Bangkok on Thursday 19th November 2015.  Dome, Chettawut's driver picked me up and kindly waited while I bought a local SIM card for my phone (better to do it at the airport because they understand English so much better there).  30 mins or so drive to the Vertical Suite, quick check in and wow, definitely very impressed with the standard of the accommodation.  Much nicer to be in an apartment than a hotel room.

Went out to the shopping centre, bought some essentials (check out MonkeyMel's posts on her experiences and what to prepare for food-wise - and thanks Mel, your account of your experience was REALLY useful).

Day 2: Dome picked me up early on Friday (had started my liquid starvation diet according to instructions at 7am that morning) and took me in for my consultation with Dr Chettawut.  He was very nice as before, happy to listen, happy to explain and his nurses (Nurse Sri is the head) were lovely, had blood test taken.  Then I was whisked off to another hospital to get an ECG test done and see the gender psychologists to get my letters of recommendation.

Day 3 & 4: drank cola, water, consome soup.  Wandered around the shopping areas and tried to stay away from anything that smelt delicious.  I've actually been on the 5/2 diet for 4 months (500 calories 2 days a week) and had read Mel's account throughly so was pretty well prepared for what was to come.  Actually, being without any solid food in the run up - no problem.  In the days immediately after - no problem (you're drugged up anyway).  I found it began to get a bit harder by the time I hit day 10 while I was back at the hotel.

Day 5: Monday 23rd.  Surgery day, but the operation starts late afternoon so you still have a bit of starving to do!  Prep was pretty straightforward, start of anesthetic, wheeled into operation room at 3pm and my first thought was OMG, this is tiny and not the best equipped or looking theater I have been in.  My concern lasted for about 30 seconds before ....... I woke up in the recovery room next door.  Dr Chettawut was telling me the op went well, no complications, quick surgery (6 hours), good depth, nothing to worry about.  I asked him a few blurred questions and got pretty basic answers before the nurses started to give me instructions and I was away in the clouds again.

How's the 5/2 diet work for you? I like the sound of it and wasn't thinking of trying it.

Its funny, but I quite like Suporn's production line approach, if you can call it that. To me it suggests he's busy and efficient. If you wanted something out of the ordinary it would likely be bad.

Its so good to hear your story. Hopefully I'll be able to say the same one day.

Re the 5/2 diet, it works well.  Good way of giving you eating discipline, definitely helps shrink your tummy, you'll lose weight gradually, but also its been reported that it significantly improves your health in terms of a bunch of things like blood sugar levels and growth hormones - kicks your body into healing mode not just growth mode.  Great Horizon documentary on the BBC by Michael Moseley.  Certainly helps you prep for the starvation days you have to undergo for SRS!

Regarding my views on the waiting list, I think we can all take a different view and I don't necessarily disagree with your points.  However, my view is that there are so many differences in our bodies that a production line approach might work for the majority of "average" people, but there's going to be a big chunk who need some serious extra work or a different approach.  Fact is that Chettawut openly admits that some of his patients only require a 6 hour op whilst others need 9 hours - now how do you standardise something like that.  Ultimately the danger is that in order to maintain the production run, you have to cut corners.  Personally, I'd rather have someone focused on the need for a customised and individual approach.  Let's face it, Ford has way more customers than BMW, but does that mean its a better car?

Day 6: First day of recovery.  Most of the morning was spent in the room by the operating theater.  Woke up to nurses giving me pills and instructions on what not to do.  Then the nurses came in to help me with my "required exercise" which involves getting out of bed and walking with assistance down the stairs to another room on the ground floor.  Personally, I suspect that this "exercise" is required because they have to move you from the tiny area upstairs to another recovery room in order to allow for the next patient who'll be operated on that afternoon.  With very little space and no elevators, assisted walking is the only way to achieve this.

Was this a big deal?  No, not for me.  The nurses surrounded me like mother hens looking after a single chick, but I was actually pretty with it and could probably have managed on my own had I needed to.  Sure it wasn't what I would describe as an invigorating walk and getting out and then back into bed wasn't the most comfortable of experiences, but I was fine with it.  I'd woken up without any pain at all, just a bit of discomfort and wondering why my bottom half felt like it was turning into a tellytubby what with all the plasters and padding around there.

Two things became apparent.  The first was that walking is not really a very accurate description - waddling would be nearer the truth (and you will be doing exactly this for around another week until you are finally unwrapped) and the second was that I was not going to have any real idea as to the actual result of the operation until the packing was removed.  In my case this did not happen until Day 11, 8 days after the surgery.

As Mel and others have described, the room is small and nice enough and quite honestly, you're not up to much, so it doesn't make a lot of difference.  The nurses are in and out every hour or so feeding you pills, some soy/soup drinks and changing your drip.  They are all very nice, but some don't really speak much English at all (not that my Thai is any match!!) and that can be quite frustrating, especially as they are pretty strict on their rules and procedures, some of which I just wanted an explanation about.  One or two, like Nurse Noi, were absolutely wonderful and very happy to explain things rather than just answering "Yes" to every question!!

I'm not a big TV fan, I mostly read, but I'd only manage a page or two before I dropped off to sleep.  It was only later when I realised that I was getting regular Tramadol that I finally understood why I couldn't keep my eyes open.  Still, sleep is good, really helps healing, makes sure you don't feel many of the little niggles that are going to get to you later.  The biggest of these is the catheter (at least it has been for me).  Pain - None; Discomfort - a bit; Bedsores - a few; but that damned catheter ... you feel like you're desperate to pee (and I mean DESPERATE!!) almost all the time.  I'm now in Day 12 and it's still in and still driving me crazy.  I always thought the pain would be the big thing, but I've had virtually none yet the catheter is literally driving me crazy, makes sitting so uncomfortable and really interferes with my sleep.

Day 7 and 8: Same, same, same.  Sleeping just as much, frustrated with lack of explanation just as much, worried about nothing just as much and still no pain.  Dr Chettawut visited briefly each day to ask how I felt - fine, no dizzyiness, no hallucinations, no pain.  "So, Dr Chettawut, can you give me any more details about the surgery?  Any complications?  Anything I should be happy or worried about?  How did I rate as a patient?  Any comments on what the result will look like when I'm unwrapped?" .... the answer "No, I told you everything when you came round after the operation, can't you remember?  Repeat my answers to me!".  So, bottom line, they can tell you nothing much until you are finally unwrapped. 

OMG, I now can't wait to get out of the clinic and back to the hotel which happens tomorrow, Day 9.  My wonderful sister, Fran, has now arrived and come in to visit me and is getting ready to receive me at the hotel the next day.  She takes a couple of pictures of me to send to my mother and brother .... within seconds the nurse is in the room .... "no pictures, not allowed, you signed document!".  Wow we say, uhh, ok.  I ask Fran to sit on my bed with me because there's not much in the way of chairs in there and so she perches on the edge holding my hand.  30 seconds later the nurse is in again, "you can't sit on the bed, please sit on the stool".  After she's gone, Fran and I look at each other and then stare up at the IP camera mounted in the ceiling focused on us.  Okay, we get it, 24x7 surveillance!

Day 9: Friday 27th November.  Day to go back to the hotel.  Nurse Sri comes in early to remove the drain tubes.  She warns me that this could hurt a bit, but it really doesn't.  She's very professional and only when she douses the holes with antiseptic does it sting a bit.  Apart from that, no big deal and its over and done with pretty quickly.  She tells me that its more painful than when I will have the wrapping removed which turns out to be kind of true ... removal of the packing which happened a week later was very uncomfortable, but not painful.

I'm prepped to move out and the nurses help me wander around the room.  I guess they get plenty of people who are really dizzy and unsteady after five days on their back and loads of drugs, but in my case I was just fine.  They insisted on fanning my face to keep me cool and aware, but eventually I had to take the fan off them because I really didn't need it and it was just annoying me.

Dome, the driver, turns up and the nurses help me out to the car and I'm whisked away to the Vertical Suite.  First time trying to sit down and wow! this is going to take a little getting used to!  At the hotel I'm popped into a wheelchair and taken up to the apartment and installed into my bed.  Quite honestly I'd rather have walked!

Now the whole catheter thing really starts taking off and my discomfort is almost 100% the constant need to pee - which of course I can't do.  I have to drink loads of water which I have been doing since finishing surgery, but now I have to empty my own catheter bag every couple of hours.  This is weird.  First off, I'm standing over the toilet emptying my bag and yet not feeling any relief as it all disappears.  Second, I haven't stood peeing into a toilet for several years and now, after just having the fire hose removed, here I am peeing as if I'm a guy.  Sure brings back memories!!

I sleep okay that night, but now I'm dreaming of being unpacked.  I still have to stay on a liquid/soft diet, although it doesn't have to be clear liquid like it did for the bowel cleansing regime before surgery.  I thought that this was going to be really hard to manage considering I'd not had anything really solid to eat for over a week, but it really didn't worry me at all.  I think this was where the 5/2 diet probably helped a lot.

Fran is wonderful, makes sure I take all my pills at the right time, stops me from doing naughty things like walking around too much and just keeps me laughing and entertained - she's a joy.  Before I left the clinic, they gave me a big bag of things (Mel's described them): panty pads, bed pads, dilators, gel, cleansing wipes.  Fran helps me organise all this and pops out to pick up anything we might need.  Best thing is that now I can have proper coffee.  I'm a bit of a fanatic about that and the first day I arrived I went out and bought a cheap espresso machine which is now a god-given gift from heaven!

Fran inspects me and is concerned at the sore redness all down my back and on my bottom.  Wonderful as she is, she thought to bring a pot of Sudocream which she plasters my back with.  We also treat a bunch of other sore areas where the plasters have rubbed me raw.  Sounds awful, but it really wasn't that bad and with Fran nursing me and giving me foot massages and us laughing and gossiping the world would have been perfect - were in not for that damned catheter!

Day 10/11: Coffee, soup, bit of sleep, few steps around the apartment, foot massage from Fran, but nothing much else.  Now just waiting for the unpacking and suddenly realise that I have to wait an extra day because the nurses don't work on Sundays.  This damned catheter and the need to pee is going to drive me absolutely nuts.  Considering I've still had no pain and only a bit of discomfort I really shouldn't complain, but I do constantly!!  Poor Fran, my brother, my mother and my dad have to listen to me whine every day!!  By Sunday evening I'm excited, scared, apprehensive, eager - everything - tomorrow's unwrapping day!  However, they haven't given me a time and much as both Fran and I are hoping it will be early we're concerned that it might be late in the day.  I call the clinic and Dr Chettawut himself tells me that they can't give a time because Nurse Sri has lots of patients to check on, but it will probably be late morning/early afternoon.

Day 12: Monday 30th November.  Holy Cow!  It's arrived, today's the day I actually see how things have gone.  Fran and I wait nervously before Nurse Sri and her assistant finally turn up around 11.30.  Fran is instantly banished from the room - no observers allowed to see the secret processes that go on.  Then we get to the most painful bit - tearing off the plaster bandages that have kept my tellytubby nappy in place all this time.  Off comes the wads of gauze which have been making me look like a pregnant telyytubby with a nappy and causing me to waddle like a penguin whenever I had to walk anywhere.  You're not allowed out of your room before this happens, but quite frankly I would have felt such a weirdo that this restriction isn't one I regret.

Now a bit of detail - skip the next para if you get squeamish or don't want to know.

First off, not just wow - WOW!! - I certainly have plenty of sensation.  I almost jump out of my skin every time Nurse Sri checks me.  Taking the packing out of my new vagina is an interesting experience!  At first there's very little feeling - I had wondered if they just rolled up a newspaper and stuffed it up there  :D but no, its a gauze strip that slowly unwinds.  Sri advises me to relax as the last part is pulled out and that's good advice because I REALLY feel that happen.  Little jumpy but really not bad or that painful at all.  Then they tested me out with the dilator - good depth - which didn't hurt at all (and I was definitely waiting for some pain. Weird to get those sensations so far up inside me!!  They also opened me up and did an internal examination.

OK everybody who looked away, you can read again!

Nurses assessment - healing great, swelling minimal, little bit more on the left than right, but good enough to expect catheta to come out in two days (yea!!!  :angel: :angel:). Based on a scale of 1 (poor healing) to 10 (perfect healing) Sri (the head nurse) said I was normal, good result, actually near perfect.  So I said maybe I rated at 6-7 and she said no - a 9!!  Apparently I rate as a very good patient, great healing, good swelling, no bruising and very little pain.

Both Fran and I were overjoyed at the result,  absolutely fantastic. Easier (much) to walk and sit. Still have some restrictions, catheter still a bit frustrating, but much less than before, can't bend my legs or stretch myself as stitching still healing, but aside of that WOW, I've been so lucky both with the result, the lack of pain and the fantastic support I've had from Fran  :-*, Adrian  :-*, Mummy  :-*, Richard  :-* and so many others  :-*.

Now I've seen the result, felt what I have, experienced so much I can make an initial judgement on Dr Chettawut and his staff.  Would I recommend them?  Yes, absolutely.  They are very rigorous in their procedures and restrictions, but so far, I have to say that they have done an absolutely fabulous job and I feel very confident that I made the right choice.  All aspects - sensation, appearance and depth definitely meet my highest expectations as of now.  Sure, there's plenty more to happen and lots of healing left to do and I'll keep my judgments coming, but up to this moment, I would give them a 9 to 9.5 out of 10. 8)

Thanks so much for your thorough account of your experiences thus far.  I'll be there in the latter part of next month.  This is very encouraging info.  I won't be at the clinic though as Chett. is requiring that I have the surgery in a hospital. (Don't know which one yet)  I don't feel like I'm high risk, but as I will turn 68 on  12 Dec. he's being extremely cautious.
I can't fault him for that.

I guess when my time comes to recount the experience, I'll be able to provide a different twist based upon my hospital experience.  I'll be at the "Vertical" as well and will be on my own so my independent spirit will surely be tested.  Your comments about having to empty the catheter bag on my own struck a note.

Have bookmarked your thread and will review it carefully B4 I depart.

Thanks!

Hugz,
Joi

Hi Joi, If my account has been of any help for you, then I'm very happy.  I wish you the greatest of success with your change and I do believe that you've made the right choice in opting for Chettawut - he's really done a great job with me.  I hope you're healing process goes well - my belief if that a positive attitude is a major part of making this happen so please be positive in yourself, with the team, with your experience and everything you can.  I'm sure you will be because you look fabulous in your picture.

Hugz 2 u 2! Sue x

Day 13: Tuesday 1st December.  After finally being able to shower, wash my hair and actually not look like a wreck it was lovely to be able to accompany Fran down to breakfast in the hotel.  A long skirt hid that damned catheter and it was so nice to step out of the apartment for the first time in five days.

Nurse Sri and her assistant, Nurse Noi turned up around 11 to give me my first lesson in dilation.  I had been warned that this might hurt a bit because after the packing had been removed the "wound" would have begun to close up overnight.  Fran gave me some great lessons on relaxing through several breathing techniques that she had picked up through her own childbirth experiences (my Mummy had already told me to view the experience like having a child!) and her fanatical addiction to fitness (any girl would kill for her body!).

The first dilation penetration was certainly a new experience and one which needed a great deal of relaxation to make it as easy as possible.  Uncomfortable and unusual would probably be the best way of describing the experience.  Fortunately, I have had no bleeding at all from dilation which is a good thing I think.  However, it takes a bit of getting used to because the experience of being penetrated in this part of your body is (unsurprisingly!) a new one.  Nurses Sri and Noi judged my swelling and healing to be good and Nurse Sri said that she thought she would be able to remove the catheter the next day - hurray!  I begged her to guarantee this for me!!  She said no, she'd make the judgement on that tomorrow.  Sri's directions were extremely precise and she has great attention to detail borne of a great deal of experience.  I wouldn't say that the process of dilation is simple, but no doubt it will become so over time. 

She then went off to see to other patients leaving me with my 15 minute dilation ongoing and telling me to keep it up until she returned .... ..... ..... ..... ..... it felt like an hour before she was back and I was released (but it wasn't!).  Fran lay down beside me and kept me entertained while this went on.  I must confess that the prospect of now having to do this for two and a half hours a day for the next year or more was the only thing that has caused me to wonder whether I made the right choice to have SRS.  There is no question that the commitment to ensuring that the result is first class is really substantial and will be a major part of your life over the next few years.

I can't remember if I've already covered this (forgive me if I have), but quite a few people have asked me if I was likely to feel any regret at losing my penis.  The answer before SRS was no, definitely not, I felt I would be gaining something I'd always wanted not losing something I loved.  Don't get me wrong, I'm 54 and no spring chicken, life as a guy has not been bad despite the fact that I've always wanted to be and felt like a girl.  I've been extremely lucky with a job I love every day, a massive community of great friends and colleagues, an innovative and vibrant industry that is spread globally and which has taken me to more than 70 countries over the past 30 years.  One of the hardest things to accept as part of transition has been the realisation that I probably wouldn't have achieved what I have if I had not been a guy (at least everybody thinking I was a guy!).  Nevertheless, I don't feel I have lost anything by transitioning, I'm just able to be myself and (perhaps?) show that a girl's brain (or luck!) can achieve what a guy can!

The rest of the day was spent resting, reading and anticipating the removal of the catheter tomorrow.  I confess, I haven't been sleeping that well mainly because of the catheter.  It's running through a highly sensitive place and any movement, stretching, turning .. whatever, just awakens my desperate need to pee.  Several times I've almost jumped out of bed to run to the loo before realising that it's not going to do me any good and all I really need to do is check the weight of my bag to see if it needs emptying.

Day 14: Tuesday 2nd December.  In many ways today was THE day.  Sounds silly to many probably, but the possible removal of the catheter – the last thing I still had on me which showed I have just had surgery – was the ultimate finale.  I was both excited and anxious that it would actually happen and, I have to confess, not a little scared about just how painful it would be.  This is the third major surgery I've had in the past five months and each time the catheter removal was not something I was anxious to repeat!

Fran and I got up, went down to breakfast and then sat about doing various little things, chatting, drinking coffee (I'm a nut for coffee as I said) and waiting.  Nurse Sri turned up on her own around 11.30 and poor soul she looked shattered.  You can't believe how hard she and all of Chettawut's staff work, but her especially.  After having to do the rounds of all the patients in the three hotels (she personally checks on everyone), she then goes off to assist Dr Chettawut in that day's surgery which could run for 9 hours – that's tough!

Nurse Sri judged that today WAS the day for the catheter removal, my healing and swelling was doing great.  OH THANK GOODNESS!!  She did a fabulous job.  It wasn't the nicest of experiences, but it wasn't half as bad as I had dreamt it might be.  Next thing I know – it's gone, finally!  She then monitored my dilation, instructing me when necessary and then before she left for the rest of the patients she gave me some pills to help with my first real pee as a girl – cuts down the burning sensation apparently.

After finishing dilation and dancing around stark naked, finally able to see my entire self as the girl I had always dreamt of being, but never thought would ever be possible, I jumped in the shower.  Fran and I both stared at the new me in the mirror with both of us expressing our amazement at it all.  We took a few pics and then I demanded that we go out, just for a short expedition because I so desperately needed to stretch my legs and see something different from the hotel.  I know this is not sanctioned and Fran tried to persuade me not to, but I felt fantastic and just had to.  We walked gently over to the Paradise shopping centre, had a wander round some shops, a nice coffee at Starbucks (surprise, surprise!) and then we wandered gently back to the hotel.

Around this time I think the move over the last few days from liquids to solids finally kicked in its reaction and I spent a good deal of time on the loo.  First practice pee as girl!!  Everything worked just brilliantly, no pain, no difficulty, just felt perfectly natural.

So that's it to date – finally I've posted this the day it all actually happened!  Everything is really great.  I wanted to give Nurse Sri a big hug for her help and expertise today, but that's a bit hard when you're on your back with your legs in the air!!  Couldn't have come this far or this well without Fran though – bless her, she's been such a fabulous companion and carer, I couldn't have asked for anyone better or more beautiful as a person.  She has been so important in smoothing me through this whole process and I'll miss her when she leaves on Friday, but I'm now back up and running, so the dates she's been with me have been perfect and it has been so good of her to sacrifice time with her children and my brother, Adrian, who has had to shoulder the burden of their family responsibilities while she's been here.  Thank you so, so much both of you.  I'm so unbelievably blessed with my family  :-*.

Great stuff Sasha!  Free at Last!  So happy for you.
Thanks for the compliment on my pic. :)

Your comments RE: the long wait for transition and surgery very much mirror my own.  I was married for 38 yrs.,
raised 3 sons and worked in the oil & gas industry for over 30 yrs.  Transition during that period of my life would have been a disaster for me and my family.  As many of us do, I suffered in silence not knowing if this would ever become a reality.  It has come late in life and now it's within reach.  Fortunately,  I'm healthy enough to qualify for the surgery.
I am so exited. Just counting the days and will soon be sorting out my packing list.

Hugz,

Joi

I just want to let you know I'm reading your posts with great interest. I've nothing much to say, but I'm here.

I really appreciate the detailed account. Thanks for being so open about it! :)

I also wanted to say I really appreciate you for sharing your experiences.  I plan on having my GCS with Dr. Chettawut next summer so this is of great interest to me.  Thanks so much and I wish you all the best as you continue with your recovery.

How much depth did u get?

Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your journey with us.  I was meant to be enjoying Chet's services on 20 November but had to defer a month while I recovered from having my gall bladder removed!  So I am now scheduled for surgery on 22 December instead.  In 2 weeks, I will be ensconced in my very own Vertical Suite!

Your posts have provided another perspective, particularly for another non-spring chicken! As I will be on my own, I will focus first on preparation for the immediate period after returning from the clinic and then on just being happy and positive.  My gall bladder adventure has severely limited my fitness preparation but that is what it is.

All the very best for your continued recovery. 

Emma

Day 15, Thursday 3rd December.  First off thank you to everybody who has commented that my rambling story has helped in any way. I'll make a pint of replying to any questions I don't address here individually. I'm very pleased that you have found it useful, because i found MonkeyMel's story re her SRS with Chett very useful including her advice on what to bring and how to prepare.

Today is the first day of normalcy (iPad hasn't marked that as a weird word so I guess I'm ok with it!!). By that I mean normalcy for my future. Fact is that I move on to three separate dilations each of 30 mins all on my own. This will stay at 3 a day and slowly rise to two and a half hours per day.  OMG, as I said before, it's just really settling into this dumb brain of mine just how much of the next year of my life will be spent on this. Stupid me, I always thought that the month out here in Thailand was going to be the big deal, but now I am beginning to really get it. The next year is going to be tough for sure - we all lead busy lives and to suddenly take 10% of our time (and that includes sleep and weekends and trips and holidays ...) is a big BIG deal. Plus as those of you in the process like me already know, being a woman is a full time job in itself  ;) and that doesn't include all the other things we have to keep going like laser, electrolysis, blood tests, gender counselling, and .... Oh well, it's what I wanted, so I have to pay the price.

Nurses Sri and Noi arrived at 8am in the morning, checked I was okay and set me on the road to dilation as they ran out to deal with their crazy schedule poor things. Sri did tell me that my stitches - and trust me when I tell you there's a lot of them - are all self dissolving. That's a bit of a relief, I can't imagine how horrible manual removal would be!!

So, how about dilation?  It's not a fun experience, it certainly doesn't arouse you  ::), but it's not painful - or hasn't been so far for me. The first push is the worst, it kind of feels like you're pushing a pooh back inside you if that makes any sense, then as you work your way up to the depth you've been given you get used to it.  Take a deep breath using your diaphragm rather than your chest, let it out and push a little more, repeat until you're in enough. Two ways of knowing you're where you should be and shouldn't be going any further, the first (not the best) is when pain arrives - you've reached the end of the line!  The second (as advised by nurse Sri) is to watch the depth on the dilator via the Hello Kitty mirror that you get as part of your starter set. Now this sounds easy and it no doubt is for all you lucky young things, but for us oldies whose sight is going, trying to work out where you are on the printed scale on a transparent pole of plastic through a mirror held between your legs is, to put it mildly, challenging!!  I addressed this by putting a plaster (bandaid) at the point I need to stop and this helps a lot (also stops you from telling yourself its deep enough when it's not!!).

I'm finding deep sleep hard to get at the moment. This has rarely ever been my problem and I suspect that it's probably got something to do with my body working its way through all the procedures and changes, unpacking, catheter removal, dilation, drugs etc. I confess that genetically I am very lucky and tend to heal very fast plus everyone tells me I have a high pain threshold (they want to try it from my side!!), but the fact is I really haven't experienced any pain at all in any of my three major surgeries (FFS, BA, SRS) and I have only taken a few paracetamol when I had to prep myself for the unpacking and then the catheter removal.  However, I do feel the effects of not sleeping well and I've severely limited by little wanders across the road to the shopping centre with Fran.

Talking of Fran (she's out shopping right now!), she leaves early tomorrow morning so the next two weeks will be in my own. I think that will be fine, much as I'll miss Fran's wit, charm, chat, warmth and advice. I do pity those of you who won't have anyone here at all while you do this. I'm very good at managing on my own and dealing with my own company, but having Fran here for the past week has been absolutely invaluable and so if you get an offer from anybody to hold your hand, even for a few days, take it. It has especially helped because Fran has been so down to earth in telling me what a natural woman experiences and how to deal with these feelings and functions - and there are plenty of these things that will now be part of your life so having a sister like her is such a blessing.

So, we're almost through today. Now I'll be counting down the days until I can head for home. I know it's freezing in England right now, but the heat here is like a smothering blanket and I can't wait to feel the chill of home!!  Don't get me wrong, the Vertical Suite is a great place to stay, but now I ache for my own home (amongst other places I'm currently aching 3x30 mins every day!!). I'll be back for responses later girls.

Quote from: Joi on December 02, 2015, 11:40:37 AM
Great stuff Sasha!  Free at Last!  So happy for you.
Thanks for the compliment on my pic. :)

Your comments RE: the long wait for transition and surgery very much mirror my own.  I was married for 38 yrs.,
raised 3 sons and worked in the oil & gas industry for over 30 yrs.  Transition during that period of my life would have been a disaster for me and my family.  As many of us do, I suffered in silence not knowing if this would ever become a reality.  It has come late in life and now it's within reach.  Fortunately,  I'm healthy enough to qualify for the surgery.
I am so exited. Just counting the days and will soon be sorting out my packing list.

Hugz,

Joi

Hi Joi,

Well I'm glad for you that you've finally made it happen.  I know from my own experience what a relief it is.  Whilst there's a bit of regret that it took so long, we have to be grateful for what we were able to achieve in our male disguise and what we were able to provide for our family.  I do so hope you've had acceptance and the love has continued from your family.  Personally, I've experienced difficulties with my ex (but that's no less than I expected), but my two daughters are having a hard time with this, particularly as I've essentially been forcibly separated from them due to distance - they are in Australia and I'm in the UK.  I totally understand their difficulty, although there's been a huge drop suddenly when I started surgery from their previous understanding and support when all they said was that I should be myself and they understood.  I have no real idea what caused the sudden change, but I have faith that they will come around understand that, as someone else put it - think of me as your favourite book, the cover might have changed but the inside is still the same.

Regarding your packing list.  MonkeyMel gave a good list of things to bring in her account of SRS with Chett and I plan to post a list soon too which you might want to check out.

My only concern for you (and my Mum who has been following all this feels the same) is that you will be totally on your own.  A month here with no one at all can be pretty hard, especially in the week following release from the clinic/hospital.  If there is no option for you, then you need to make sure that you're stocked up with things that you might need and I'll try and make sure that I think through this for you and post it. 

On the plus side, Nurse Sri visits you every day to check on you and your progress, although her work load is so intense that, lovely as she is, there's not much that she can really be expected to do for you other than to make sure you're healing ok.  The cleaners here at the Vertical Suite are very sweet and they are also in every day, so that's a bit more company you'll have.  Finally, I should also mention that Chett's staff are very diligent and very responsive.  Even late on a Sunday night (the day they don't work), I was able to reach Dr Chettawut himself, so I don't think you'll ever be totally on your own.  You should also prepare FaceTime and Skype so that you can chat with friends and family back home (although the internet connection can be very shaky at times here).

Good luck with the prep, stay positive and excited and if you have any questions or anxiety please feel free to just ask.

Hugz back,

Susan

Quote from: AnonyMs on December 02, 2015, 02:35:04 PM
I just want to let you know I'm reading your posts with great interest. I've nothing much to say, but I'm here.

If my ramblings are either interesting, useful or entertaining AnonyMs (clever name, but a bit impersonal!) then I'm glad.

Quote from: Carrie Liz on December 02, 2015, 04:44:33 PM
I really appreciate the detailed account. Thanks for being so open about it! :)

Thanks Carrie, I'll confess one of the main reasons I started the story was so that my friends and family could keep up to date with all the events.  It helps a lot for those close to you to know what's going on.  When I got my brain around the fact that I could perhaps add some info that might help others on their journey I figured that its often the detailed spikes and shocks that we miss out on that can sometimes help and then I was a bit concerned that the detail might be a little much for some of my family.  Generally I find its the guys who just want an thumbs up and leave it at that, but the girls all want to know everything  ;) so I guess the initimate details serve two purposes!! :D

Quote from: Starfire on December 02, 2015, 11:16:22 PM
I also wanted to say I really appreciate you for sharing your experiences.  I plan on having my GCS with Dr. Chettawut next summer so this is of great interest to me.  Thanks so much and I wish you all the best as you continue with your recovery.

Thanks Starfire, I'll try and stay on topic  :angel: and I wish you the best on your journey.  I feel pretty confident in telling you that I think you've made a good choice with Chett.

Quote from: Butterflylover3 on December 03, 2015, 12:12:43 AM
How much depth did u get?

Six (6) inches.  I did tell Dr Chettawut that depth was my least important requirement of the three (sensation, appearance, depth).  Fortunately he (and my body) allowed for a depth that even Fran wow'd at!!  Apparently the big question is just what exactly he finds inside when he starts the process and there's nothing that you or he can do to prepare for that.  If there's scar tissue caused by surgery or an infection of the bladder or intestine sometime in the past, then there's not much he can do to get round that.

Quote from: EmmaD on December 03, 2015, 02:52:16 AM
Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your journey with us.  I was meant to be enjoying Chet's services on 20 November but had to defer a month while I recovered from having my gall bladder removed!  So I am now scheduled for surgery on 22 December instead.  In 2 weeks, I will be ensconced in my very own Vertical Suite!

Your posts have provided another perspective, particularly for another non-spring chicken! As I will be on my own, I will focus first on preparation for the immediate period after returning from the clinic and then on just being happy and positive.  My gall bladder adventure has severely limited my fitness preparation but that is what it is.

All the very best for your continued recovery. 

Emma

Hi Emma, Glad to be of any help.  Good luck with your surgery and I can understand the frustration you must have felt with suddenly having to deal with something totally unrelated that slowed your progress down and delayed your date.  You seem to have a very good attitude though - exactly my philosophy - what is, is - we just have to accept it and make the best of it.  I guess this is what we've been thinking (at least us older babes!) and having to deal with for most of our lives, so we've been pretty well trained!!

Stay positive, I really believe that its the number one pillar to rely on.  MonkeyMel impressed us all with her prep and Reikki and fitness fanaticism.  I guess I can give you hope in that I'm not the best on all that.  It's not that I'm unfit, overweight or a druggie - I'm none of those things - but I run minimally (because I hate it, despite the fact that I feel I have to!!), drink tons of coffee, smoke (minimally) and still enjoy the occasional McD's!!  Despite all that, I seem to be doing ok and have managed to come through three pretty major surgeries in just five months.

So, don't stress, I'm sure you'll do well!  Good luck.

Susan

Girl you done so well and I am so happy for you! :) I had surgery with him in Oct. So this makes me two months posted op and I can't be any happier. Chett is the best and he really meant what he said when he say I'll do my best. He too was able to achieve and give me 6" depth and my vajaja looks great. I'm very happy with my result.

In no time you'll be feeling better and ready to go home. I wish you a speedy recovery hunny. Much love to you.

Quote from: sashaburn on December 04, 2015, 12:12:29 AM
If my ramblings are either interesting, useful or entertaining AnonyMs (clever name, but a bit impersonal!) then I'm glad.

Yes, that about sums me up.

Hey Butterfly,

Thanks for your message.  Nice to hear that you're still happy 2 months later - that's also almost 15% through your first year of dilation!  How are you finding it?  I've just come out of dilation number two for today and i look at myself in the mirror and think OMG this goes on for a whole year!!  And I'm not even at the 2.5 hour level yet.

i agree with you re Chett, he does come across as very sincere in his aim to get you the best possible result and, as you and I have both experienced, he delivers on his promise.

i hope you're healing keeps going well.  Are you based in the UK or somewhere else?  Love & hugz to you too

Day 16, Friday 5th December.  I'm going to try and keep this up even if it becomes a little boring because I suspect each day will be same old, same old.  Today was a little bit different because Fran left here at 3.30 this morning, eager to get back to her sons and having given her wonderful help.  I saw her off and then went back to bed.

I did my first dilation, had a shower by which time it was almost 12 and first the cleaner, Khong, came (she really is very sweet) and the Nurses Sri and Noi arrived to check me out.  Healing ok, still a bit of swelling, but average progress – I'll live with that!  I was given a date for my follow up with Dr Chett and some other little logistic stuff.  Sri also tells me that it's the King's birthday tomorrows and they'll be big celebrations everywhere, but especially in the Seacom (shopping) Centre across the road.  Everyone will be wearing yellow – now that's an excuse to go out shopping if ever I've heard one!

So that's what I did this afternoon.  I confess I was a little bit naughty because I was trying some beautiful skirts on and did stretch myself a little too much so I had to scale back a little.  Problem is, you see these lovely clothes and they can be very cheap, but they are on a stall in the middle of the shopping centre and there's nowhere to try anything on so you have to do it in situ.  This is when wearing a skirt comes in very handy because you can just pull one up inside the other and you're done!!  However, it's not the easiest of exercises.

Now this is one area where Mel and I disagree – she said bring some sexy stuff with you because you never know what might be going on (she was here for the Queen's birthday ironically).  I disagree – bring the basics because there's plenty of stuff to shop for here and if you don't use the big stores it can be really cheap and yet the quality is good.  Popped into Tesco to pick up some food and then headed back for dilation number 2 and some supper.

I find I still need to take a few very deep breaths when I start, getting the thing all the way in isn't exactly hard, but not really what I would call a pleasant experience then the first few minutes are a bit uncomfortable until you get used to it and then it's just bbbbboooooorrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnggggg.  I balance my iPad on my tummy and try to read stuff.  You can't do that much because you only have one hand – the other being occupied.  My Mummy FaceTimed me in the middle of my dilation yesterday and that certainly helped pass the time, although FT and the internet in general struggle here which can be very frustrating.  Coming back this evening I took a picture of the wiring which runs down the street (Vertical Suite is the tall building on the right) because looking at that you wonder how anything gets connected at all here!  There are broken wires hanging down to the pavement everywhere.  To think Thailand used to be one of the biggest satellite users in Asia once I wonder how they manage to cope without it these days!

I'm going to try and insert the pic here, but I'm struggling with how to do this ... (//) failed!

Quote from: EmmaD on December 03, 2015, 02:52:16 AM

Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your journey with us.  I was meant to be enjoying Chet's services on 20 November but had to defer a month while I recovered from having my gall bladder removed!  So I am now scheduled for surgery on 22 December instead.  In 2 weeks, I will be ensconced in my very own Vertical Suite!

Your posts have provided another perspective, particularly for another non-spring chicken! As I will be on my own, I will focus first on preparation for the immediate period after returning from the clinic and then on just being happy and positive.  My gall bladder adventure has severely limited my fitness preparation but that is what it is.

All the very best for your continued recovery. 

Emma

Hi Emma  :)

Sorry to hear you were delayed but I hope your healing is going well? Christmas with Chett, I'm almost jealous  :) Hope it all goes really well when the big day comes.

Sasha, I've been following your thread although until now there hasn't really been anything much I could add because you've done a great job :) Mel's thread was the first I read after choosing Chett and it was a great help to me so reading you found it helpful brought back some memories for me; You've also managed to remind me how much I enjoyed my month over there when I had my op so thank you.

You commented at the beginning about not liking the perceived production line feeling some experience with Dr Suporn, I am being careful not to insult anyone because I've never met him. I noticed while caring for Bootifulone in October that since my op in March Chett has actually refined his procedures, My external packing was removed while I was still in his clinic the night before I was released back to the hotel at the same time as the drains came out which doesn't now happen. Bootifulone also had an extra row of stitches on each side of her vagina as did another girl I met than what I had and the biggest change is the dilation schedule. My schedule is slightly shorter by about 10 minutes per session than yours will be when you reach number 4 but I have to continue it for 2 years  :o :o The reason I mention this is firstly to make you and all those still to come feel better about your dilation but also I feel it demonstrates that Dr Chett even after more than 10 years performing the surgery is still looking for ways to improve the results he gets and make things easier for his patients  :)

I hope your last 2 weeks over there go well and that when you get home everything is crisply cold and white  ;D

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Quote from: SorchaC on December 04, 2015, 04:33:57 PM
You commented at the beginning about not liking the perceived production line feeling some experience with Dr Suporn, I am being careful not to insult anyone because I've never met him. I noticed while caring for Bootifulone in October that since my op in March Chett has actually refined his procedures, My external packing was removed while I was still in his clinic the night before I was released back to the hotel at the same time as the drains came out which doesn't now happen. Bootifulone also had an extra row of stitches on each side of her vagina as did another girl I met than what I had and the biggest change is the dilation schedule. My schedule is slightly shorter by about 10 minutes per session than yours will be when you reach number 4 but I have to continue it for 2 years  :o :o The reason I mention this is firstly to make you and all those still to come feel better about your dilation but also I feel it demonstrates that Dr Chett even after more than 10 years performing the surgery is still looking for ways to improve the results he gets and make things easier for his patients  :)

Sorry, I can't resist... This continuous improvement is a classic feature and advantage of production lines...

Quote from: AnonyMs on December 04, 2015, 05:10:56 PM

Sorry, I can't resist... This continuous improvement is a classic feature and advantage of production lines...

It could also signify that Chett doesn't have faith in his technique but I don't believe that any more than I believe he operates a production line  ;D :P

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Sashaburn,

Dilation is going good. Although I feel like that is all I ever do now. Lol those little dilators are the only friends I spend time with beside my boyfriend. I am Iowa in the united states.

When do you go home? Did you go there on your own?

Quote from: SorchaC on December 04, 2015, 04:33:57 PM
You commented at the beginning about not liking the perceived production line feeling some experience with Dr Suporn, I am being careful not to insult anyone because I've never met him. I noticed while caring for Bootifulone in October that since my op in March Chett has actually refined his procedures, My external packing was removed while I was still in his clinic the night before I was released back to the hotel at the same time as the drains came out which doesn't now happen. Bootifulone also had an extra row of stitches on each side of her vagina as did another girl I met than what I had and the biggest change is the dilation schedule. My schedule is slightly shorter by about 10 minutes per session than yours will be when you reach number 4 but I have to continue it for 2 years  :o :o The reason I mention this is firstly to make you and all those still to come feel better about your dilation but also I feel it demonstrates that Dr Chett even after more than 10 years performing the surgery is still looking for ways to improve the results he gets and make things easier for his patients  :)

Hi Sorcha,  I really appreciate your info and thoughts on Chett - very, very interesting and actually very relieving too.  I do so feel for you to have to manage two years rather than one, that's a big difference.  Your points about Chett modifying his technique as time and experience carries him forward are very insightful and I totally agree with you.  Many people questioned why I would choose Thailand over the UK, Europe or the US and my response was always that I believe that the surgeons here (Chett of course, but others as well) have been far more innovative and keen to advance the procedure than other countries.  I have a friend who went for a consultation with one of the top surgeons in the UK (no names!) and she came away literally disgusted by both his technique and his complete refusal to explain anything of worth.  She told me he had effectively told her that half of her male genitals would be dropped into the rubbish bin whereas Chettawut, Suporn and others work hard to make use of everything you have and achieve the best possible results.

I also wouldn't want to criticise any other surgeons out here, but we make our choices based on the best research we can do.  Quite honestly, I felt that Chettawut and Suporn are the best and that the decision between which to go with would be something of a tossed coin  ???.  Either way, now having come through it all (almost!) I feel very happy with the decision I made on several fronts.  Perhaps I would have felt the same had I gone with Suporn, but I am confident in standing up and stating that choosing Chettawut isn't a mistake.  Sounds like you feel similarly confident.

Thanks again for your info.  I really appreciate it.  Hugs, Susan

Quote from: Butterflylover3 on December 05, 2015, 02:31:38 AM
Sashaburn,

Dilation is going good. Although I feel like that is all I ever do now. Lol those little dilators are the only friends I spend time with beside my boyfriend. I am Iowa in the united states.

When do you go home? Did you go there on your own?

Hi Butterfly,

Nice to hear that your dilation's going well.  Pleased for you and relieved that I might be on the same track!!

I personally am finding that the initial push in is uncomfortable, kind of like poohing backwards  :D, but once in its just how do you best occupy your time.  Fortunately I'm reading a great book at the moment (I am Pilgrim) and that helps time pass reasonably quickly!

I'd be interested in knowing whether you experienced the same and if that slowly improved?  I have to assume it does because otherwise there's not that much attraction that I can think of to use my new facility to its full purpose!  :laugh:  I'd also be interested in how the jump went between sizes ... was it like starting all over again or just a little bit more difficult (perhaps painful?) before it settled down and felt normal?

In answer to your question, yes, I came here on my own and then my sister Fran flew out to be here when I was released from the clinic.  She then stayed for the next ten days helping me through the tough bit before she left two days ago.  I feel very fortunate to have had the level of support I had and at exactly the right time.  So I leave here to return to the UK on the 17th - be sad to miss some of those who are scheduled to come out this month and who have commented on this thread, but it will be nice to be home again.

Good luck and positive progress on your continued dilations and if you do have any other thoughts about what I and others can expect going forward I'd love to hear them.

Hugs, Susan

Day 17, Saturday 5th December.  Happy Birthday Your Majesty – it's the Thai King's birthday today and the royalty are very popular with the people here so it's a big event day.  I'll be out later dressed in the yellow top I bought yesterday (traditional support for the King I'm told) to see what's happening because everyone who has any English has said that the celebrations are fun, intense and everywhere.  I was planning on going down one road to an event suggested by Khong, the lady who cleans my apartment, but it seems the rainy season has arrived in force – thunder, lightning and rain coming down in buckets.  Not quite sure how I'll even make it to the shopping centre across the road without drowning!

I slept well last night, headed into dilation quite early and was 20 mins through it when the knock on the door came from Nurses Sri and Noi.  I wasn't quite sure what to do, but finally I gave up and pulled the plug (literally!!) and managed to catch them before they left for their next stop.  I mentioned that I'd pushed things a little far yesterday and felt a bit of a painful twinge, Sri checked and assured me that everything was just fine, I hadn't pulled any stitches and that my healing was going well, swelling was reducing and she's happy with the direction I'm going.

Having curtailed my first dilation I felt obliged to extend my second (which quite honestly wasn't a hardship, just allowed me to read another few chapters of my book!).  Generally, I have to say that dilation isn't much of a hardship, it hasn't been painful in the slightest (yet ... who knows, that may come!).  My new style of weeing has also gone without a hitch, no pain, burning sensation or anything like that.  It's all felt totally natural.  My digestive system has slowly been getting itself under control after almost two weeks of liquids and I'm essentially back to normal now, just 5 days after being unwrapped – what a Xmas present!  I only mention all this so those of you about to embark on SRS with Chett have some idea what to expect.

Hi Susan  :)

My agreed dilation schedule once I reached number 4 was 10 minutes on each of the 4 (40 mins) 3 times a day for 2 years. Anticipating that once people return to work they will struggle to have 3 sessions a day Chett told me as long as  I do 2 sessions a day totaling 2 hours he will be happy. I know many many posties find that they do not need 2 hours a day especially after they become sexually active but Chett said this was a deal, He will do his best for me (he said I was going to be his most difficult surgery) and I had to promise to do what he said to look after what he achieved. So I gave my word and I stick to it.

You asked about moving up to bigger sizes, For me 1 and 2 were quite easy once I got over my own hesitation about dilation. I just was too tense to have an easy time but once they were in I had no trouble. I found that getting to 4 inches wasn't so bad but most times at the beginning full depth wasn't happening. My solution was to let go of the dilator and distract myself for a few minutes with anything I could and then just push it in and that worked for me. Number 3 was a small pain for the first week. The pain lasted about a minute then my body relaxed and it was fine. I had a friend who was 4 days in front of me and she warned me about how painful 3 and 4 were so that again caused me tension. Number 4 was delayed by lube problems so by the time I got there I found it easy. One thing I'll add, I contacted Chett when I couldn't move to number 4 on time asking for advice, He told me for him number 1 and 2 are the important ones. 3 and 4 are optional. He says 1 and 2 are all you need for maintaining depth. I mention this because we don't get to number 3 until after we go home and not everyone will be ready for moving up and this can cause tensions and even fears. The other thing is as I've said; Be relaxed, Do not rush and remember that this is what we all knew we'd have to do.  ;D

Would it sound crazy if I told you that when I felt pain from standing too long or maybe doing more than I was ready for doing a dilation was what stopped my pain?

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Sashaburn,

Right now I'm dilating only to number 3. I start 4 in a few weeks and I'm not excited! I am really tight down there. 1 & 2 was pretty bearable. When I got to 3, I had a very hard time with it. It nearly took me a week to get full depth. Which that was okay for me because I rather not tear anything inside me if I rushed and push too much.

My advice for you is to take your time with it, use a lot of lube, take deep breaths, and listen to some nice & relaxing music. 

One tip i found that works for me is to hold the dilator to one side as far as you can go and hold it for 5 mins then the same on the other side. This way it helps stretch out your vajaja canal & makes it easier for the bigger number.

Good luck hun any questions ask. :)

Hi Sorcha, Thanks for your dilation experiences, it really helps to hear from someone who's been through it already.  I agree, relaxation is key - it certainly has been for me.  Interesting that pain from standing was taken away by dilation!  Perhaps that was because you had to be on your back for an hour!  I applaud you for sticking to your promise to Chettawut, despite how hard it must have been.  Fact is, he must be one of the top 10 most knowledgeable people about this in the world so I think it was very smart of you to stay with his schedule.  Hugs, Susan

Hi Butterfly,

Thanks to you too for your experience - although, whoa :o that sounds like I've got some really fun times steaming up on me!  You're advice about stretching gently from side to side sounds good.  A friend of mine went with Suporn and she tells me she has to "stir" hers.  Sounded strange at first, but now sounds very similar to your advice.  I generally take entry slow and easy, big deep breaths and once its in, everything's okay, but I must confess the thought of moving up to 2 then 3 and then 4 fills me with trepidation :'(

Thanks and hugs,

Susan

Day 18, Sunday 6th December.  I'll keep this one brief.  No visit on Sunday from the nurses, took the morning gently, did first dilation, wasn't too bad.  Decided to wait for the second dilation before I hit the shower.  When I did do it I was shattered for some reason and ended up falling asleep ... then when the 30 min alarm went I thought "what the hell" and reset it and went back to sleep, keeping the dilator in.  Not sure if this was a good or a bad move, but doesn't seem to have caused any issues.

Change of subject – after I'd cleaned myself up, I decided to get some exercise and take a wander down to the park.  For those of you coming here later, all you need to do is head down the road which runs between the HaHa and Paradise shopping centres.  It's about a mile down there and I found it an easy walk (mind you it wasn't too hot today).  If you can, do try and get down there.  The park is very pretty, very clean and nice to wander around.  I hit it lucky – there was some form of celebration going on (it cost me 40p to get into the park because of that!).  I had no idea what I'd paid for, but it was cute and fun with some singing and dancing plus acres of food stalls – the Thai's sure LOVE their food!  I spent around 3 hours there and didn't see one single westerner!

When I came back I called by the supermarket in Paradise to pick up some stuff.  Now this is an English thing – if you're from the UK and are particularly looking for some food or other stuff you usually get in the UK, then the supermarket in the Paradise centre is far better to try than Tescos in Seacon Square (which is your other option).  They even sell Heinz salad cream and Golden Shred marmalade – just saying!  ;)

Day 19, Monday 7th December.  Sleeping better, generally everything's just settling down.  Did my dilation 1 without any incident, but that is the one thing which keeps me on my toes – that I put on the apartment's "do not disturb" button (at least it's on a button by the bed here!).  I don't really want Khong, the cleaner, to have to witness that!  I can't really explain it to her because, despite the fact that she speaks 1000x more English than I do Thai, we struggle through each sentence.  Actually, we had a funny incident which had us both giggling today.  I mentioned I was trying to sort out a call with my daughter in Australia.  She said "where in Australia - Disney?".  When we both realised that she'd mixed up the pronunciation of "Sydney" we both fell about laughing!!  ;D ;D She constantly apologises for her poor English and I keep telling her she mustn't because she's so far ahead of me and my Thai.  She's lovely and another asset of this place.

Nurses Sri and Noi came in quite late today, around 1pm.  Check found me good, so another pass.  I explained my added dilation yesterday and asked if it was ok.  She said the odd occasion and only an extra 30 mins was ok, but don't make a habit of it in the first few weeks because you can just put pressure on the stitches internally and that's not good.  I also told her of my walk in the park and she told me to listen to my body and not push myself  :police:.  Overall, the message is keep the activity down in the first few weeks because otherwise you risk causing some internal upset – probably good advice for all of us going through this, but difficult to do, at least for me!

Day 20, Tuesday 8th December.  I designated today as my rest day because tomorrow I'm due to run off and see a friend of mine in the satcom business who kind of went native over 20 years ago.  He obviously loved Thailand so much that he settled down and established an equipment repair business – smart (and nice) guy.  So I've taken things easy, tried to clear up some emails and other stuff (although the internet connectivity can be extremely frustrating) and stay in the apartment.

Dilation seems to be getting better slowly, but surely.  I'm not sure quite why – whether its due to healing or just my body saying "dammit, you're doing this AGAIN, do I just have to get used to it?"  I kind of think it's a bit of both.  Once you get used to the method of getting the dilator in and understanding the little "ooh" barriers you feel along the way, stopping for a moment and consciously relaxing, then pushing forward it's not really a big deal.  I've been taking the 3x30 minute schedule as a time to have a little nap, catch up on Dr Who episodes, watch some Ted Talks and do a bit of reading.  I suspect that this will seem like luxury when I get to the stage of all four sizes of dilator, each of which has to be in for between 5 and 40 minutes during each session – sounds like a busy time to me and not one where you can just pop it in lie back and wait.

Nurses Sri and Noi came in early this morning.  Quick internal check and I got the ok and thumbs up regarding my healing.  They topped me up with more antibiotic and anti-swelling pills (you take 4 of one and 3 of the other regularly through the day).  I asked how long this would go on for and they said until I have my follow-up with Dr Chettawut on the 14th, then he decides.  Fran used to slap me around the head (just kidding ;D) to remind me when she was here so I had to set alarms off on my iPhone when she left.  Now it feels like I'm constantly dancing to the little dings going off what seems every 5 minutes.  Fran also made me a schedule sheet with boxes I have to tick off each time I take a pill – well worth doing for those of you due to come later because its so easy to forget where you are (at least for someone my age!).

I only have two big complaints about this apartment.  The first is the absolute stupidity of the light switches – they are all over the place, all work differently, turning on different sets of completely unrelated lights.  I almost think they should give me a degree in logistics when I'm finished here.  The second thing is the ants.  They are small and harmless, but they quickly deploy armies across the kitchen worktop if you leave so much as a drip of something let alone some sugar or a jam jar.  Advice – keep everything you can in the fridge, buy some washing up liquid and a sponge and be really diligent in cleaning up after making something to eat. No matter how hard I try, the little babies are usually out in force sooner or later.  Khong has sprayed anti-insect stuff about, but they don't seem to care and only liberal doses of washing up liquid across their routes seem to slow them down.  It's not that big of a deal quite honestly, although I am worried that they seem to be developing a taste for espresso coffee all of a sudden!! :o >:( ;D

Hey Girls
Basic question.. I have already paid my surgery and flight to Thailand.. how do I pay for hotel and other expenses when I am there.. How should I handle my currency..? 
I was not sure if credit cards work over there..
Any tips would be great.
I go Feb 16 and surgery Feb 20
Keri

Quote from: Keri - formerly known as Dodie on December 08, 2015, 11:28:00 AM

Hey Girls
Basic question.. I have already paid my surgery and flight to Thailand.. how do I pay for hotel and other expenses when I am there.. How should I handle my currency..? 
I was not sure if credit cards work over there..
Any tips would be great.
I go Feb 16 and surgery Feb 20
Keri

You pay the hotel directly usually when you leave, They will likely put a small charge on your CC when you check in as a deposit.

Depending upon what time you land you have various options for currency, if you are landing in daytime hours the best option for currency will be to take the money for your skin graft in cash and exchange it at a money exchange but definitely not in the airport, Average airport currency rates are about 2 baht per dollar less than you can easily get from Grand Super Rich booths in BTS stations. 2 Baht may not sound allot but multiply that by 1000 and you will be looking at $60. Another tip is to take large denomination dollar bills $100 being the best here is a simple demonstration of why $100  bill buy 35.87 Baht and a $1 bill buy 35.10 Baht so again a better rate.

You will find that Thai ATMs will accept you debit cards as well but shop around and also check with your card provider. I have 2 debit cards. One had a transaction fee of $3 per withdrawal and the other wants to charge me $17 per withdrawal. Different banks in Thailand will also have different rates.

When i went for my SRS I took AUD1500 in cash and my ATM cards as well as my CC. The CC was for paying the hotel . I withdrew from the ATM near the hotel to obtain local currency then went for a wander about and found the exchange booth at a BTS station, I think the nearest to Vertical Suites is at On Nut but if you're heading to the center of Bangkok Siam has one as does the Airport link station at Phayathai which you can easily get to from Hua Mak station not too far from your hotel :)

Hope that helps

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Hey Sorcha.
Thanks so much for the info... I guess we will be meeting soon.. wow how time flies.
Love
Keri

Quote from: Keri - formerly known as Dodie on December 09, 2015, 11:51:45 AM

Hey Sorcha.
Thanks so much for the info... I guess we will be meeting soon.. wow how time flies.
Love
Keri

Hey Keri,

You're most welcome  ;D I am hoping to arrive in Bangkok a few days before you but things remain undecided here and I will definitely let you know :)

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

That's great advice Sorcha - pity I didn't know you before I arrived here!  I tend not to worry too much about these things because with all the travelling I've done I've never had a problem using my credit cards or ATM machines, although you're so right, its easy to get ripped off at some of them.

Day 21, Wednesday 9th December.  Not much to report for today.  Went off to see my friend up north – OMG the traffic is so bad here, took hours to get there and back even using the toll roads.  Poor taxi driver on the way back had to stop off and run to the toilet at a petrol station!

Had a brief check-up with Nurses Sri and Noi before I went.  I had told them I was planning on going out to visit my friend and they were very considerate and turned up early so that I had time to get ready.  That seems to typify them, very nice and helpful.  Still getting positive reports on my healing progress so all's good on that front.  However, the full internal examination doesn't happen until I see Dr Chettawut for my check up on the 14th.  I guess then I'll find out just how well I'm doing.

Everything is still a bit sore and tender.  Still have to be careful what I do, how I bend down and all that stuff, but spending several hours sitting in a taxi wasn't bad at all which makes me realise that sitting down is gradually, imperceptibly getting better day by day.

Day 22, Thursday 10th December.  Wow, time is moving on, only got a week to go – I'm so looking forward to getting home.  Dilation continues to go fine.  Just like my experience sitting down, it's imperceptibly getting easier each time.  However, tomorrow's my next big day because I have to move up to dilator number 2 which just makes the process more complicated and will probably bring out a few more ":o ohhs :o"!!  I can't say that I'm looking forward to it, but that' the journey I signed up for (without really thinking about it!  ::)).

On one side of the hotel, just below my apartment, they are busy building another set of houses (it seems).  Digging and laying foundations – weird, their foundations are based on hammering sticks into the ground before they spread concrete on the top.  Makes you wonder just what lies underneath most of the buildings around here.  The whole thing is being done by hand, 25 or so workers just hacking away with spades and hammers – and several of them are women.  I wander out on the balcony and watch them from time to time and now we almost know each other and I wave to them and they wave back.  They live in a corrugated iron shack by the building site and their children come out in the evening and run around playing with tools and jumping in the holes. Just makes me realise just how lucky I've been and what a hard life some people have to endure.

Nurse Sri came in later today.  Again, healing check, no problems.  Advice is to take it easy as I had an active day yesterday.  Too much activity or walking can split the internal stitches – listen to your body is what Sri always says.  I asked her whether I would know if I pulled any stitches and she said yes, I would definitely feel pain - so that's good news, because I have none, only minor external soreness.  In fact, I'm quite surprised, I have had no real pain at throughout the whole process.

Hi Sasha!  Thanks again for your detailed reports.  I have just a little more than a month to go.

Curious!  When you had your first consult with Chett. were you given a detailed explanation of the actual surgical procedure or a written summary of just exactly what he would do?

If you were required to have the "graft as a separate expense from the GCS was that process explained?

I have seen illustrations and animations of the "penile inversion" process, but nothing on the "scrotal skin inversion" process. 

Thanks!
Hugz!

Sasha,
I have been so busy.. I honestly must say I have not read too much of your thread until now.
I plan to read it more soon as my date with DR Chett is coming fast. Feb 20th.  I want to say how much I appreciate your detailed account of your experience..
Its helping me know more of what to expect.. I will be traveling alone.. ugh but I am tough and may have some help.
So happy for you and others that have completed this part of the journey..
So, thank you girl so much!!
Keri

Quote from: Joi on December 10, 2015, 10:20:11 AM
Curious!  When you had your first consult with Chett. were you given a detailed explanation of the actual surgical procedure or a written summary of just exactly what he would do?

If you were required to have the "graft as a separate expense from the GCS was that process explained?

Hi Joi, When I had my initial consultation with him back in Feb, he did explain his technique in quite a lot of detail.  He didn't give me anything with details about his technique and plan in writing though.  I expect had I asked he would have just referred me to his website.  When I returned for surgery a few weeks ago and had a second consultation we didn't really go into his techniques that much, but then he probably figured he'd already done that.  When he quoted me a price with procedures, he had already seen me and so had some idea of what he had to work with and what additional things I might require.  Obviously the skin graft was extra, but I was expecting that because I was circumcised and so probably didn't have the full inventory!  Hugs, Susan (not Sasha!)

Quote from: Keri - formerly known as Dodie on December 10, 2015, 01:44:10 PM
I have not read too much of your thread until now.
I plan to read it more soon as my date with DR Chett is coming fast. Feb 20th.

Hi Keri,

I'm very pleased my storyline helps in some way.  Just make sure you check back later because I'm shortly going to put up a suggested packing and prep list, built from MonkeyMel's thoughts and my own experience, which I hope will give you, Joi and others something to help prepare as much as possible.

Good luck to all of you getting ready for your journey.  I'll probably say this again several times before this thread is finished, but you made the right choice to go with Chettawut in my opinion. 

Hugs,

Susan

Day 23, Friday 11th December.  Yesterday afternoon was interesting.  I met up with Tia, another girl who's here with her boyfriend, David.  They live in France, but Tia's originally from Tahiti.  She's young and clearly very determined because she's come through a huge amount of difficulties and yet is wonderfully vibrant, positive and social (and very beautiful!).  She's just done BA with Chett and is staying across the corridor from me which is how we met.  We had coffee in my place and chatted away for ages before we decided we'd all go out for dinner together.  Problem was, I had to dilate first.  Now as most of you will know (and if you don't you'll soon find out!) we trans girls are happy to share our experiences and show results to each other.  It helps both sides, I got another independent assessment and she got to see the kind of results that Chett achieves.  She thinks my result looks fantastic and totally natural and she couldn't stop going on about how wonderful it was.  She plans to come to Chett for SRS when she's saved enough and now she's even more excited (and a little bit jealous ;)).  She tells me that many of her friends who have also been with Chett also have great results, had very little pain and are very happy whilst some others that chose different surgeons are not so pleased .... So, once again, she seems to reinforce the fact that Chett is a great choice and that's certainly my view.

As for today, it was the first dilator number 2 for me.  The experience is a bit difficult to describe because I didn't find it painful, but I felt the hint that pain might be there if I wasn't careful.  Entry was more uncomfortable and took longer, but it wasn't excessively uncomfortable and it didn't take oceans of time.  I managed to get to my full depth (which I understood I had to do) and 10 mins with 2 was more uncomfortable than 30 mins with 1.  An hour or so afterwards I noticed that I was definitely bleeding much more than I have done to date which has been minor, light and watery.  This time I had real blood (producing a vampire's tea bag!), however, it wasn't enough to worry me.

Nurses Sri and Noi came in early afternoon and I first asked them about the bleeding and showed them my pad – Sri said this was entirely normal and nothing to worry about.  Inspection found me doing well, so I got a thumbs up on that.  She was a little surprised that I really experienced no pain moving up to number 2 and even more so when I told her that I pretty much got to full depth.  She gave me a little slap for that  ;) and said that I should really only go to 4 inches (rather than 6) first time, then move up to 5 and then to 6.  Take it easy, listen to your body  :police:.  I said I had and that it honestly hadn't hurt, was just uncomfortable and a bit achy – that earned me a "very good patient" bit of praise! :angel:  She went on to say that moving to 3 and 4 would be painful and also cause bleeding to start again, but that it all heals up after a few days.

Thanks Susan!

I'll be looking for your packing list. I've seen a couple, but might as well be current,  especially since you are at the "Vertical"

Later!

Hugz,
Joi

Quote from: sashaburn on December 11, 2015, 02:37:34 AM
Hi Keri,

I'm very pleased my storyline helps in some way.  Just make sure you check back later because I'm shortly going to put up a suggested packing and prep list, built from MonkeyMel's thoughts and my own experience, which I hope will give you, Joi and others something to help prepare as much as possible.

Good luck to all of you getting ready for your journey.  I'll probably say this again several times before this thread is finished, but you made the right choice to go with Chettawut in my opinion. 

Hugs,

Susan

Love you Sasha.. that list would be so helpful.. How was internet.. phone.. I thought about using my facebook to phone home.. but my email is what is so important to me.. I have to work from bed..
Keri

Hi Girls,

I'll aim to get my list up today. I think I've remembered most things, but being an old thing sometimes I forget stuff (well, often really!!).

Keri, you asked about the internet here. It's been easy to connect (don't even need a password) and coverage is good through the apartment (I'm lying on my bed dilating while doing this  ;D). Generally it works pretty well, but it can be extremely slow at times and very frustrating for things like FaceTime and Skype which crap out or suddenly start "reconnecting", but it's certainly useable so long as you can stop yourself throwing your iPad or phone across the room when that happens  >:-). Honestly no prejudice here, but twice I've seen a lot of Chinese guests arrive and that night I might as well put FaceTime to bed its so bad. So, unsurprisingly performance is down to demand (I think everyone in the place probably saw a marked increase in speed when my sister, Fran, left!! :D).  Email has been no problem at all, so no need to worry about that.

Best thing you can bring with you to make sure internet works okay is patience!!

Regarding decent Internet, in my researches for Suporn I came across the 4G DTAC network as being a really good option. Get a data SIM at the airport. Its quite cheap and you can get lots of fast data for a month.

Here's a coverage map. I don't know where Dr Chett's place is.
http://www.dtac.co.th/en/network/coverage.html

I can't survive without Internet.

I promised to provide a packing list for those of you scheduled to be down here so here it is.  Bear in mind that some of it relates to being in a Vertical Suite apartment and it may be different elsewhere.  Most of this came from MonkeyMel's suggestions with a few additions of my own:

1.   Toilet wipes – essential.  I brought 3 packs and wish I'd brought at least 4 because I can't for the life of me find any in the supermarkets.
2.   Baby/cosmetic wipes.  You can bring them, but not such a big deal because you can find them easily around here and Chettawut gives you some in his starter pack.
3.   Chargers/Leads/Plug converters.  After over 30 years of travelling this is something I've pretty much mastered, but for those of you just setting out, my advice is don't skimp, make sure you have enough of them.  You can buy them around here if you fall short though.
4.   If you want to access your local TV programming (like I do with the BBC), you might want to sign up to a proxy server service that gives you a VPN and makes it look like you're still in the UK/USA/wherever ...
5.   Panties.  Now this is pretty essential.  You can get a bunch of new, but perfectly good reject cotton panties on Amazon for a few £.  I ended up buying around 30, but 20 will serve you fine.  Don't go for nice big baggy ones on the assumption that you'll need loose clothing.  You want them to fit you normally and keep everything (i.e. pads) close, but choose something light.  If you have loads and use the washer/dryer machine here at Vertical Suite (it works well) then you can change regularly and without worry.
6.   Panty pads.  Chettawut provides you with a starter pack, but you'll get through these in no time.  You can also buy them here, but you're probably best advised to bring a pack or two with you anyway.  As a pre-SRS girl you're going to wander into the supermarket and look through shelves and shelves of different options – wings/no wings, light/medium/heavy, day/night my goodness the options seem endless and you have no idea what you'll actually need.  If you bought nice light cotton panties as suggested above, you just need the basic pads.  I brought Carefree with cotton extract (medium?) – they just appear to be the basic things – and they work great.  I brought some others (with wings just to be safe!) and they work ok, but they are way more than required in both size and cost.
7.   Food.  Thailand is very British in many ways and you can find lots of products you wouldn't have expected, but there's no harm in bringing some things like teabags, marmalade, jam or anything else you might crave during a month out here.  As an aside, isn't it weird that throughout the world you only ever really see Liptons English tea and yet you never see it in England?!
8.   Soap: grab a couple of bars of soap.  Sure you get the tiny little bars in your bathroom as standard and you can buy it here anyway, but if you're out shopping why not bring some with you?
9.   Intimate sensitive wash (I brought Vagasil), just gives you a little bit more confidence when you're cleaning up your new apparatus!
10.   Sudocream (baby nappy rash cream).  Bring a nice big pot.  Helps sooth you when you come back from the clinic with bed sores and, as an antiseptic cream, you will find plenty of other places to use it too, I've used it over my external stitches and it helps sooth them.
11.   Sun protection cream.  Again, you can buy it here if you need to.
12.   Clothes:
a.   Plenty of cotton panties (as suggested above).
b.   Loose cotton trousers.
c.   Loose light cotton skirts (make sure at least one is nice and long to hide the catheter when you have it).
d.   A few T-shirts and/or skimpy/strappy tops.
e.   Open shoes/flip flops/Berkenstock whatever.
f.   A fun and glam and sexy outfit and some wedges or heels.  You might not wear them, but you may well find you feel like wearing something like this sometime when you've jumped the final hurdle.  If you forget, there's plenty of great stuff to shop for across the road and it's cheap.
g.   One or two nighties, loose below the boobs, easy to put on and take off.
h.   Light dressing gown, I lived in mine for the first few days when I got back in the hotel and it protected the bed and the chairs from my sudocream covered back.
13.   Inflatable neck pillow.  This was something suggested by MonkeyMel and a good one.  Means you can pop it into your handbag and keep it available whenever you need it.  I've found that I can generally sit down okay if the seat is soft, but once or twice it's been a godsend to have this available.  It's much smaller than Chett's donut cushion and, as MonkeyMel says, you can just fill it partly to give you a different seating plan!
14.   Pencil/Paper – useful to make yourself a tick list to know you've taken the right drug at the right time.  Fran made mine and stuck it above my bed (and was a rigorous enforcer!).
15.   You might need earplugs – it can be quite noisy outside even very late at night, so if you're a light sleeper this could be a good idea.

I think that's about it.  You'll find that plenty of stuff can be bought down here and in many cases the same brands you're used to are available as well.  However, you'll also discover that just about anything here is the same price back home – food and clothes.  You can find plenty of cheap stuff in the markets and stalls which are dotted everywhere, but anything branded will be the same or maybe more, so it just makes sense to bring what you think you might want with you.

I would also suggest you grab a Thai SIM card when you arrive at the airport because they understand English much better there and quickly set everything up for you.  I went a little bit crazy and bought a 12 GB package for 3,000 Baht (£50) and have only used about 1 GB after being here 3 weeks, probably because a lot of my use has been over the hotel Wifi, so you don't need to go crazy and can always top it up if needed.

Finally, there is also the issue of lubricant gel.  Chett gives you a few in your starter pack, but trust me when I say you scream through the stuff.  I looked around for some more and couldn't find it easily (wasn't in the supermarket for some reason  ::)).  Nurse Sri told me they could supply 10 tubes for 720 Baht (£13 or $20) which is a pretty good deal and worth getting because I see that 12 tubes of KY on Amazon cost about £2 each.  No doubt it's in the shops somewhere here, but I took her up on the deal because I wasn't sure quite where and it was a good deal anyway.

If I think of anything else you might need to know I'll post it later.

Day 24, Saturday 12th December.  Good day.  Dilation with number 2 wasn't so bad.  Chett seems to have his timing just perfect because number 1 was becoming quite easy.  Now it feels real easy relatively speaking versus number 2!

Nurses Sri and Noi came in and checked me out – all good still.  They have their one day off tomorrow which they really need because they work so hard.  I asked them about little feelings and the occasional itch I feel down there, apparently it's perfectly normal and everybody feels this.  Fact is, as others have said, you feel an itch, you know where on your body it is – but ...... – hang on! that bit isn't there anymore!  Well, it is, but it's now inside not outside and yes, you need to adjust and let your mind sort your body out, but it really is weird and takes some getting used to.

I just spent the rest of the morning catching up with some stuff I had to do until Khong came in to clean the place.  She laughed at the little feeding station I have set up for the ants.  I have a deal with them – they can come in and feed on the stuff I put there, but they are not allowed out past the barrier of washing up liquid that I've laid across the worktop or they DIE!!  I think they've got the message and it makes me feel better that I'm not causing mass destruction in their community – after all, this is a Buddhist country.

After Khong left, Tia came round with her auntie and friend, also from Tahiti and also trans.  They were both over for BA and had it done by walking into a clinic over here, no appointment and just 3 hours later walking out having had breast surgery – quick and cheap, can you believe it?!  They get anaesthetic, but just local so they sit strapped into a dentist's chair and watch the whole thing happen.  Very brave ladies in my opinion.  Both were beautiful and looked fabulous.  I checked their results – which looked amazing and I just hope stay that way for them – and they checked out mine.  I think it convinced them that they'll come back here and get Chett to do them too because they were very impressed by what he has achieved.  We went out for some lunch and talked a lot about experiences and hopes, excitement and fears, dreams and fulfilment.

Tomorrow no check-up, but Monday I have to be up early to have my post op check with Dr Chettawut.  I guess then I get an expert's opinion on the whole thing.  I'll be having nightmares about the metal things they use to check out the inside for the next two nights!  However, Nurse Sri seems to very happy with my progress so crossed fingers everything's good and I'm nearly ready to go home and see my Mother, Brother, Sister and friends – can't wait!

Hi Susan,

Thanks so much for the list.  A couple of things were missing from my list.  Now all sorted.  Since my surgery is scheduled for 22 December, we are having a Christmas day today which will be nice.  Then I fly solo!

Seems you are almost cooked and ready to go home.  Well done you!

All the best and safe travels back to WINTER!

Emma

Susan!  Your list is great.  Funny that you said not to buy over sized panties.  One of the other girls recommended this citing issues of discomfort.  I like your take.  Too loose and pads and liners wouldn't do their job.

Do you know if the vendors of the  "airport version" of a temp sim card are compatible with an Iphone 6?  The local ATT rep. said other sims cards wont work in this phone.

Thanks again!

Hugz!

Quote from: AnonyMs on December 11, 2015, 10:23:10 PM

Regarding decent Internet, in my researches for Suporn I came across the 4G DTAC network as being a really good option. Get a data SIM at the airport. Its quite cheap and you can get lots of fast data for a month.

Here's a coverage map. I don't know where Dr Chett's place is.
http://www.dtac.co.th/en/network/coverage.html

I can't survive without Internet.

Chetts place and all 3 hotels are in the 4G 1800Mhz area I can attest to the quality of net using the phone because that's what I used. It works well in all locations you would need it unless you leave Bangkok on a trip.

Quote from: Joi on December 12, 2015, 06:19:42 PM

Do you know if the vendors of the  "airport version" of a temp sim card are compatible with an Iphone 6?  The local ATT rep. said other sims cards wont work in this phone.

Thanks again!

Hugz!

I am sure you will find it's not the phone brand or model that limits the use of other sim cards but the fact it is locked to a specific network that will stop the sim working. I'd advise asking an authorised apple dealer to unlock it for you and you'll be fine. If you cannot get an apple dealer to do it in the US I will be surprised if DTAC cannot do it for you. Maybe not at the airport but the store in Seacon Center will :)

Hope that helps

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

I think I found Chett's place on google maps. Here's the street view

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.7099452,100.6273365,3a,34.8y,14.23h,88.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slQpQzZcJCbkDc21uyLyyGg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Perhaps it might be useful if someone found the other places. A drive down memory lane for some I'm sure.

Quote from: AnonyMs on December 12, 2015, 08:49:04 PM

I think I found Chett's place on google maps. Here's the street view

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.7099452,100.6273365,3a,34.8y,14.23h,88.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slQpQzZcJCbkDc21uyLyyGg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Perhaps it might be useful if someone found the other places. A drive down memory lane for some I'm sure.

Yeah that's Chetts clinic :)

Do you mean the other surgery centers or Chetts Hotel?

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Hotels, shops, that kind of thing. Wouldn't you be interested before you went?

Quote from: EmmaD on December 12, 2015, 05:57:02 PM
Thanks so much for the list.  A couple of things were missing from my list.  Now all sorted.  Since my surgery is scheduled for 22 December, we are having a Christmas day today which will be nice.  Then I fly solo!

Hi Emma,

I wish you the best of luck with your surgery - I really hope that you echo my experience and fly through it without any problem.  If my experience is anything to go by then you should just be excited and positive which I'm sure you are.  I look at myself everyday and just can't believe that it's happened the way it has and its DONE!  You're not far off now, get ready to spread your wings  8)

I am looking forward to coming back to winter ... not the grey skies, but feeling the sting of the cold doesn't sound bad after a month of oppressive heat with the only escape AC!

Keep your head up and look to the near the future.  Positive thoughts for you,

Susan

Quote from: Joi on December 12, 2015, 06:19:42 PM
Susan!  Your list is great.  Funny that you said not to buy over sized panties.  One of the other girls recommended this citing issues of discomfort.  I like your take.  Too loose and pads and liners wouldn't do their job.

Do you know if the vendors of the  "airport version" of a temp sim card are compatible with an Iphone 6?  The local ATT rep. said other sims cards wont work in this phone.

Hi Joi,

The panties I bought off Amazon are thin light and cotton.  Here's the link http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00XUDTLPO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00
and I do think it makes sense to buy a size that fits.  Mine are so light it barely feels like I'm wearing anything.

Kind of the same with the pantie pads, I didn't find any reason for using the big one, but I suspect everyone's different and some may need the bigger type.  However, small ones will get you through I would think and then you can always get some more here, there's plenty of choice.

Re the SIM, I suspect that Sorcha is spot on and it's got nothing to do with the phone model and is more to do with the restrictions your service provider puts on the phone.  Her advice to get it unlocked before you leave is the best.  What I can tell you is that plenty of people use the iPhone 6 down here.

Good luck and think positive.  Hugs,

Susan

Quote from: AnonyMs on December 12, 2015, 08:49:04 PM
I think I found Chett's place on google maps. Here's the street view

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.7099452,100.6273365,3a,34.8y,14.23h,88.07t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slQpQzZcJCbkDc21uyLyyGg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Perhaps it might be useful if someone found the other places. A drive down memory lane for some I'm sure.

As I think I said in an earlier post, there's no question that Chett's clinic doesn't inspire!  Not only is it small and tucked between bunches of shops it's hard to find first time if you're on your own.  When you get inside, you instantly know that this isn't the Tardis! However, it is clean and nicely kept - and, most importantly, his results are the best.

Suporn's in a bigger place, but not a nice looking area. As you say, its the result that are important. We can always take a holiday another time.

Day 25, Sunday 13th December.  Catching up day.  Didn't sleep well last night so ended up getting up late and just sitting on my PC.  Dilation number 2 was much easier today – quite surprising after only a day of it.  Still uncomfortable, but not nearly as much as yesterday. 

Khong came in to clean and said how much she's going to miss having me here when I leave.  She's a sweetheart and I'll miss her too.  We always have lovely, if stuttering, language limited chats and she's always so complimentary.  She and her colleague had another big giggle over my ant friends and their food hall – even took a picture!

Tia and David came in for a coffee because their key refused to open their door and they had to wait for the hotel to come and fix it.  They were planning a tourist trip tomorrow (which is their last day) and Tia was concerned that she would miss the nurse's visit.  She asked me if I had a mobile number for the nurses, which I don't, so I suggested that she call the clinic and see if she could get anyone because I've done that once before and was put through to Dr Chettawut.  We called – bear in mind it was 7pm on a Sunday night and their only day off – and Dr Chettawut answered and was very understanding with her.  Where else would you expect to get that level of service?

Nothing else to report.  I have to make sure I'm up early to see Dr Chettawut for my final check up tomorrow though.

Hi Susan,

Good luck with today's trip to see Dr Chett, I'm sure you won't need it by the sounds of things. He'll be pleased to see you and hear how everything is going.

Quote from: AnonyMs on December 13, 2015, 12:21:15 AM

Hotels, shops, that kind of thing. Wouldn't you be interested before you went?

Here's the street view of the Rama

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.7365655,100.6325133,3a,75y,194.8h,81.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGmNs5r6oIAdo6rQeu8cqGA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 (https://www.google.com/maps/@13.7365655,100.6325133,3a,75y,194.8h,81.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGmNs5r6oIAdo6rQeu8cqGA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

Turn right out of the hotel and walk about 400 yards and you'll come to a footbridge which is on the same map and over the footbridge you'll find Tesco Lotus. The development nearby is completed now and houses restaurants. The new building looks like the UK house of parliament.

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.7364262,100.6348766,3a,75y,63.39h,76.28t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUbSSb93MI6GM1zIMy0PNiA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 (https://www.google.com/maps/@13.7364262,100.6348766,3a,75y,63.39h,76.28t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUbSSb93MI6GM1zIMy0PNiA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

Here is The Dusit Princess and you'll also see Seacon Square Shopping Mall. You will see the big R in the photo, That's Robinsons department store which is one of 2 supermarkets in there.

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.6974364,100.6472327,3a,75y,130.86h,84.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxCjZdcpWDn_6I9TN12QXtQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DxCjZdcpWDn_6I9TN12QXtQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D93.749565%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656 (https://www.google.com/maps/@13.6974364,100.6472327,3a,75y,130.86h,84.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxCjZdcpWDn_6I9TN12QXtQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DxCjZdcpWDn_6I9TN12QXtQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D93.749565%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656)

If you follow on along the road past Seacon Square from the Dusit and look across the road you will find The Vertical Suites

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.6903072,100.6471588,3a,75y,291.96h,112.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssUFu93MCJT1m9VF5Y9vkLg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 (https://www.google.com/maps/@13.6903072,100.6471588,3a,75y,291.96h,112.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssUFu93MCJT1m9VF5Y9vkLg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

Hugs

Sorcha  ;D

Day 26, Monday 14th December.  Today was final post-op check-up day with Dr Chettawut.  Started with dilation first thing in the morning which went very easily.  It rapidly gets better and easier.  Dome, the driver, picked me up at 10am and took me to the clinic.  I had to strip off (including all jewelry) and was then taken into the operating theatre, laid down on the operating bed, legs spread wide and strapped down – it felt like something bad was about to happen!  Dr Chettawut came in and sat down to check me out.  He explained that he would clean me with antiseptic and then open me up for inspection right down to the furthest reaches  :o  This is a two stage process, first one set of metal expansion thingys and then another – something I was anticipating would be painful or, at the very least, very uncomfortable.

Far from it.  Dr Chettawut was extremely gentle and very careful – no pain, no discomfort at all.  Sure, I could feel that something was going on up there, but that was all.  There was certainly nothing to back up the concerns I had been having.

His assessment – very good, skin taken well, healing great, no swelling.  I asked him to rate my healing progress on a 1-10 scale.  He said "what, score you?!", I said yes.  He said "almost 10" and both nurses put their thumbs up – wow!  ;D  He then rinsed me out with antiseptic – just felt cold, that was all – and that was it!  I passed the test  :laugh: Then I asked to have a chat with him before I left because I had a few questions:

1.   After it's become easy with the 1/2/3/4 dilations, can they be refined to 1/3/4 or 1/4 but keeping the same total time?  Bear in mind that using four of the things really extends the time required.  Answer: Not really, you should stay with the schedule, but after one year you can go with what feels right.
2.   OMG!  What do I have to after year one?  Answer, keep dilating daily, but you can use whatever numbers so long as you start with 1 and it doesn't have to be 3 times daily, once or twice is fine so long as you're maintaining depth.
3.   When can I exercise - stretches, running?  Answer: Stretch exercises okay after one month (so long as this doesn't involve spreading your legs), can start running, gently at first, after 3 months.
4.   How long before self-dissolving stitches go?  Answer: Around three months.
5.   I have very little sensation on the right side, will this come back and, if so, how long will it take?  Answer: Yes sensation will return, but will take around a year as the nerves grow back.

I then thanked him and his staff profusely.  He really cares and tries to do the best possible job he can with whatever your body has.  I told him that I was so grateful for everything he has done for me, I honestly feel he's fantastic, committed, talented, an artist and, above all, caring.  His staff are all also great, especially Nurse Sri.

I made one suggestion – that he set up some form of social meet-up site for his patients simply because being spread over three hotels, patients simply don't have the opportunity to meet up like they do at Dr Suporn's place.  He said he didn't feel he could do this on his main website and that an ex-patient used to run such a site, but that has been closed down.  He might do something with Facebook.

I said I was more than happy to give him my recommendation and he thanked me, but also said that he understood some people can be unhappy for many reasons and this was something he totally understood.  He refuses to judge or criticise any of his competitor surgeons and comes across as both professionally and emotionally committed to his work.  I had to hug him before I left.

So now, I'm free :angel:, I leave here in a few days and can't wait to get back home and see my family and friends.  The whole experience has been 10 times better than I had expected and so have the results.  It's been one year start to finish – FFS, BA and now SRS – done!  Am I dreaming?  I've flown through every operation, healed quickly and all with great results.  Part lucky, part genetics (thanks Mummy!), part positive attitude and part good choice of surgeons.  I might put a few more posts up on this thread in the future to give those who are debating how, where, what and who - some idea of what also to expect post-surgery, but I think this probably concludes my account of my experience out here with Dr Chettawut.  I wish all of you who are planning on coming out here for SRS good luck and I hope you get exactly the same results as I have  ;D :D ;D

Quote from: SorchaC on December 13, 2015, 05:22:59 PM
If you follow on along the road past Seacon Square from the Dusit and look across the road you will find The Vertical Suites

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.6903072,100.6471588,3a,75y,291.96h,112.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssUFu93MCJT1m9VF5Y9vkLg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 (https://www.google.com/maps/@13.6903072,100.6471588,3a,75y,291.96h,112.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssUFu93MCJT1m9VF5Y9vkLg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)

Wow, I see why they call them the Vertical Suites. Perfect name for a very odd looking building.

Thanks so much Susan!

Will look for your footprints when I get there!

Have a safe trip home & Happy Holidays

Hugz,

Joi

Congrats girl! You did it!! I am so happy for you. We are now children of Chettawut as Sorcha always refer too. Lol I am 2 months posted op and if u want to keep in touch. Let me know so we can share story and give each other advice. PM me.

Quote from: Butterflylover3 on December 14, 2015, 03:30:17 PM

Congrats girl! You did it!! I am so happy for you. We are now children of Chettawut as Sorcha always refer too. Lol I am 2 months posted op and if u want to keep in touch. Let me know so we can share story and give each other advice. PM me.

Yes we are all Tulayapanich sisters :) Chettawut Tulayapanich is his full name for those who didn't know :)

Quote from: AnonyMs on December 14, 2015, 09:07:10 AM

Wow, I see why they call them the Vertical Suites. Perfect name for a very odd looking building.

You get a nice view too. Not spectacular as it's an urban area but at night all lit up it's nice :)


Hugs


Sorcha  ;D

Sashaburn, I got some great news to share with you that will give you a relief hopefully. :) so tomorrow is the day I'm suppose to move up to number 4. Today after I dilated number 3, I decided to give it a shot. Super nervous I tell myself even if I could just get the tip in I'll be okay. Well I stick number 4 in!!! And girl it was easy breezy! No pain nothing! I was shocked at how easy it went in! Lol it reminded me of the first time I saw #4. My reaction was, oh ->-bleeped-<-! That is never gonna go inside me! Lol

If you stay on schedule and dilate like you're suppose too. 3 times a day moving up a number isn't bad at all. :) #good luck!

Quote from: Butterflylover3 on December 14, 2015, 10:01:31 PM
Sashaburn, I got some great news to share with you that will give you a relief hopefully. :) so tomorrow is the day I'm suppose to move up to number 4. Today after I dilated number 3, I decided to give it a shot. Super nervous I tell myself even if I could just get the tip in I'll be okay. Well I stick number 4 in!!! And girl it was easy breezy! No pain nothing! I was shocked at how easy it went in! Lol it reminded me of the first time I saw #4. My reaction was, oh ->-bleeped-<-! That is never gonna go inside me! Lol

If you stay on schedule and dilate like you're suppose too. 3 times a day moving up a number isn't bad at all. :) #good luck!

Hi Butterfly,

Thanks for giving me a good giggle :D and for the very encouraging news about number 4!  I had exactly the same thoughts as you when I saw number 4 :o so the news that you popped it in no problem is wonderful to hear.

I'm going to share a bit of naughty news shortly ::)  I'd be happy to stay in touch, PM you later.

Hugs,

Susan

Day 27, Tuesday 15th December.  Naughty News! >:-)

Last night Tea (as in Ti-a), David and I went out to dinner on a river cruise.  It was actually a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I'd advise it because I ended up dancing on the top deck to the band which was not a "recommended" thing to do!  We booked the whole thing through a local driver/guide that Tea found called Winai and I booked him for today to take me on a tour.  He charges the same for two as he does for one – Baht 2,000 for the day, but he's very nice, speaks pretty decent English and very helpful.  If someone wants to use him, you can get him on his mobile 08-3983-3360 and he's always happy to take our money!

So he picked me up at 8am this morning which meant getting up early after a late night and getting dilation out of the way which was a bit of pain.  He insisted on an early start because of the traffic. It took just over an hour to drive to the King's Grand Palace.  You also pay everything that's extra including tolls – 100B each way – and entry fees for yourself and him – another couple of hundred (not a big deal).  It costs much less for a Thai to get a ticket so its really worth bringing him with you, especially if you're on your own, because he shows you around and takes lots of photos for you and of you with your camera (and take a camera!).  Oh, I should also add that there is a dress code for the Palace - you're not allowed to show your knees (so trousers or a dress below the knees) or your shoulders (so a T-shirt or a scarf/shawl which you can buy when you're there for 100B). The tour round the Grand Palace was great – beautiful place – then we went across the river to the Buddhist temple.

After that we headed over to Ayutthaya (full name Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya) which was the ancient capital city of Thailand ransacked by the Burmese in the 1700s – it's beautiful, intriguing and sad because it has fallen apart and all the Buddha statues had their heads cut off by the Burmese (who are also Buddhist??!!).  The Thais think that's why Myanmar (Burma) is such an awful place to live - they are paying the price of their nastiness.

After that (and this is the really naughty bit >:-)!) I went on an elephant ride – fabulous animals ;D.  I loved it and even managed to sit on the seat without my doughnut!  The people who run the thing, milk you all the way through – 400 to ride, 50 to feed them, 100 to take a picture of you with you phone .... then the elephant holds out its trunk at the end asking for a tip!  However, it was an experience of a lifetime which I wouldn't have missed for the world.  Then we went off to an elephant farm/sanctuary.  Oh, they are such beautiful creatures :angel:.  The place had five or so babies less than 6 months old who just wanted to play and be fed (50/basket of cucumbers!).  Honestly, you can't resist feeding and playing with them, you can get right up close and they wrap their trunk around your hand and try and pull you past the fence to be with them.  They climb all over each other and if you have food they are all, including the mothers, trying to get your attention.  But they were gentle and lovely.  I ended up doubling my costs for the day because I just had to donate to their home – the people there look after 200 elephants.  One bit of advice, if you go there, take some wet-wipes because after you've been with them your hands have been stroking them as well as being held and wrapped by their trunks and it's not as if there's nice sanitary facilities everywhere!

We got back to the hotel around 5.30 after leaving the elephants about 4pm, so a pretty long time in the car because the traffic is so bad.  It was only when I got back that I suddenly wondered whether Nurse Sri was due to visit me again today – if so I missed that!  Either way, if you get the chance, I would highly recommend you taking the trip up there, it was a really fabulous day and Winai was good company.

Thanks Susan!

I'll put that trip on my list.

LOL Sasha
Really?  You must be healing well girl  thats awesome
Keri

Hi!

I think you may be able to give me some guidance with this.  I will have a girlfriend coming over to help me with my post op care.  She will arrive about a day B4 I get discharged from the hospital.  Did you have any problems clearing her for access to your room at the "Vertical Suites" before your returned from surgery.

Thanks!

Hi Joi,

No problem with VS, just told them Fran was due to come so they were expecting her.  She also arrived the day before I was discharged.  When I got back from the clinic they put a second bed in the apartment for her.  They said that it would incur an extra charge of Baht 1,100/day, but they didn't actually end up putting that on my bill for some reason.

Good luck!

Susan

Thanks Susan!

Hope you're doing well!  I'm fine just trying to wrap up loose ends.
For some reason, I thought that the suites at the "Vertical" would have 2 beds in each room.  Oh well!

BTW, went to see the movie "The Danish Girl" last night with a gaggle of friends, cis women, trans women & trans men.
It's well worth seeing.  Bring tissues!

Still haven't made contact with anyone that will be there at the same time as I will.  30 days & counting - :)

Hugz!

Hi Joi,
I am hoping to see DR. Chettawut next September for my surgery, but am very concerned that my age,69, and having had a mild stroke a few years ago, he might not accept me from surgery. Hope you don't mind me asking: you have said you are having your surgery in hospital, rather than the clinic, is this arranged for you by the clinic, and does it add very much to the cost? Very best wishes for January, I'm so jealous I'm going to have to lie down in a darkened room.....

Hi Jane!

When I initiated my search for the right surgeon to perform my surgery, I had hopes that I could use "Medicare" + my supplemental policy to pay for the operation.  I quickly learned at that time (which was just earlier this yr.) that there were no surgeons in the US that accepted Medicare.

Having followed the results and surgeons performing the surgery worldwide for over 20 yrs., I knew that the Thai surgeons (from whose expertise many of the US surgeons learned their trade) had been perfecting the surgical techniques for the past 40 yrs. or more.  After careful review, I narrowed my choice down to either Chettawut or Suporn. When I contacted Suporn's office I learned that he does not accept patients above the age of 65.  Thus, I chose Chettawut.

I initiated the scheduling process in early June and told them I wanted a date in Jan.'16.  Having turned 68 this month, I knew that I was on a short fuse to qualify for the surgery regardless of my physical condition.  I have heard, but I can't confirm, that Chett's cut-off age is 70.

You need to be prepared to submit extensive medical documentation, apart from the standard docs. required. This will include labs, x-rays, echocardiograms, stress tests, letters from Dr.'s who have treated you for any significant surgeries or conditions that attest to your full recovery. Once received, and provided the initial findings confirm your suitability for surgery, they will provide a "tentative" date for your procedure.  This date will be confirmed upon receipt of your down payment.  In addition, all of the tests will have to be repeated roughly 60 days before your surgery date in order to confirm that there have been no changes.

I'm sorry for your heart issue and I have no idea how it may impact your acceptance for surgery.  I am fortunate that I have never experienced any cardiac issues.  Nonetheless, although all of my tests have turned out fine, Chett. is still requiring that my surgery be performed at a hospital (no doubt because of my age).  Although this will cost about 2 grand more I appreciate his cautious approach (and really don't have a choice at this point).

Hope this helps!

Hugz,

Joi 

Hi Susan,

I have just spent an hour or so chatting with Khong while she sorted my suite out.  She asked that I send you a big HAPPY NEW YEAR and said to tell you she misses you!

She was surprised I understood what she meant when she said Disney instead of Sydney and was blown away when I explained that Susan had mentioned it.

So nice to be able to make that connection.

I hope everything is going well for you.

Emma

Awwww I love this thread,
Happy New Year to all you girls,
Keri

Hey All,

Keep the news coming. Emma, I do so hope everything is going well post op and I'm very glad you got Khong as company!

Quick update my side, flight back was no hardship, getting back into dilation proved to me the fact that if you're not regular things begin to close up a bit. It was a little harder, but was back to normal after the first one back. Moved up to number three with very little extra discomfort - pretty much the same as when I started with 1 and then introduced 2. Within a few times, it feels absolutely normal and 1 is a breeze 😋😋.

I've just got off a flight from London to sydney - 24h+ with no dilation - started again and, just like before, a little bit harder at first but now it's fine (just finishing off 30 mins with my no.3 as I write this!!).  So all of you about to or just had SRS, don't worry too much about dilation and moving up the numbers, it's not nearly as bad as you might imagine it to be 😬

Happy New Year to everybody,

Susan

Hi Susan, love  your detailed recount  of your experience, with my gcs on the 20th it was especially interesting. I too visited Chettawut and Suporn and agree with your summary. However, I opted for a more luxurious option that catered to my life style, including 5 star accommodations and private nurses, plus I will have  my personal assistant as my quality control and errands. Also, my research has shown that the top surgeons are basically all similar. I will be using  PAI with my ffs, gcs, and ba because they have a clinic that matches those in LA and they use a quality hospital. Plus Dr Preecha is the teacher of Suporn and Chettawut. I will have 2 teams of surgeons, Dr Preecha will head up the ffs and Dr Sutin the gcs.

I was freaking out with the recovery, as my friend just had her gcs in Melbourne and she was in agony. So your story was reassuring, I needed that.

I also know Thailand very well and have been a developer in Phuket and Bangkok. I opted to live in Bangkok for a year following my surgery and maybe longer,  my family is from Hong Kong. I just feel so much at ease here.

Thank you so much for sharing,  it has been very interesting and helpful.

Many thanks for posting your experience!

It has been really helpful to me and I will come back here often to consult many practical things!

Kisses and hugs!

Thank you so much for a wonderful overview Susan!
I'm currently accompanying a friend (she's got her consult tomorrow), so am reading up on anything I can do to lend a hand.

I'm searching for MonkeyMels post on things to eat and am not having much luck. Would it be possible to have it linked?

Hi All,

So glad that the thread seems to be giving a few of you some help and a little confidence in what's to come. I found the same thing with MonkeyMel's account and hope that I was able to add a few more bits of experience that were worthwhile.

MonkeyMel's story (https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,169918.0.html) talks about what food she eat in various of her posts. She was a lot braver than me - she went off eating the local Thai food before she started the starvation diet. That's something I wasn't going to do because I didn't like the possible risk of going down with something so I stayed real conventional!

One other thing I should probably mention is that the initial advice is use loads of lube gel. I was doing that but found that it was everywhere (well, not quite "everywhere", but you can work out where!!) when I finished plus I was almost getting through a tube every day or so. I've cut it down significantly, I just make sure the whole dilator is covered, and its fine (and less costly!!). KY is also a lot more runny and, I find, easier to use than the gel they give you when you come out of the clinic.

Good luck to you all about to embark on the journey!

Susan

Hi lovely ladies, i only just came across this post and couldn't take my eyes off it until i got through the entire thing.

I just have a question regarding depth, that i'm almost embarrassed to ask because it may sound silly. but i've read that a cis vagina during sex stretches when the woman is arroused.... is this the same case for trans women post op?

I'm asking, because i also am considering dr chett. i had my heart set on dr suporn, but his waiting list is too long. i cannot handle the gender disphoria i experience due to my current situation too much longer.

I have actually had buttocks implants with dr chettawut in the past and the results are amazing. i am just worried if i go to him for my srs he may not be able to give me atleast 6 inches of depth, and it seems that dr suporn has greater success regarding that part of the surgery.

thanks for your help ladies

chloe

Chole, if i was you i will stick to what i know. Dr chettwaut is amazing i had srs with him this past year and i was super nervous about depth. he asked me what i wanted... i told him 6 but ill be happy even with 5!! well he truly did his best like he said and deliver and gave me 6 inches and im very please! i couldn't deal with the one year waiting for suporn so i chosen Chettawut and got it done within 5 months of my desired month. good luck to you. i do have a question for you about your butt surgey with chett if u reply.

Thanks for the response butterfly lover. It was much appreciated. I think I just get soooo wrapped up by the few bad reviews, my anxiety takes over and I only concentrate on those. Forgetting all the good ones.

Yes sure, you can ask anything. I'm an open book :)


Chloe

Quote from: bamar86 on January 10, 2016, 05:36:09 AM
Hi lovely ladies, i only just came across this post and couldn't take my eyes off it until i got through the entire thing.

I just have a question regarding depth, that i'm almost embarrassed to ask because it may sound silly. but i've read that a cis vagina during sex stretches when the woman is arroused.... is this the same case for trans women post op?

I'm asking, because i also am considering dr chett. i had my heart set on dr suporn, but his waiting list is too long. i cannot handle the gender disphoria i experience due to my current situation too much longer.

I have actually had buttocks implants with dr chettawut in the past and the results are amazing. i am just worried if i go to him for my srs he may not be able to give me atleast 6 inches of depth, and it seems that dr suporn has greater success regarding that part of the surgery.

thanks for your help ladies

chloe

6 inches of depth seems to be the norm with Chet. I too got 6 inches from him. I didn't think I would get that much depth because I read he had problems getting adequate depth with girls who had a lot of anal sex, & me being 23 with a high sex drive & extremely sexually active lifestyle didn't help that claim. But needless to say I got 6inches of depth & he never mentioned it being problematic to achieve.

Quote from: bamar86 on January 11, 2016, 07:39:02 AM
Thanks for the response butterfly lover. It was much appreciated. I think I just get soooo wrapped up by the few bad reviews, my anxiety takes over and I only concentrate on those. Forgetting all the good ones.

Yes sure, you can ask anything. I'm an open book :)


Chloe

Hey Chloe, Yeah i know what you mean. its always the bad review that make us worried. But then every surgeon has good and bad review & every surgery is at risk for complication.
how much was butt implant, how long did you stayed? you can PM me.

Thanks girl

Princess Baby,

I also had alot of anal sex and was surprised i got 6 inches of depth due to what everyone talking about it on here. this just prove that you will never know cause everyone is diff.

interesting bout anal sex being a cause of concern when it comes to srs (and this is not the colon srs).... why would anal sex a factor in the depth of the neoVagina ? first time hearing this ... i have sailed a thousand ships (madonna true blue lol) ;D

Quote from: TinaVane on February 09, 2016, 05:48:30 AM
interesting bout anal sex being a cause of concern when it comes to srs (and this is not the colon srs).... why would anal sex a factor in the depth of the neoVagina ? first time hearing this ... i have sailed a thousand ships (madonna true blue lol) ;D

I believe I've seen quite a few posts where Dr Chett says that's why people don't get good depth. Not sure I've heard of it associated it with anyone else.

Quote from: sashaburn on December 15, 2015, 05:23:04 AM
Day 27, Tuesday 15th December.  Naughty News! >:-)

Last night Tea (as in Ti-a), David and I went out to dinner on a river cruise.  It was actually a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I'd advise it because I ended up dancing on the top deck to the band which was not a "recommended" thing to do!  We booked the whole thing through a local driver/guide that Tea found called Winai and I booked him for today to take me on a tour.  He charges the same for two as he does for one – Baht 2,000 for the day, but he's very nice, speaks pretty decent English and very helpful.  If someone wants to use him, you can get him on his mobile 08-3983-3360 and he's always happy to take our money!

So he picked me up at 8am this morning which meant getting up early after a late night and getting dilation out of the way which was a bit of pain.  He insisted on an early start because of the traffic. It took just over an hour to drive to the King's Grand Palace.  You also pay everything that's extra including tolls – 100B each way – and entry fees for yourself and him – another couple of hundred (not a big deal).  It costs much less for a Thai to get a ticket so its really worth bringing him with you, especially if you're on your own, because he shows you around and takes lots of photos for you and of you with your camera (and take a camera!).  Oh, I should also add that there is a dress code for the Palace - you're not allowed to show your knees (so trousers or a dress below the knees) or your shoulders (so a T-shirt or a scarf/shawl which you can buy when you're there for 100B). The tour round the Grand Palace was great – beautiful place – then we went across the river to the Buddhist temple.

After that we headed over to Ayutthaya (full name Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya) which was the ancient capital city of Thailand ransacked by the Burmese in the 1700s – it's beautiful, intriguing and sad because it has fallen apart and all the Buddha statues had their heads cut off by the Burmese (who are also Buddhist??!!).  The Thais think that's why Myanmar (Burma) is such an awful place to live - they are paying the price of their nastiness.

After that (and this is the really naughty bit >:-)!) I went on an elephant ride – fabulous animals ;D.  I loved it and even managed to sit on the seat without my doughnut!  The people who run the thing, milk you all the way through – 400 to ride, 50 to feed them, 100 to take a picture of you with you phone .... then the elephant holds out its trunk at the end asking for a tip!  However, it was an experience of a lifetime which I wouldn't have missed for the world.  Then we went off to an elephant farm/sanctuary.  Oh, they are such beautiful creatures :angel:.  The place had five or so babies less than 6 months old who just wanted to play and be fed (50/basket of cucumbers!).  Honestly, you can't resist feeding and playing with them, you can get right up close and they wrap their trunk around your hand and try and pull you past the fence to be with them.  They climb all over each other and if you have food they are all, including the mothers, trying to get your attention.  But they were gentle and lovely.  I ended up doubling my costs for the day because I just had to donate to their home – the people there look after 200 elephants.  One bit of advice, if you go there, take some wet-wipes because after you've been with them your hands have been stroking them as well as being held and wrapped by their trunks and it's not as if there's nice sanitary facilities everywhere!

We got back to the hotel around 5.30 after leaving the elephants about 4pm, so a pretty long time in the car because the traffic is so bad.  It was only when I got back that I suddenly wondered whether Nurse Sri was due to visit me again today – if so I missed that!  Either way, if you get the chance, I would highly recommend you taking the trip up there, it was a really fabulous day and Winai was good company.

OMG Sasha I leave in a few days for Thailand.. I want to do the elephant thing.. I would like to do it ahead of time but if I could pull that off right before I leave that would be so cool to get pics of.. LOL.. Like I can't believe you did that
Also you were going to put together a list of must take.. did you do that.
Love
Keri

Hi! Sorry for the late reply. I remember paying around 4000 aud when I got my butt implants. But that was a few years ago. So I don't know how much the price has changed.

Removed my GCS ticker this morning!  I'm officially a post op girl now.  Been back a little over a week.   About 30 days post op.  Chett was great! Results are fine and will likely get better over time.  As an added benefit, I got a discounted upper lip lift and was one of the lucky ones that didn't need an additional skin graft and have to pay an additional fee.  I brought the money in Thai Baht just in case and used it to get some really nice "bling" at the malls across from my hotel!  Beautiful jewelry in Thailand!

Only complaint was a reluctance by the nurse providing daily check ups to provide additional pain meds (other than Tylenol)  It's not like I was expecting oxycontin or something.  They finally got the message though.  The tramadol really helps with the dilation especially as you move to the larger diameter stents.

Will be glad to offer perspectives on my experiences as I continue to recover.

Hugz to All!

Joi   

Congratulations Ms Joi  😊😊
I am really happy for you and looking forward for new posts .

xoxo

So happy for you Joi,
Hard to believe it seems like yesterday you were going and I was not far behind you.
I go home in about 13 days..yay
Love you and I am eating those chocolate treats you left me... Yum
Keri

Hey Joi, Keri and everyone,

Really good to hear that your ops went well and I wish you all the very best with it continuing to be positive and that it brings you happiness!

Keri, I'm sorry I didn't respond, but did you find the packing/to do list that I wrote in one of my earlier posts?  And, more importantly, did you get to ride the elephants?!!

Joi, very happy you came through it all well - that was a major thing for you and I hope you didn't stress too much.

Don't know if this will help anyone with the dilation schedule at all, but I've now been on number 4 dilator for about a month.  Every new one (which you'll already have experienced at least once I expect) was always uncomfortable the first time, but pretty quickly became dead easy.  Until I got to number 4!  OMG that's so huge!!  I found that it was VERY uncomfortable and difficult to get in, although I couldn't describe it as painful.  Even now about a month after I started with it I have to do it gently.  Once it's in, it's fine and not uncomfortable.  Bad confession here - I was out partying a week or so ago, didn't start dilation until around 2.30am when I got back, managed to get through the first three 5 minute ones (1+2+3), started the number 4 close to 3am and then ...... woke up around 6 with it still nicely tucked away!!

Big hugs and warm wishes to everyone,

Susan

Quote from: AnonyMs on February 09, 2016, 09:12:24 AM
I believe I've seen quite a few posts where Dr Chett says that's why people don't get good depth. Not sure I've heard of it associated it with anyone else.

The issue is called adhesions.
Its like scar like or web like tissue, connecting organs.
One possible reason but not the only one is anal sex.

Some thai surgeons abandon pursuing depth when they encounter this.
You might talk beforehand about this ... like saying you want to take the risk and rather have depth if thats what you want ... or giving a bonus for more work necesary ... you might talk about it with them and get educated on risk and what you want.


*hugs*

Quote from: sashaburn on March 16, 2016, 02:53:56 PM
Hey Joi, Keri and everyone,

Really good to hear that your ops went well and I wish you all the very best with it continuing to be positive and that it brings you happiness!

Keri, I'm sorry I didn't respond, but did you find the packing/to do list that I wrote in one of my earlier posts?  And, more importantly, did you get to ride the elephants?!!

Joi, very happy you came through it all well - that was a major thing for you and I hope you didn't stress too much.

Don't know if this will help anyone with the dilation schedule at all, but I've now been on number 4 dilator for about a month.  Every new one (which you'll already have experienced at least once I expect) was always uncomfortable the first time, but pretty quickly became dead easy.  Until I got to number 4!  OMG that's so huge!!  I found that it was VERY uncomfortable and difficult to get in, although I couldn't describe it as painful.  Even now about a month after I started with it I have to do it gently.  Once it's in, it's fine and not uncomfortable.  Bad confession here - I was out partying a week or so ago, didn't start dilation until around 2.30am when I got back, managed to get through the first three 5 minute ones (1+2+3), started the number 4 close to 3am and then ...... woke up around 6 with it still nicely tucked away!!

Big hugs and warm wishes to everyone,

Susan

Hey girl no worries.. I did ok without the list... I have been home since March 15th.. and have been totally wiped out.. not sure why.. could be all the other distractions that affect you when we get home like work.

Anyway no elephant ride.. I was late getting there due to plane delay and then after surgery Dr just kinda laughed and said three months before I could go.

I am very happy with my results.. over 7 inch depth and I never experienced any pain at all.. in fact took only a couple pain meds after surgery..

I sure did not want to leave.. loved the people I met and also the locals I did get to know.

I also got spoiled on room service and a house keeper.. LOL.. back to the real world now.

Keri