Twelve days post-surgery, this is my second day home. Generally I feel ecstatically happy and well. Specifically I feel sore and with limited energy.
Yesterday – my first day home – was a little rough. Even though I just sat in the car for seven hours, that and the excitement of being home wore me out. I lay for a while with ice between my legs – something I hadn't done since leaving the hospital.
Still, I was able to drive myself around on several errands. (I live in a small town. I don't think I'd be ready to drive in a city.) I can bend enough to put sox on easily, although picking up something off the floor can take some maneuvering. I can usually find a comfortable sitting position if the seat is at all padded. I've put a folded small towel on the few seats that are hard surfaces. I had some visitors, but I'm not up to going out to meet people away from my home yet. I have a lunch date today and will go if I feel up to it, taking my folded hand towel.
(The nurse who gave me the Vaginas 101 lecture said not to sit on the donut after the packing was removed because it would force the center stuff down. I'd just paid big bucks for a vagina. I don't want it prolapsed.)
The worst of the bruising is gone and a fair amount of the swelling has reduced. I find myself walking like an old woman but expect to do better as my energy returns. Several people have assured me that I still have some of the effects of the anesthetic in my system. That seems odd to me but would explain part of how I feel.
Learning to pee has been interesting. The sensations are different, and sometimes I can't tell if I have to go or not. And sometimes I have a little trouble getting started – relaxing the right muscles – but I've never gone inadvertently. I am starting to develop a stream.
I've found dilation to be fairly easy and not at all messy. I have some limited pain sometimes, but mainly once I get my little friend started properly and relax the right muscles, it goes pretty well. I lost about a quarter inch of depth by not dilating on the trip home, but I'm not concerned. Tomorrow I "graduate" to the next size dilator.
I usually take one or two over-the-counter ibuprofens just before bed but nothing during the day.
I took a whole mess of things to Trinidad I didn't need. I'll post a list of what I needed and didn't need sometime in the next few days.
I have been amazed at how fast the recovery goes. Two days post-op I was ready for someone to just shoot me. A day later I was happily walking up and down the halls. A few days later I was slowly exploring Trinidad. I think that now, however, the pace will slow as the last bits heal and strengthen.
This has been a wonderful adventure, full of pain and hope. So far I have found it impossible to describe what it means to me. Suffice it to say: I get to be a girl for the rest of my life! *giggle*
- Kate
Edit: Screwed up the title. It'll take a while to get back into the swing.
Congrats K8! Glad to see you are doing well!
Hi Kate
Great to hear from you and that you are recoverying well!! :)
Thanks for sharing, Kate! Glad you're back!! I was wondering when you'd return! :D
Congrats Kate, Sending you well wishes on your journey to a full recovery!
Hi Kate! So glad to see you up and around and back with us! Yes you must take care of those new parts :laugh:
Congrats Kate, welcome home!!!
Remember to take it easy and don't push yourself too much. It's healing time.
I am so happy for you. You have crossed the border. You need to take extra care, because of your age and the stress of surgery. But you will be back up there and fighting in no time. ;D
Congratuation, K8.
As you seem to happier now, all would be fine despite such pains.
And, that is a realm that I will never reach in my life.
Barbie~~
Congrs Hun ;D
Welcome back. I have missed seeing you around here. I'm real glad things went and are going well for you.
Yaaaaay!!! Kate's back
Congrats and best wishes to heal well :)
Quote from: Valeriedances on May 05, 2010, 11:00:36 AM
I'm still trying to find the right depth and pressure. I seem to have lost depth, but I think it is more that the swelling has gone down greatly. Measuring from the side, it seems I lost 1/2" at least ...possibly a little more. But logic tells me it's the swelling of the labia that confuses the measuring.
Another thing I am trying to learn is how much pressure to bear. I want as much depth as possible, so I am tempted to stretch the wall and keep pressure. But that is not good I think.
Maybe our dilators are differnt. I use two different sizes. #1 is easy. #2 is tight and I can't go quite as deep.
My dilators are from Soul Source and have permanent dots every half inch along the top. I measure from my clitoral hood, so I don't think the swelling does anything.
The few times I've applied a little extra pressure to try to stretch it deeper, I've regretted it. It is what it is. When I hit bottom I apply just enough pressure to keep it there – any more and it is painful and I get blood on the tip.
It's interesting to me that you use more than one dilator during a session. I'm using Junior now (1¼"). Tomorrow I will start using the next size (1⅜") and won't use Junior any more unless I need to regain lost ground. The carrying pouch has four pockets, but I only got the three larger dilators. (I put the gel in the other pocket.)
I still have a little bruising but far less than before. The swelling of the mons is much reduced. Most of the swelling seems to be in the labia. The perineum has a nickel-sized bruise but is otherwise clear, which helps with sitting comfort. The knot at the fourchette pokes me, as it has since I began sitting up, but it is more manageable than it was.
Today is better than yesterday. Perhaps tomorrow will be better than today.
- Kate
I didn't get the purple one. Sometimes getting the blue one (Junior) started can take a little work, but once started he slides right in with steady light pressure.
Yes. In all things be gentle with yourself, particularly now. :icon_flower:
*hugs*
Kate
Welcome back Kate! And yes, you now get to be a girl forever! That to me sounds like a great honor and joy. Many of us will be making our own progress coming behind you. But it sounds like you gals are having way to much fun with the insertables! ::) Just kidding! And very jealous! >:-)
SusanKG
It's great to see you again and hear how well you're doing. I'm glad everything went well.
How long does the anesthesia have an effect? I was taking regular naps for a few weeks after my top surgery, but I'm assuming that I just had a huge shock to the system. I tend to recover slowly. I'm a real manly man, I am. :P
:DHi all , im really having mixed fellings ive sat with Dr.Meltzer and had a consultation and i am ready to have my SRS and am soooo confused as to weather i should go with him or Dr. Bowers please help
YAY!!
Kate is back!! :icon_bunch: I'm so happy to hear you are doing, seemingly, exceedingly well. Of course I'm also just a tad jealous, but more happy. OH, and you also Valerie, you both sound so happy.
Its funny while I was reading your reports, I got to wondering if (when ever I get there) I would have any bruising after surgery. I have never had a bruise. I don't bruise for some strange/odd reason. But I have wondered if HRT and the changes in skin texture/thickness/whatever would have an effect on that? I have never known/met anyone who has never bruised, so I'm sure finding someone who is transitioning would have such experience. (I'm strange, I know, and proud).
Sorry to highjack, but I easily digress. Back to your regularly scheduled Kate Praise. Welcome home again. Take care and heal well.
Deanna
Dear K8
I am sorry that I missed your big event. However, I would like to say congratulations on the success of your surgery and I hope you are as contented as I was when I had my surgery.
Welcome to the other side of the fence and I wish you all the happiness, best wishes for the future and take real good care of yourself.
Kindest regards
Sarah B
Quote from: Suigeniris on May 05, 2010, 10:58:18 PM
:DHi all , im really having mixed fellings ive sat with Dr.Meltzer and had a consultation and i am ready to have my SRS and am soooo confused as to weather i should go with him or Dr. Bowers please help
Hi Suigeniris. Welcome to the forum. Last I knew, Bowers had a waiting list of almost a year. She is also leaving Trinidad in August. I'm not sure what her new arrangement will be, although I think she will set up shop in San Diego. Did you feel comfortable with Meltzer?
Deanna: My whole pelvic area was bruised at one point, hip to hip and from just below my navel to my anus. Maybe, dear, finding out whether you'll bruise would be just another reason to get surgery. ;) (I was telling my daughter I wanted the surgery so that my pants would fit properly. She replied, drolly, "I hope you had other reasons, too.")
- Kate
Quote from: K8 on May 05, 2010, 08:56:27 AM
I get to be a girl for the rest of my life! *giggle*
-
Thats the best bit Kate, its worth all the pain and effort to finally be the girl you where always ment to be, its gets better over time as you heal, you are now a complete woman, best wishes.
p
Hi Kate,
I am so glad to see that everything is going well for you and that you are at home and safe.
Randi
Hi Kate
Welcome home.
Hugs
Cindy
Welcome back, Kate. Heal well. :)