My friend had her surgery three weeks ago - in super expensive clinic with good reputation - but she is really upset to find that surgeon seems to have removed all the small scrotum and penis - she had macro set - rather than using the scrotum skin to make inner lips. 
Then he took a section of colon to make the lining but she says it looks as though the colon comes right to front of opening and is a red mess.

I say give it time to settle and perhaps shrink and maybe the end result will be a lot better.

The cut colon didn't seal properly and leaked into abdomen and gave her infection.
Then outer edge stitches came out.

So now she is depressed.

Just shows how things can go wrong and how it is essential to keep plenty of scrotum and penis skin.

Ouch. That seems like a nasty surprise. Did she go through all the details with surgeon before the operation?

But you're right, three weeks is hardly time for it to settle down. Your friend needs to give it a few months at a bare minimum.

That sounds really traumatic. I'm not familiar with the M to F surgeries, but the tissues you are mentioning are all sensitive, swell easily and can take a while to heal. Any patient should be able to ask their surgeon if the results they observe after surgery are within normal limits.

Much as we would like to think that surgeons always get it right, there will always be situations that are beyond their control. Sutures breaking down before they are supposed to, infections and some other problems are always a possibility no matter how careful the surgeon.

I imagine your friend is not only upset but frightened as well. Since we are all individuals, not everyone will have the same results. She can probably really use your support and willingness to listen to her fears. I hope things turn out ok for her.

sam1234

I'm not that familiar with that technique, having had penile inversion from Dr. Brassard.  I can say that it takes a long while to heal from GRS, period.  Hopefully everything will be ok when she heals, but it may be weeks or months more before she looks anything like she will at 1 year +>

Three  weeks  out,  I  looked  like  someone  took  a  dull  hatchet  and  had  a  go  at  my  crotch. 3  weeks  is 10  times  worse  then  a  week  after  surgery,  thats  the  time  frame  when  skin  is  deep  black  and  purple,  cuts  are  swollen  and  red,  and  that  surface  layer  of  skin  starts  to  die  and  'sloth'  off  in  chunks. 

i  really  think  the  new  girls  need  to  see  a  timeline  of  photos.  a  week  apart.  out  to  say  6  months.    perhaps  if  someone  knows  of  one  online,  a  link  in  here  or  in  resources  would  be  a  good  idea.
  it  might  set  some  minds  at  ease  if  they  could  see  the  amazing  ability  of  our  body  to  heal,  in  a  time  line  of  images.   
  to  the  infection  and  such.  not  accusing,  BUT,  i  know  of  no  surgery,  that  upon  being  released,  the  person  is  not  sent  home  with  massive  antibiotic  treatments,  especialy  in  such  a  germ  prone  area  where  both  urine  and  feces  are  present  within  a  inch  or  two.   again,  this  lends  to  choosing  a  surgon  that  is  accessable,  both  via  phone  and  internet,  and  in  a  reasonable travel  distance.  Issues  do  happen,  and  having  the  ability  to  return  to  the  surgon  that  did  the  work  seems  a  critical  aspect  in  these  regards. 
  note,  that  Dr  E.  Schrang  was  a  14  hour  drive  from  Va.  my  home  area.  I  went  on  one  occasion  to  the  local  hospital,  with  concerns,   in  my  case,  at  that  point  my  results  looked  nothing  like  what  i  had  expected. { refer  to  my  3  week  explanation.}   a  phone  call  to E. Schrang,  while  in  the  examination  room, ,  and i  was  assured  it  would  improve. 
  E.  Schrang  was  not  known  for  bedside  manner.  his  words  were  streight  and  to  the  point. 
  'Get  the  hell  out  of  that  hospital  and  get  home.   Dont  let  them  touch  you.   do  what  i  say,  nothing  more.  relax  and  give  it  time." 
  time  passed,  results  became  impressive,  6  months  i  returned  for  step  2,  .... 

lilredneckgirl : I agree about the healing timeline photos (I wish I'd taken some!); that would have been tremendously reassuring for me.

But by 3 weeks out everything was largely healed for me... the swelling took literally years to go away, but all the stitches and bruising were gone and I only had one small raw/chafed patch that wasn't quite healed up.  I never had the skin sloughing off, either, except for some tiny little bits inside (like chapped lips flaking, not "chunks"). By about 2 months I could definitely see what it would all look like once it was settled, though I was impressed by how the fine details appeared as swelling went down. Brassard warns not to expect an idea of the final results until 4 months, so I was jumping the gun. On the other hand, he also says it'll be at its final state and looks at the one-year mark - and for me it took probably 2-2.5 years.

As for the OP, I'd be shocked and *furious* if I woke up to find I'd had colon surgery without knowing or giving permission first!!

Friend is in deep trouble.

Op surgery made a  fistula so excreta came out of vagina - but I did tell her not to eat for several days after surgery so as not to need to empty bowel.- then the bowel stapling has leaked so she is also draining into her abdomen.

So had another op this Saturday and now has a colostomy bag or one from small intestine same thing.
Has to have it for seeral weeks to give colon chnace to heal and clean and then another op to reconnect small to large intestine.

Good job her Health Service is picking up the mega bill.

What a shame. May she heal swiftly and completely.

I'm 5 months post op now and my vaginas swelling we t down extremely. It does not take a month or 3 for it to look tight and in place but I see mine is slowly falling into place so maybe around the 9th month or 7th month, it'll look tighter outside.

My Dr was Chettawut  in thailand. He did a wonderful job and after all the healing I still have 6 inches of depth (used to be 7). Hope your friend will be ok and hope the Dr will fix the terror he's caused.

Oh that hurts to hear as I unfortunately know how it is to have a fistula, colostomy and all that comes with it...
All the strength to her - and it will be better, it will heal and it is not the end!

With me, took 6 months to see the final results.

My surgeon did very little stitching. He used some kind of glue for most incisions. He didn't need to remove stitches, and the scars are essentially glued together leaving very little visible, only a white line. The only thing that needed stitches were clitoris and the lining of the canal. I didn't see any stitches, only two small clear wires around the clitoris.

Maybe every surgeon has different technique. I don't know.