I'm finally on the path to GRS and I could probably do it in a year or year and a half. I've thought about it since puberty and its always there. I use to think of the incredible drastic nature of the operation which made me think quite hard about its necessity, Now that I've live a good chunk of my life with the wrong equipment I'm viewing the operation quite differently, plus the fact that I'm able to afford it now. I'm scared, but given the amount of time I'm spent on this planet and the amount of possible time left the fear has greatly subsided.

Excellent question.

Okay, as at may 2015: 

I don't feel like I presently need the outcome of being the right shape - I get by just fine.

I am hesitant to have unnecessary (major) surgery in general. Surgeons these days are amazing, but it always has an element of risk.

I didn't NEED to get SRS. I was OK having a male bottom, but I decided that life isn't about being OK. Life is about experience and to me the experience of having a female bottom was worth the risks and costs of surgery.

I was too surgically experienced to have second thoughts.   My mate has had around 20 surgeries, I'd had around 8, and I worked in an operating room, witnessed countless surgeries.

When the last barriers to GRS were removed, my feeling was "Bring it on!"

I'm completely okay with it. So much work was done down there in the first place that one more surgery isn't that big of deal except that if finally makes me whole for once. Hugs
Mariah

I'm fine with top surgery and working toward getting it done. Bottom surgery, not so much. I'd like to have it, but I worry about the rate of complications, which is very high, in relation to my age, which isn't quite "very high" but getting there. I also have concerns about general anesthesia, which does Bad Things to our brains as we get older, not to mention its other risks.

It's just a fact that we don't heal as well as we get older, and I'm not sure I want that level of risk. On the other hand, I've never had any surgery before, so I'll see how I do with top surgery -- if I sail through it with no complications and not too much scarring, I may well reconsider.

well, there' been a few people in the news in the last few years that have had the surgery after age 70 , so that lessen my concerns . the surgeon doing mine did someone last January who was 75.

I'm just glad I wasn't born 100 years ago before it was even an option.  Apparently I had a great uncle who was intersex and/or trans, and according to my grandma he led a lonely and depressing existence.  So I really appreciate the options we have today.

I have my concerns, and I am not completely sure I absolutely need it but I recently learned there is a chance I can get it atleast partially covered by insurance which took the whole idea from, impossible to something that could happen. After thinking about it I realized that if I could get it and decided to wait and in doing so lost the ability to have it covered I would never be able to forgive myself.

Then I started thinking about how getting a new vagina it's like getting a new puppy, at first it's just a mess sure you love it but it's a lot of work and maintenance, and if you don't treat it right terrible things can happen, but if you give it love and train it right, you will have a friend for life, as long as you can deal with the early stage where it keeps ruining your cloths and sheets. 

--Serena

It is a fantastic experience to be a woman down there.

I never let my fears allow to guide me through such important descisions. I am pretty sure I would regret that later. And I only have this one life.

I wish for it pretty much daily. 
Every time I get out of the shower and see it I wish for it. 

Fear of surgery?  nope.  Not for a moment. 
Then again, I don't have it yet nor is it scheduled.  That may change things a little, but I doubt it.

Quote from: Tysilio on May 07, 2015, 09:55:39 PM
I'm fine with top surgery and working toward getting it done. Bottom surgery, not so much. I'd like to have it, but I worry about the rate of complications, which is very high, in relation to my age, which isn't quite "very high" but getting there. I also have concerns about general anesthesia, which does Bad Things to our brains as we get older, not to mention its other risks.

It's just a fact that we don't heal as well as we get older, and I'm not sure I want that level of risk. On the other hand, I've never had any surgery before, so I'll see how I do with top surgery -- if I sail through it with no complications and not too much scarring, I may well reconsider.

I share your concerns and sense of adapting as needed and successful.  I spent 33 years in surgical and obstetrical suites providing anesthesia for thousands of surgeries.  Unfortunately i don't have to imagine how serious the complications can be and to also know how resilient we are and how wonderful success and recovery can feel.  Once we do make the decision to proceed we are better off to get in the best of health and go in with a very positive attitude.  Imagine the best outcome and point your headlights in that direction.

Early in transition, it was a must, and something that I obsessed about with no worries, and I'd obsessed about it ever since puberty when it started feeling wrong in the first place.

Now that I'm at the point of transition where it's actually REAL, where I'm only about 10 months of savings away from really being able to afford it in real life, trust me, my mind is going into panic mode making sure I really know what the hell I'm doing.

I'm only 29 years old. I feel like maybe if I was older, maybe if I'd lived life more and had more experiences I'd be a bit more sure, but as is, it's a very serious permanent decision. It's a bit of a tug-of-war between genital dysphoria and the phantom sensations that come with it, and the fears of the unknown, worrying about complications, worrying that it won't be what I'm imagining, worrying that I'll somehow be one of those people who one day "wakes up" and realizes that it wasn't the right answer, that true transition is impossible, any number of other things.

The recovery and the dilation also has me worried.

Right now I'm of the mindset of "scared, but it probably needs to be done."

I don't like being in hospital. But for me to be rid of what is currently between my legs and remodel it into girly bits is really important. And I am willing to do what ever it takes. Fortunantly my mum is a nurse, so I will be getting the best aftercare possible.

As time goes on and more research and breakthroughs are made, surgeons developing new skills/techniques, the results are only going to get better.

I suppose the only thing thats going to bother me is I'm a very physically active person and I love riding bikes and skateboarding, so I worry about two things both post op. Trying to go back to my normal hobby of skatepark shenanigans too soon and tearing something, or months later when it's all healed pulling scar tissue or something when I end up doing the splits.

Yeah.... I'm that stubborn. A week after being in the hospital for two days last year with internal bleeding and broken stuff from a wreck at the skatepark I was back at it, albeit a lot slower since it hurt so much. Maybe by the time I have GRS I won't be so reckless but no guarantees.

None at all. To have a nice normal vagina would be so normal for me. I should have been born physically female anyway.

I am afraid of chronic conditions I have affecting the result and pain in general. I'm also afraid of the nightmare scenario of a fistula. I'm also afraid of having to dilate the rest of my life,

I've been trying to assure myself that my fears are all unjustified, that I will be fine and the dilation will be no big deal after a while. It just scares me.

I can afford the best surgeons in the world but can I deal with my inner self?

The other fear I have is getting a procedure I don't like and there is one better that comes along. I am in the research phase right now. "Measure twice cut once."

But I also know my clothing choices are restricted now and some people will never truly see me as a woman. I know relationships will be hard for me without the proper equipment. I want to be complete this is why I am going ahead with it.

I don't see it as economically possible for me, so I'm not concerned at this time. Going by other surgeries I've needed I'm liable to enthusiastically go for it if I can ever pay for it. If I see a clear benefit I typically don't mind the risks.

I answered for how I felt before I had it, since the worst is over now!

OK, more seriously, I ended up being amazed at how they managed the maximum rearrangement for the minimum actual interference/damage. Very few nerves were cut, most blood vessels were moved along with the skin, and it's shockingly different at the end but that's mostly the result of placing skin in new places. Basically, though I didn't believe the doctor at the time, it's mostly soft tissue work and "not invasive." (It's really not - the space they use for a vagina exists in everyone, so penile inversion surgeons don't need to cut into the abdominal cavity at all.)

Quote from: suzifrommd on May 07, 2015, 07:47:46 PM
I didn't NEED to get SRS. I was OK having a male bottom, but I decided that life isn't about being OK. Life is about experience and to me the experience of having a female bottom was worth the risks and costs of surgery.

... so inspiring!!

Hmm my SO might not like that but life isn't about my SO either. Oh damn...