I got my second referral on Friday, so the wheels are in motion and things should start clicking into place very soon. I'm hoping I'll be having the surgery around Christmas this year.

I am a bit nervous about it but I feel like I have no other option. When I started transition I felt fairly nuetral about my genitals, but as my body has changed my dysphoria about them has worsened, and now I am counting the days.

When I had ffs I got quite worked up about it a few weeks beforehand, but that lessened as the date came closer for some reason. The most fear I felt was when I was going under in the operating theatre; it felt like intensely painful pins and needles to me, I could literally feel my body shutting down. I was terrified for a good few seconds, then it was done and I was in the recovery room.

Quote from: Squircle on May 10, 2015, 05:28:38 PM
I am a bit nervous about it but I feel like I have no other option. When I started transition I felt fairly nuetral about my genitals, but as my body has changed my dysphoria about them has worsened, and now I am counting the days.

I can relate. Ever since I started transitioning I have become much more aware of my dysphoria.

If you would have asked me about SRS a year ago, you might as well have been asking if I wanted to have my head removed, but WOW how things can change.

Now that I am accepting of who I really am, the reality of my future is completely realigning. Now I am actually starting to make a loose plan for early next year. I will be 1 year on hormones in January...

I voted 4 on the poll. I have a little fear but not too much. I'm more worried about FFS and whether I'd need that.

I will absolutely pursue SRS and have already told my therapist that I would be looking at modestly accelerating RLE to 6 months. Still, knowing a few people who had serious problems, I have my concerns.  One had serious infections and she almost died.  Another required revisions, the result not being at all satisfactory.  Still another lacked depth and wound up almost completely closing up.  I have never quite decided how much was the surgery and how much was the aftercare in this particular case, though.  Then there is tissue granulation, hair issues, ongoing urination problems, etc.  The location doesn't exactly help when it comes to dealing with some of these issues on your own.  But of all the possible complications, the one that concerns me the most is the possibility of a fistula.  It's a very serious complication indeed, and can be very difficult to correct. It is also one of those concerns that makes me want to stay closer to home rather then travel to someplace like Thailand, as many physicians will not take on a problem like this after SRS done elsewhere.  So my shortlist is Brassard, Meltzer, and Bowers.

Quote from: stephaniec on May 07, 2015, 06:12:46 PM
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.

I know you have asked this question before, but I just wanted to ask. Since you have some kind of lingering doubts then why are you going through with this? It's not reversible. I knew I wanted it and was prepared to live with any outcome. If I didn't like the outcome I was fully prepared to keep working at it until I received the outcome I had wanted.

In all seriousness though, are there some difficulties with the surgery? Absolutely, I believe that there are some people on this forum who can testify to it. Are there lots of success stories? Absolutely and unfortunately we hear less and less of them every day. They did their thing and disappear into the world. The bottom line is that the success rate of the surgery is very high (meaning a successful outcome), but there are still problems. That shouldn't discourage someone who really wants to get it done though. It's not like one is going to end up with some snarled up mess between their legs. The worst case may be some sensation issues, fistulas and what not.

If you have concerns then talk to the surgeon or surgeons who are on your short list for consideration. Get input from them directly. They have the real statistics and can tell you about problems. Don't go by just forum members or post counts, find out directly for yourself and then decide if it's a risk you're willing to take.

Quote from: Zumbagirl on May 11, 2015, 10:29:26 AM
Since you have some kind of lingering doubts then why are you going through with this?

Personally, I don't understand how someone could ever *not* have doubts. As sure as it may seem that it's the right thing for us, you can't really know for sure until you have it. After all, the only way to know how it will feel and how it will impact your life is to actually do it. Everything else is hearsay.

Hello my name (user name) is OCAnne not OOAnne but whatever.
I will undergo a sex change operation 10 days from now in Los Angeles County, CA.  Like others I at first preferred Dr. Bowers or Dr. Meltzer.  Unfortunately, for me including some others the wait time for SRS with them is ridiculously long.  I also began to worry about how my postoperative care would be handled.  What would I do if complications developed or revisions became necessary?

In searching out options I found two surgeons in my area that perform SRS.  Both out of Beverly Hills, CA.   Found out wait time is weeks not several months or as in two other cases, years!

These two choices would allow me to stay close to home, work, GP doctor, endo's, assigned hospital and family.  Not to mention dealing with my intense dysphoria that has worsened on my RLE/RLT.

Yes, I worry these surgeons do not have several hundred Sexual Reassignment surgeries under their belt.  It comes down to trust.  I will be the only person undergoing SRS on that day so I'll have his full attention.  Plus I won't be the first, both choices are extremely competent and each has successful practices.  In the end the price for SRS (less than Bowers or Meltzer), associated cost and ability to grant me expedited medical treatment sealed the deal to go local.

Not to be a 'Debbie Downer', but perhaps it would be wise to deal with our fears and expect complications and need for revisions by finding solutions, just in case.

With that, I encourage everyone to work to overcome their fear of SRS and focus on the real problem.  Paying for it!

personally, I'll thrash it back and forth in my mind until I'm lying on the operating table. You can talk all you want with surgeons and therapists and forum members or people in Starbucks, but it's your body that's going to be affected and your the only one that's going to live with it once it's done. You should question until the last moment to limit any mistake being made. I could absolutely say I've thought about this since I was 4 years old. I've given a lot of thought to it , just about every moment of every day for the past 60 years. When I do it it's going to be on my terms.

I don't think about it at all. I accepted that this was a financial impossibility several years ago. I had an orchi and called it a day. Sure, it's a lot to think about as far as the surgery is concerned. But, the way that I saw it was: "If I can't even get this together financially? Why even torture myself thinking about it?" So, I had the orchi, was able to take care of some legal stuff (gender marker, etc) and that was that.

No regrets.

The thought of any kind of surgery frightens me, but I'll do what is necessary when able

Quote from: Megan Rose on May 07, 2015, 09:15:18 PM
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!"

Love you, Megan!

In my own case, sure, any surgery makes you flinch a bit but that didn't stop my FFS and it's not going to stop my GRS either. And given that my therapist concurs that anyone who's had thoughts of self-mutilation because of what I hate down there, I intend to follow through on this in exactly 71 days.

Quote from: suzifrommd on May 11, 2015, 11:57:34 AM
Personally, I don't understand how someone could ever *not* have doubts. As sure as it may seem that it's the right thing for us, you can't really know for sure until you have it. After all, the only way to know how it will feel and how it will impact your life is to actually do it. Everything else is hearsay.

And I agree, Suzi! There are always nagging doubts at the back of my mind about anything? Should I have buy the Ford Focus or the Hyundai Elantra? (Note: I bought the Focus.) I always question almost everything until it's done then I just move on.