I'm just so happy to hear that you're doing well. The fact that you're so happy with your results already is so awesome. Just hearing from you picked me up from when I was feeling a bit scared about recovery driving home tonight. Two questions I have for you is: I'm doing this alone sadly, so how are you able to move around and stuff? What kind of pain/what level of pain are you in? Thank you for sharing with us!

Hi again It's ok to feel a bit scared about recovery, you just want to be prepared and safe. You will be! Is this something that you can go through alone? For the most part yes! By law I'm pretty sure you need someone you know to pick you up from the hospital. I remember signing a document that said I had someone driving me home. But the reason I think you've be fine is that you can prepare for the hardest days by stocking your pantry and fridge with food that is nutritious and more or less ready to eat. You're going to want to stay home by yourself for a while and possibly call some friends and family over for some company. :hugs: you will be fine! If you really need someone, I live 20 mins away.  I could come help you Also, Dr. Satterwhite said that f you aren't feeling good by the last and third day at the hospital, tell the nurses and they will let you stay at the hospital as long as you need for recovery.

   The second question, what about the pain? I use the 1-10 scale the nurses were using. The answer is it's variable. Has is got up to a 10? For me, that only happened when the nurses were neglecting me and didn't come after I called them. Do not fall behind on pain medication. Be religious about it. Stay right on schedule, neither ahead, nor behind. If you do that, the pain will be considerably manageable, under at or under a 5 for me. Depends on your pain tolerance. Pain meds+ laying in right position+netflix or tv for distraction = perfectly fine experience. Walking and standing won't be comfortable and the pain will increase the longer you do it. Somethings will be very uncomfortable but not terribly painful, like going to the bathroom. Peeing a whole other future post. It's pretty uncomfortable, though not painful.

   A short update, including my current pain; percoset pain meds are not working well anymore so I decided to wean myself off of them to ibuprofen. Yesterday was kind of a bad day, pain stayed consistently above a 5 because I cut my dosage in half. The swelling on my labia majora and incisions got considerably worse. The swelling on the labia minora isn't so good either. My fine looking vagina turned it into a menacing monster! It's so sad to look at also dilating now kinda hurts because of the swelling inside. All this is totally normal, Dr. Satterwhite and his nurse told me beforehand.

    But there is a detail about the vagina and the clitoris that I noticed yesterday. When I put my smallest dilator, I can see see that dilator is actually very close to the bottom of the hooded clit. From the looks of it, the spacing is perfect. I shall see. I may actually be able to have an orgasm through penetration, since whatever goes in there will be slightly rubbing the clit On the topic, I was laying there horny for no reason and then I starting feeling blood heading down to the clitoral region. I must say it felt fantastic. Since it's only day 7 post op, I stopped all thoughts and actions associated with said lower region. I am waiting eagerly to report on the impending party in my pants I have such a strong female libido! Being able to express my sexuality in the right body makes all the difference. No more mechanical sex, just what feels natural and authentic to me<3

- Ruby

hi ruby.
thankyou for the thread.
I am still working out FFS but GCS is in the back of my mind. can i ask what sort of hair removal you had to deal with? this sort of surgery is still a minimum of 18 months away for me and unfortunately where I live in Australia the electrolysis path if few and far between so I am curious on how much preparation I will need to look towards.
ta
Dami

Quote from: confused_very on May 28, 2016, 06:36:19 PM
I am still working out FFS but GCS is in the back of my mind. can i ask what sort of hair removal you had to deal with? this sort of surgery is still a minimum of 18 months away for me and unfortunately where I live in Australia the electrolysis path if few and far between so I am curious on how much preparation I will need to look towards.

Facial Team for FFS and Dr Bowers for SRS are in Australia in December 2016.

http://facialteam.eu/international-consultations-list-of-cityes-and-dates/

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe most Australians go to Thailand for SRS, and some to Dr Ives in Melbourne.

Hey Ruby thanks for the reply. I was able to have a friend go with me for a couple of days while in and out of the hospital, so I'm covered legally haha. Thanks for the offer! It's nice to know that there's a friendly face close by if I need someone. I'm glad that your pain has been for the most part manageable. Could you expand on peeing please?

I'm sorry you had a bad day . I hope today is a better day for you! Swelling will go away with time and it will all be beautiful.

That's so exciting that the spacing looks perfect for you! Being able to climax through penetration would be amazing. Haha suppress those horny thoughts!

You Naughty Naughty Hippo   

   No naughty naughty me for a while the problem with peeing has actually started to resolve itself. The catheter screwed with my bladder muscles. I would have to pee really bad but the muscles were too weak to get a sustained flow. Combined with all the swelling around the urethra and I would sit on the toilet for 10 minutes just trying to get a little pee out. All is well now.

   I've been in a lot pain recently since I'm only taking Ibuprofen. The incisions are healing up ok but I get shooting pain in them so bad that my house is filled with random and creative expletives. Second post op appt this week. Hopefully they can tell me if everything is normal. I may have some necrotic tissue around the entrance of my introitus or it's just weird scabbing.

     I hate staying home anyone else find it extremely hard to find comfortable position? Sitting, laying down, walking...it all hurts. What's a girl to do

   Oh and my electro. Started last year, before I even got my surgery date. I got lucky and was fortunate enough to have almost no hair on my scrotum for some reason. It was pretty clear before surgery but let me tell you, that was painful as heck. Took about 7 months or so to clear everything. Also did 4 laser treatments for the dark hairs.

-Ruby

As I returned to work 4 days out of the hospital, I had 12-14 hours a day sitting or standing where there wasn't much escaping the discomfort. The remainder of the day I couldn't tell you because I was so exhausted I was out like a light and didn't feel a thing. Mostly it was moving the donut around to find a more comfortable position and then when I couldn't, I would sit without the donut for a while.

I found pressure as the result of swelling around the urethra to be the reason I had trouble peeing and it took weeks for it to fade. At the time, problems like mine were known but not common. We were not permitted to leave the hospital until we could pee and I had an extra long stay. Also at the time they thought we "forgot" how to pee which was far from the truth.

Dena, you are a tough lady allow me to borrow some of your strength. Definitely helps to be positive and thankful. So far, haven't been able to sit down without a donut at all. Like you said before, pain is subjective. My body has always be extremely sensitive to the point where everything tickles me haha I've built up my pain tolerance but this is actually worse for me than ffs. I wonder about my upcoming breast aug. Probably pretty easy in comparison.

The pleasure. Now that I am looking forward to, if it's ok for me to immodestly say here. Reading all these orgasm threads has me curious and excited. Already, I can feel during dilation that penetration is such a powerful, almost overwhelming feeling, for me at least. Can't help but yelp. When I put it in, the motion of it going under my pelvic bone gives me the feeling of a mini orgasm. It feel like the erectile tissue from the base of my previous genitalia. Then there's also the prostate, which I can tell will push the experience over the top. I used to be skeptical of posts that say that sex is better after. I thought, well maybe, for the reason that I won't have dysphoria and my female sex drive will be unhinged. That's true I think. But actually, the nerves are all there, arranged in a way that is more pleasurable, at least for me. I could never have stimulated that erectile tissue so directly. I haven't felt too much from the clit yet. It too sensitive to touch and I'll have to use the clitoral hood to stimulate it indirectly. The mucosal tissue feels so sensitive. I can imagine oral sex will be mindblowing.

    Ok no more words lest I wish for self-torture. It's too soon!

Quote from: RubyAliza on May 30, 2016, 12:57:54 PM
Dena, you are a tough lady

No, just dumb. I was unaware of the 4-6 week recover time before surgery as I was unaware that I still had about a month of vacation time left until they handed me this huge check after they canned me. I had asked my boss how much vacation time I had left and he told me very little. The personal office was 40 miles away from me so I didn't ask. I think the saying we create our own hell may be true in my case.

Quote from: Dena on May 30, 2016, 01:17:43 PM
No, just dumb. I was unaware of the 4-6 week recover time before surgery as I was unaware that I still had about a month of vacation time left until they handed me this huge check after they canned me. I had asked my boss how much vacation time I had left and he told me very little. The personal office was 40 miles away from me so I didn't ask. I think the saying we create our own hell may be true in my case.

Ohw what a story. Not dumb at all, but you faced an injustice even if you did at least get your vacation hours. From everything I've read, you're incredibly smart and courageous <3

-Ruby

Ruby... Thank you! Your,post,thread,story is a gift to me (and many others I'm sure). I have a consultation appointment with Dr. Satterwhite June 6th and your story is the best telling of his work that I have been able to find.  This my first post on Susan's. Starting with thanks seems a good way to go. Thank you thank you thank you

Quote from: TC on May 31, 2016, 04:45:36 PM
Ruby... Thank you! Your,post,thread,story is a gift to me (and many others I'm sure). I have a consultation appointment with Dr. Satterwhite June 6th and your story is the best telling of his work that I have been able to find.  This my first post on Susan's. Starting with thanks seems a good way to go. Thank you thank you thank you

Thanks TC, that's a better response than I could have ever expected. I just didn't see much yet online in terms of Dr. Satterwhite aside from a few good ->-bleeped-<- posts. I thought it would be nice to take everyone through my experience. I'm actually relatively new here on the boards too but I've really come to like it. Feel free to message me or post your questions/comments right here on this thread. Congrats on your June 6th consult! You're going to like him, I'm pretty sure. Ask for before/afters because they have a lot that they can't show on the website.

Not too much news, the pain is finally waning but I have a long way to go in terms of healing. The surgical site has become quite gross looking from all the scabs, necrotic tissue, swelling, redness, and dissolving sutures. I hope it all comes together in the end. I had a rough time healing from the FFS. Got my 2nd post op appt today and I'll come back and post what the good doc says. Probably nothing new so it'll be a short update.

I just want normalcy again. I mean, it's nice being able to watch the whole Game of Thrones series for the first time but I'm an outdoorsy kind of person. If you're like me, be prepared to feel down from the lack of mobility. I keep telling myself that soon I'll be out and about again. Not only that, but in less than 2 months I'll be in Buenos Aires for a vacay and my ffs revision and breast aug. If you found this thread useful, feel free to check that one out too! Link https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,189339.0.html I'll be updating both of them

- Ruby

Also thanks, learning of a great practice with < 2 year wait times is wonderful news, I'll be calling them tomorrow to schedule consult.

Awwww Ruby, your story was better than I could have hoped for.  "Satterwhite" is a really good search word so I found this thread straight away. I'm still struggling with Susan's navigation but this seems like a most convivial place. I'm surprised I took so long to come across a link to Susan's. Your generosity in sharing your story really helps those of us coming after. Your prose is clear and I feel tremendous empathy when reading. i hope you continue.

Yeah June 6th is kinda like a holiday and i'm 9 years old. We will see if/when I end up on his surgery board but I've seen 6, 8 month and even a year wait times posted for him(thats gonna be rough) but a brilliant surgeon that is in my network will be worth the wait. I'm Kaiser NorCal also (Isn't the MST amazing???) so trying to use insurance on what I can (electrolysis, speech therapy and HRT so far) I'd love a heads up if you know about any other services they might have.   

Bed rest is going to be rough. I've been trying to increase my activity in general (I'm in horrible shape) I can keep a jog 4mph so I cover 2 miles in about 30 minutes but its getting easier. So going to staying in bed for a few weeks is going to hurt that progress plus the stir crazy effect. I'll definitely read your FFS thread(exotic travel & surgery) and start taking that in, but I think I want to get my voice tweaked first as most of my friends are cis women and I feel like my voice is what separates me more than my looks right now.

Game of Thrones??? girl don't get me started ok maybe start me a little if you ever want to rant/talk about it, I'd love that. I love and sometimes hate that series. I'm sure you have seen Sense8 ..... if you have Netflix you must watch Sense8. It is written in the translesbian manual somewhere as a requirement.

Hi Ruby,

I seem to be following in your footsteps...I'm 6 months post FFS, I also did BA 3 months ago Congratulations on your next step!!

Thank you for posting your experiences, I had no idea about Dr. Satterwhite and the hybrid technique he and Dr. Bowers were doing these days. It's really great to hear actually. I'm with Kaiser SoCal, currently on the list for Meltzer with a consult scheduled for 8/10. I'm just starting to research GRS surgeons, with SoCal Kaiser, Meltzer the only provider right now although supposedly that's changing. But anyway I'm looking into other options because I lost my employer paid insurance so I'm on COBRA and it's too expensive, so looking into ACA options, which could open up other possibilities besides buying a Kaiser plan and staying with 2 stage Meltzer. I've been chatting with friends who're really happy with their results from Suporn, but like you, I already traveled to BsAs for FFS and not really wanting to go overseas again, and for this surgery it would be almost 6 weeks.

I called Bowers on Monday and found out she's booked 2.5 years out of consultation date!! I will definitely be looking into your surgeon...please keep posting as things heal up
-Allie

SadieBlake- It's so nice to have a great surgeon without a horrendous wait list. However, I talked to Dr. Satterwhite about this and he's worried that his wait list will reach the same. He's getting really popular and the demand is huge. It's so sad!

TC- Thanks again for your words of encouragement. Empathy is my strong suit Sounds like we have a lot more in common than just living in the bay area. I got my approval for this GRS at the Multi-transitions clinic and they were awesome. I remember clearly they brought out tea for everyone in the waiting room. I was so excited about getting the surgery eval that I spilled my tea all over the crotch area of my pants lol I'm was like a 9 year old on a holiday too for all the big steps of my surgery. I'm gonna post a pic or two of me right before my surgery. It's funny and endearing

For the different services they offer, I've done lots of electro for srs and face recently, and also a voice therapist. I even met with a voice surgeon at Kaiser as well! That's my last surgery and even though Kaiser would do it with a technique very much like Dr. Haben, the surgeon was too new. I have a lot to say on this matter and eventually I'll do one final thread on voice surgery. I'm pretty sure I've settled with Yeson. You're right though, voice is as important as ffs. In fact, I do get clocked  because I can't keep a female voice It's a big issue.

Oh I forgot to mention. Kaiser will do your ffs for free. No kidding. There is a surgeon named Charles Shih and he would do it, including type 3 forehead contouring. I met with him to check out the issues with the titanium in my forehead. With Kaiser, they are changing their policy. FFS is not cosmetic anymore, it's considered reconstructive surgery. Same goes with breast aug. You can literally get every surgery done at Kaiser NorCal if you wanted, including GRS. I had one of their surgeons try to convince me to be one of his first patients because he had no wait list.

Oh and I will start Sense8 since it's in the translesbian manual. It was created by the Wachowski's (I find it cool how they went from being brothers to siblings to sisters). I would love to chat up more with all things trans and more. Once you get 15 posts, we can PM! You're pretty darn cool

Allie- Dr. DiMaggio did incredible work, I'm blown away. You're so beautiful in your avatar pic, seriously. Congrats! So I've heard about Meltzer but I am not a fan of the 2 stage at all. It just doesn't make sense to me at all, personally. I've seen some of his results too that really lacked urethral mucosal tissue. His technique is way outdated. I would have gone to Suporn, his technique is the gold standard from what I've heard. It's like 18k though and you're right, you'd need a lot of time off. FFS is more painful I think, but GRS is really uncomfortable.  One thing about Suporn that I've always admired was that the labia minora is generous, wrapped around the whole vulva, the incisions are all the way in the groin, and the depth is amazing. In the end though, I'm extremely happy I went to Dr. Satterwhite because I have those features, perhaps minus the amazing depth. Suporn would probably have gotten an extra inch or two haha I don't care, I have the same depth as my partner and she's cis.

I'm sorry about your insurance situation it's okay, ACA is not bad at all and I think you can choose an option that Dr. Satterwhite accepts, if you choose that route. The good thing about him is that the consult is free so you can book now, fix your insurance by the time that rolls around (around 5 months from now), and then get on the wait list. In the end, you'd be about the same time as Melter, maybe less (Meltzer is over a year and then you gotta wait for the second stage). Good luck with everything, I'm excited for you. Your avatar, ahhhh, so pretty <3

So here are the pics my partner took. You can see the issues with my forehead that I need fixing. I rarely go out without makeup so posting these makes me feel kinda ugly. Still, they capture both my silly and serious sides





Oh and healing is going well. Still anxious for the pain to subside and to see what it looks like without the necrotic tissue and swelling. I don't hear a lot about that from others but let me tell you, prepare for a scary halloween-eque, Tales from the Crypt vagina, especially when healing is in full gear. Another post op appt on Monday so maybe more to tell. Have a great weekend ya'll. I'll be mostly indoors so go have some fun for me.
- Ruby

Hey Ruby I hope you're well. Try not to die of boredom!

Ruby OMG! where to start hmmmm

Kaiser MST is full of amazing people. I didn't get tea but got cookies! The surgery review board was kind of like talking to a nice group people that happen to like cookies and lab coats. I got lots of hugs (they are huggers there) and lots of smiles (do you think they send them to smile camp as part of their training??) .

Yeah I'm in electrolysis purgatory right now. I'm almost done with down stairs. All I can do is laugh that I make appointments so I can sit in stirrups for an hour while a mean lady(she's really not) stabs me with an electric probe. So I just follow the advice of the great Carrie Bradshaw and get a Belgian waffle(not really but I pretend I'm getting one).  Was the voice therapist a big Scottish Lass... can't remember her name. I'm looking at Yeson vs Haben too but you seem to be ahead of me on the curve in every way, so I shall attempt to purloin some of your knowledge as I can. Yeah I've been adopted by a group of cis women and we are having amazing conversations and I'm on the inside of the bubble (one of us) and a cough, laugh or loss of concentration (chest resonance comes out) and I feel like I just farted. Nobody says anything but there it is and there is no dog to blame it on

Kaiser will do whaaaaaaaat? *ouch* my chin just hit the table. I will be looking into this. Mind = Blown. Even BA? I need to get me head around this.

Lana Wachowski has been a hero of mine for a while (rainbow unicorn dreads FTW).When starting Sense8 people are usually pretty confused for at least the first 2 episodes but it all comes together wonderfully in the end(I promise).  I don't know how the Warchowski's sold Netflix on the budget but it shows (many locations and everything feels tight like a big budget movie). Come to think of it, you look a bit like Jamie Clayton (lead actress)

15 post seems to be the key to being a citizen here, so I'll work on it. I'd do something active this weekend but I'm still recovering from Bottlerock sunburn so probably a quiet weekend this time.

Indeed, Satterwhite's office just booked my consult for Oct 6 with an estimated surgery date in July  '17 so I guess his dance card is filling up some.

That timing works me anyway and I know there are other surgeons coming on line pretty fast now, Boston Medical Center has Drs Slama and Oates who are trained and in the process of setting up insurance. (I learned this talking to my health insurance co).