aww, thanks Ruby, I like hearing I'm beautiful, especially coming from a gorgeous woman like yourself. I'm really happy with my FFS results, there's a few little things but overall thumbs up for DiMaggio.

I'm excited for you and I'll follow along in your recovery, I hope you keep us up to date, so far I'm pretty impressed with Dr Satterwhite and your experience.

I have lots of moving parts going on right now in figuring out the who, when, how much of my bottom surgery..that said, at least I'm currently in the Meltzer pipeline but who knows where I'll end up 

Quote from: RubyAliza on May 30, 2016, 11:16:25 AMOh 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.

Excuse my ignorance but do you need electrolysis no matter where you get SRS done? That sounds like hell!

Quote from: Ellement_of_Freedom on June 05, 2016, 08:08:05 PM
Excuse my ignorance but do you need electrolysis no matter where you get SRS done? That sounds like hell!

There's a few surgeons who recommend you don't have electrolysis, Suporn and Brassard spring to mind. I've heard of some people choose their surgeons because of this one thing. However even with them I've heard of people ending up with vaginal hair. In Suporn's case it was only near the entrance so easily removed, and there's one here

Hair inside the vagina and scars outside vagina
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=203188.15

Quote from: AnonyMs on June 05, 2016, 08:44:35 PM
There's a few surgeons who recommend you don't have electrolysis, Suporn and Brassard spring to mind. I've heard of some people choose their surgeons because of this one thing. However even with them I've heard of people ending up with vaginal hair. In Suporn's case it was only near the entrance so easily removed, and there's one here

Hair inside the vagina and scars outside vagina
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=203188.15

So better to have it done? But I want some pubic hair in the normal area.. just not in the vagina. Is that what normally happens?...

Quote from: Ellement_of_Freedom on June 06, 2016, 12:09:23 AM
So better to have it done? But I want some pubic hair in the normal area.. just not in the vagina. Is that what normally happens?...

I don't know about other surgeons, but if Suporn gives you instructions on exactly where to do it if you ask. Its quite a small area. I believe he also tells you not to do it within a year of surgery as it can damage the skin, and he's all about getting a good result.

Quote from: Ellement_of_Freedom on June 06, 2016, 12:09:23 AM
So better to have it done? But I want some pubic hair in the normal area.. just not in the vagina. Is that what normally happens?...

Yuppers most surgeons have a template for the electrolysis to follow for hair clearing. Dr. Satterwhite's office emailed one to my hair dominatrix

Ruby, excellent news. Please keep us posted.  The clock is still ticking down for my July GRS with Satterwhite. I hope I fair even 1/2 as well as you.  I'm obviously quite a bit heavier, much older, and then I'm so ugly - so there is all that.   Well, like I said. Keep us posted.  P.S. So jealous of those in CA will FULL coverage.  I only barely got GRS covered (9 months of fighting a trans surgical exclusion on my policy) , no voice coverage, no face coverage, no BA coverage, or even electro coverage...anywhere.   It totally sucks to not live in CA and be trans. For insurance reasons alone. Don't get me started about legal protections (of total lack thereof) as well as people's attitudes.  I had a coke thrown on me in the DFW airport - just for walking by some early 20 somethings. Perhaps they thought they could cure or kill me.

As far as electrolysis goes, I'm not quite sure why many surgeons don't just scrap the follicles out at the time of surgery. I think perhaps because it's more tediuous and they prefer to spend their limited time in an expensive OR focusing on all other aspects of the surgery. I don't know though because Dr. Brassard doesn't require it and does his surgeries in about 3 hours. It's confusing. If it were up to me, every surgeon would do what Dr. Suporn does not just because there is less pain, but because only at the time of the operation will the doctor know where the follicles should be scrapped. I've heard the contrary about having hair in the vagina though so this issue is complicated.

Every day I'm pushing myself more and more, not too hard I hope. I just can't stay inside! Too much energy. I still have a pain though, which I am controlling by taking lots of Tylenol and Ibuprofen, under doc's orders. It's the incisions that hurt because they are practically in the groin creases. When I walk, I can feel the dissolvable sutures poking out and rubbing against irritated and inflamed skin. Luckily Dr. Satterwhite took out a lot of those sutures in my 2nd and 3rd post op appt (last one happened today). He said it all looks fine, although I think it looks pretty scary. My left labia is swollen to like 3 times the side of the other one now I mean, granted it will go down but it's frustrating. Same thing happened with my FFS; my left side got very swollen while the right side stayed fine. Also the necrosis tissue is nasty, but I got it. Every time I change my pantyliner, I can see my body is getting rid of it. It's apparently normal but I don't hear a lot of people on the forums talking about it. Here is a linkhttp://imgur.com/a/FjzUC to what it looks like for a Brassard patient. Beware if you are squeamish. It looks white/off white. My vagina looks quite different though as there is enough labia minora to hide the pink mucosal tissue and the clitoris is hooded (Dr. Satterwhite goes for only 20% of the clitoris visible even when you open the hooding. Most of it is hidden like a cis clit). It's going to be awhile before I try to actually use it. The frankenvagina just isn't very erotic nowadays, I've decided.

I get to see the doc at months 3, 6, 9, and also at a year. I'm sure there's more to report. Overall, very positive experience. Dr. Satterwhite assured me that those nurses at CPMC who weren't up to his standards will no longer be allowed to take care of his patients.

Wendy, sorry to hear about your difficulties with insurance different states, it's almost like we live in different countries. We're lucky in California no doubt. Times are changing, just not fast enough. If I were there with you at that airport with those bigots, best believe you would have to hold me back from kicking their butts

- Ruby

(Brassard operates with a second surgeon, which is how he achieves those times - he does the fine detail work and she does a lot of the rest.)

If you're referring to the white/yellowish stuff in those pictures, that's not necrosis, that's fibrin, which is a natural part of wound healing and you want to have it happen. It does look terrifying and gross, though. I know this because I panicked about infection and called in the nurses, and they told me it was fine. So maybe it will help to know that it's normal and desirable (necrosis generally ends up looking black, I think, as it's literally dead tissue).

Thanks Jenna I've read your posts about Dr. Brassard and he seems to be an incredible doctor with one of the most efficient, consistent, and affordable practices in the world. I didn't know about fibrin until you mentioned it by name, which helped me some research myself. As fascinating biologically as it is gross looking haha but I feel better now. Like you, although perhaps not as much, I have a lot of swelling. Patience is the key as it can take up to and more than a year to go down. Sometimes though I worry that the swelling will affect how it all heals in the end. Time will tell I suppose. Glad you're happy though! (P.S. I think I've seen some of your Youtube videos - those really helped me plan my transition so thanks again).

- Ruby

Ruby : Glad to help! I have never been on YouTube, though, so I can really only take credit for posts on Susan's. If it's any consolation, I didn't notice any issues with the swelling affecting the final result (except that it took forever to *become* final, ha!). It sounds like you've gotten a beautiful result so far, and everything is healing well, so that's encouraging.

Hmm, I'm flying out 4 days after my 2nd post op if I'm at all able as my wife has to return that day.  I guess I will have to talk to them about taking them out 4 days early before the 3rd appointment that I won't be around for.

Quote from: Jenna Marie on June 07, 2016, 06:22:36 PM
Ruby : Glad to help! I have never been on YouTube, though, so I can really only take credit for posts on Susan's. If it's any consolation, I didn't notice any issues with the swelling affecting the final result (except that it took forever to *become* final, ha!). It sounds like you've gotten a beautiful result so far, and everything is healing well, so that's encouraging.

Oh sorry, I believe then there is another person with your same name who also went to Dr. Brassard Oops. Thanks for putting that worry away for me. Actually, the swelling has really started to go down in the past few days. It's starting to look normal and the big incisions are already flattening out and fading.

WendyAnn - I'm pretty sure they mentioned that the 3rd post op appt is optional, or at least you can do a phone appt. with Dr. Satterwhite instead if you want. The sutures are dissolvable, they'll go away by themselves. The doc will decide if and how many he wants take out at your 2nd post op appt. July is coming up soon! Please let us know how it goes, on this thread if you'd like. It would be very helpful for others to know what your experience is like too

- Ruby

Hi Ruby, how are you? I've been busy with my own surgery so I haven't had time to check back in here! I would love to hear more from you.

Hi househippo  Everything's going okay. I've been up and about lately, busy with lots of work so I haven't had a chance to do a write up. The swelling continues to go down. I have a minor issue that Dr. Satterwhite says is normal, that half the patients get, which is some splitting of the tissue just under the labia minora, near the introitus. Dr. Satterwhite assured me that my body has not yet made enough collagen to seal up the area but I can see my body is trying it's best to heal. It doesn't look very pretty. I also have some necrosis of the urethral mucosal tissue around the hidden part of the clitoris, underneath the hooding. I emailed the doc and he told me that's normal and I'm actually impressed that he put mucosal tissue inside there and around the clit (like Brassard does). Even though it's not visible (the necrotic tissue is coming out very slowly at the edges of the hood), that's probably why there is extra sensation in the area.

I'm still taking lots of ibuprofen even at a month post op. The incisions are flattening out and even fading at parts, but the friction of them against by thighs causes some pain. Also, I iust get tired easier. Changing those pads all the time too - that gets annoying fast.


Enough about me, how are you? I'm more interested in your experience. Hope it went ok

Hey Ruby,

thanks for the update. So of us (me me me) are reading your post with great alacrity. HouseHippo, do you have your own thread or maybe if Ruby is ok with it you could post here? Satterwhite is pretty dam amazing yet modest/conservative. I have to wait till friggin MARCH but thats the current schedule. He is doing 2-3 GCS a week and the wait time is still getting longer. I'm pretty local so I'm on the cancellation wait list too.  So FYI ladies, get on the surgery schedule asap, as it is going to take a while

I just booked a consultation with Dr Satterwhite for Oct 26, I was told right now they're booking surgery dates for May, 2017. I already have a consult with Dr Meltzer on Aug 10 so I guess it's Dr Satterwhite vs Dr Meltzer. Does anyone know how many vaginoplasties he's done? What his complication rate is?

Thanks Ruby for your detailed posts, I didn't even know about Dr Satterwhite until I read your posts. I'm really just starting to research myself even tho I booked my consult with Dr Meltzer last October...been recovering from the ffs and ba past 6 months.

Quote from: allie0365 on June 17, 2016, 01:09:35 AM
I just booked a consultation with Dr Satterwhite for Oct 26, I was told right now they're booking surgery dates for May, 2017.

I bet that's in large part due to these posts. Ruby should be getting a commission on it!

Quote from: AnonyMs on June 17, 2016, 01:50:37 AM
I bet that's in large part due to these posts. Ruby should be getting a commission on it!

Hah! No I don't take credit at all. When I first heard about Dr. Satterwhite, the wait time was only 3 months for a consult and 6 for the surgery. By the time I booked, which was after I posted this thread, it had gone up to 3-5 months for a consult and 9 months for the surgery. That's about what it is now. There's a lot of demand in the Bay Area. I think there is also a large trans population in California. Actually, I think that other ->-bleeped-<- thread is more convincing. Those pictures speak louder than any of my words.


[/quote]

Quote from: allie0365 on June 17, 2016, 01:09:35 AM
I just booked a consultation with Dr Satterwhite for Oct 26, I was told right now they're booking surgery dates for May, 2017. I already have a consult with Dr Meltzer on Aug 10 so I guess it's Dr Satterwhite vs Dr Meltzer. Does anyone know how many vaginoplasties he's done? What his complication rate is?

Thanks Ruby for your detailed posts, I didn't even know about Dr Satterwhite until I read your posts. I'm really just starting to research myself even tho I booked my consult with Dr Meltzer last October...been recovering from the ffs and ba past 6 months.

Yes of, course, no problem. I was just trying to be informative. I haven't seen much outside a few posts on ->-bleeped-<-, and a few good ones here too. I thought, why not. I'm not saying you should pick Dr. Satterwhite over Dr. Melzer because I went to him, but rather, I think his technique is in the stone age. Two-step procedures, in my opinion, are very outdated. There's no reason the labia minora and clitoral hood can't be made in the first surgery. I've seen some outcomes and I also think they are missing the urethral tissue in between the labia.

You're consult is in August and it's worth a go. But a friend (the one who did the tattoo you can see slightly in my avatar pic) waited 13 months after her Meltzer consult, meaning that you'll have to wait longer than July 17 for your surgery. And then, 3 months later, you'll need to go back for a labiaplasty. The total time for everything to be done might be the longer. Maybe it's different now that there are more options. Ultimately, you'll make the right decision for you because you're incredibly smart. You chose a wonderful surgeon for your ffs, I"m sure this one will go just as well

Quote from: SadieBlake on June 04, 2016, 06:39:56 AM
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).

Why I so want to move out of Alaska and if I need a deeper cat bounce to Thailand which if I must I can use my credit card to bankroll my Thai srs. I wish I had stayed in New York City a bit longer before deciding to bounce to Alaska.


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