1 week and 2 days after sending the forms to Dr. Chettawut, I still have no response other than "we're working on it." So I finally just gave up and got my American doctor to do it. And this is despite me saying "this is urgent, I'm not allowed to work at all until I get these forms back."

So basically, my assessment of Chett's surgical practice is...



Early communications: Great. 2-3 day response time, questions answered, forms back quickly, all good.

Surgery prep: Great. Chett is a nice guy, and a flexible surgeon who will do his best to work with what you want, answer questions honestly, etc.

Surgery results: Great. Everything looks and feels good, sensation's fantastic, depth achieved, minor aesthetic nitpicks (which are improving with time) are my only issue.

Aftercare in Thailand: Great. Nurses answer whatever questions you have, great response times, they definitely look after you while you're there.

Aftercare once home: Lacking. Getting an email response has taken over a week both times I've sent messages, and if you have paperwork to sign once you get home, you might as well forget it. If you have ANY major concerns, things that need addressed immediately, I'd just recommend getting a doctor in your home town to do it. Chett will answer questions when you ask, so it's not like he's ignoring you, it's just that it takes a LONG time to get replies. He definitely prioritizes those who are scheduling surgery and currently in care for surgery over those who are asking post-op questions.

Carrie you no longer owe him money so you are low on his priority list.

I suspect that may be true of most of the surgeons because as my date has gotten closer communication has increased and improved. Hugs
Mariah

Quote from: mac1 on October 19, 2016, 06:33:08 PM
Carrie you no longer owe him money so you are low on his priority list.

Quote from: mac1 on October 19, 2016, 06:33:08 PM
Carrie you no longer owe him money so you are low on his priority list.

Hmm, that's my feeling as well. Chett is a surgeon, for sure. But he's also a businessman, unfortunately, and GCS is BIG business in Thailand

All right, finally! I got my forms back, my American doctor filled out my leave extension to cover the 10 days of work I missed, and Chett just sent me back the details of my working restrictions (basically just no sitting or standing for more than 2 hours straight without at least a 15-minute break,) and I should be back to work this Saturday unless yet another unforeseen issue comes up.

Again, just to clarify, every single time I've asked Chett a question through email, I've gotten a thorough and satisfactory answer. It's just that it's taken a while.

Also, since I haven't officially written the whole spiel about the differences between Chett and Suporn, this right here is actually probably the biggest difference between them according to both Cindy Fox and my other Australian trans friend. Both of them said that Suporn's aftercare is VASTLY superior. You're in the recovery center for a week rather than 3 days, you get a VERY detailed information packet that addresses most (if not all) common concerns, and then after that there's a large active Facebook group containing 400+ post-op trans women who've all been through that same surgeon's procedure, so you can get answers to any questions basically immediately, without having to ask the clinic directly and therefore without having to wait for the doctor to find time out of his busy schedule. This post-op group is also why Suporn has almost no negative reviews, because the group simply does NOT let them happen. They guide people through recovery issues, and usually get anyone who's not satisfied to schedule a revision before they think of writing a negative review. Chett has no such group guarding his reputation. In case it's not obvious, the internet has dragged his name through the dirt. (Unfairly, if I personally say so.) But at the same time, lacking that group, and therefore lacking that same access to information, (which is only exacerbated because the aftercare instructions he gives are very summarized and bare-bones rather than detailed,) can make getting answers to questions/concerns in a timely fashion a very frustrating thing.

Also, and I'll talk about this more later, Cindy and I started our own Chett Facebook group, because we want Chett patients to have that same access to a pool of experience and knowledge that Suporn patients get. We started a group with the 12 people we met at the Vertical Suites and Dusit Princess while we were still in Thailand, and have asked those who were there longer than us to keep inviting new members to the group.

This group is ONLY for Chett patients and family/friends of those patients, it's a closed non-public group purely for support and information, we want to make absolute sure that no ->-bleeped-<-s or people who aren't serious get in to the group, but if anyone has surgery scheduled with Chett and would like to join the group, PM me and let me know. There aren't any members who've been post-op more than about 2 months, but it's better than nothing. We've been comparing recoveries back and forth to make sure everything is normal, so that's been nice to have.

Anyway, I don't know where I was going with this, it's just part of the big Chett vs. Suporn post I've been meaning to make for a while now.

So, physical sensations right now, it's basically still the same. The persistent minor-discomfort sensation hasn't left me yet, I can still feel low levels of pain almost constantly.

Comparing notes with the rest of the Chett girls who are 2 months post-op as well, not everyone is experiencing this same pain, but a couple are. My Australian friend described the sensation she feels as the following: "My bits just feel like they are tucked all the time, like a hand is pressing down on my labia and clitoris." And that's basically exactly what I'm currently feeling all the time.

I also asked if anyone had stopped feeling clitoral pain yet, but the best response so far was "light touching of the skin feels kind of good, but not climax-able," as well as the other two answers "It's still a healing wound for now. It will be a sexual organ again after 4 months or so," and finally "still pretty sore too. I was just starting to get concerned about it myself, but well, now it sounds like it's pretty normal."

So yeah, the 2-month healing mark, there's still low levels of pain across the board for everyone. And although good feelings are starting to return for most of us, explorative sexy-time seems to still be off the table.

As a final note, once again comparing to everyone else's recovery, I'm currently the furthest behind in terms of dilation.

Everyone else has moved up to the #3 by now, I'm still stuck having trouble getting the #2 in every time I use it. (Part of this is my fault, because I've had a really hard time keeping up with the prescribed schedule, I've ended up only doing 2 dilations way more often than 3 due to complications with work and life and dating making it really hard to find the time to do the afternoon session.) One thing that surprised me is that everyone else was going above and beyond their prescribed dilation times. The official chart says that you only need 10 minutes with the #2 dilator during the first week out of a total 40-minute session. Other people have been doing as much as 90 minutes per session. They say it helped stretch everything out much easier.

So yeah, right now I'm the only one lagging behind, I'm still a LONG way from getting the #3 dilator in (if it will ever go in at all. I have serious doubts, because I've been using the #2 dilator for almost a month now and it still hasn't gotten any easier,) while everyone else has long since moved up there.

Not a big deal, I'm maintaining depth, and I'm not exactly planning on having penetrative sex any time soon, the clitoris/labia area was really what this surgery was about for me, but whatever, just sharing for frame of reference.

Really great posts. I'm curious, did you get a chance to compare the results between Suporn and Chettawut?

The Suporn recovery center where you spend 7 days is Aikchol hospital, after which you go back to the hotel.

Quote from: AnonyMs on October 20, 2016, 05:06:45 AM
Really great posts. I'm curious, did you get a chance to compare the results between Suporn and Chettawut?

The Suporn recovery center where you spend 7 days is Aikchol hospital, after which you go back to the hotel.

I didn't get to personally compare, because neither Cindy nor the Australian girl actually got surgery from Suporn. Cindy was scheduled with Suporn and then got ejected from the clinic when she took some unprescribed pain-killers the day of her surgery which would have interfered with the anesthetic, and the Australian girl just knows a couple of Suporn patients personally.

I have, however, been comparing recovery photos. I've seen two Suporn patients who posted week-by-week recovery pictures, and two of the other Chett girls posted pictures for the sake of comparison. So I can say, there are definitely noticeable differences in technique, specifically with how the inner labia is constructed. Both Chett and Suporn use a scrotal skin mesh to create the vagina, so I'd say their vaginal-creation technique is functionally the same, with the only difference being that Suporn meshes and grafts the skin a bit more, so Suporn's technique tends to result in a little bit more average depth, but also a more difficult/painful recovery compared to Chett. The big difference, though, is in how both surgeons construct the inner labia. Chett's inner labia looks completely different. In Suporn, there is a VERY defined inner labia which stretches all the way from the clitoris down past the sides of the vagina, and every recovery picture I've seen from Suporn has a prominent inner labia like this with stitches running down the peak on both sides. With Chett, the inner labia is very tight at first, and there aren't stitches running down it, so it's clear that he uses a very different technique. There isn't as clear of a defined line separating inner labia from outer with Chett.

I really don't think one is necessarily superior to the other. It's a matter of personal preference. If someone wants more depth, Suporn is objectively better, he can get results as deep as 6.5-7.5 inches consistently, while every single one of Chett's patients that I know got 6". (I don't personally care, to me 6" is more than enough, I actually think anything beyond that is overkill since the average guy is only 5.5" and it's impossible to get it all in during sex anyway because pelvises don't fit perfectly together like that.) External appearance, it's just a preference thing. Suporn's inner labia is more prominent, Chett's is tighter. I personally like how Chett's completely-healed labia results look, and that's actually why I chose him, but other people have had problems with it, and I do think mine might maybe be a little bit tight, but again, just depends what you want.

Quote from: Carrie Liz on October 20, 2016, 04:54:12 AMEveryone else has moved up to the #3 by now, I'm still stuck having trouble getting the #2 in every time I use it. (Part of this is my fault, because I've had a really hard time keeping up with the prescribed schedule, I've ended up only doing 2 dilations way more often than 3 due to complications with work and life and dating making it really hard to find the time to do the afternoon session.) One thing that surprised me is that everyone else was going above and beyond their prescribed dilation times. The official chart says that you only need 10 minutes with the #2 dilator during the first week out of a total 40-minute session. Other people have been doing as much as 90 minutes per session. They say it helped stretch everything out much easier.

Carrie Liz, I don't know if it would have anything to do with it, but an unexpected effect from cycling my estradiol only (started progesterone cycling for the first time on Sunday in cycle 3) is that my foreskin stretches a lot now and I can pull it back a lot more easily, whereas before it was tight and took some effort to do so.  You may look into that.

Hi Carrie,

I've not seen enough Chettawut results to get a feel for his style, but I get what you're seeing about Suporn. There's a definite look to this work. It sounds like you're describing early post op, and Suporns's results do change significantly over time. What they look like after a year is very little like they do early on. I guess there must be heaps of swelling and its takes a while to go down.

From your description its sounds like Suporn leaves larger labia, which would make sense as he tries to keep as much as possible. Some people don't like that.

I think one reason Suporn has such a following is that his patients all stay in the same hotel and it fosters a strong community. Lots of people have a great time there because of it, and that follows on afterwards. By having several hotels Dr Chettawut weakens this effect. A happy accident for Suporn I suspect.

Quote from: Mohini on October 20, 2016, 01:37:01 PM
Carrie Liz, I don't know if it would have anything to do with it, but an unexpected effect from cycling my estradiol only (started progesterone cycling for the first time on Sunday in cycle 3) is that my foreskin stretches a lot now and I can pull it back a lot more easily, whereas before it was tight and took some effort to do so.  You may look into that.

I've never heard of anyone cycling estrogen. I think that would drive me crazy.

Quote from: AnonyMs on October 20, 2016, 01:57:16 PM
I think one reason Suporn has such a following is that his patients all stay in the same hotel and it fosters a strong community. Lots of people have a great time there because of it, and that follows on afterwards. By having several hotels Dr Chettawut weakens this effect. A happy accident for Suporn I suspect.

I definitely have something to say about this, but again, I need to take the time to sit down and transcribe everything that Cindy told me about her time at Suporn's clinic.

Basically, yes, Suporn has a community and the post-op experience is VASTLY superior in terms of socializing, comparing, and getting group support. You eat breakfast with everyone, you talk to everyone, and there's a large group to help you with concerns. Chett's recovery experience is largely being alone in a hotel all the time, and having no group to ask questions to. (And yeah, that large post-op recovery group is why Suporn's reviews are so much higher than Chett's. Suporn's group actively quells anyone with problems, while with Chett there's no such effort, people are basically free to post whatever negative things they want when something goes wrong.)

I feel like I'm finally starting to heal to the point where my normal daily routine isn't a grinding slog of constant pain.

I had a super-busy weekend. This weekend was Kaladesh Game Day, so I've been playing Magic tournaments every single day since Friday, which doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to rest between 6+ hour work shifts and 5-hour Magic tournaments, but honestly I've done pretty well. After 3 days of that, I was actually still able to work my full 8-hour shift today, plus still had the energy to play in yet another tournament tonight, and I'm not in much pain.

FINALLY.

Maybe my mom was right, maybe the key really was to push myself a little bit, to be up and out of bed and force my blood to get flowing, instead of the method that I've been using which was basically to stay in bed as much as possible and expend as little energy as possible.

Work still hurts a bit, there's no two ways around the fact that being in a dealer chair where you're constantly having reach and grab and shift positions while sitting for 1 hour at a time still hurts. I still tend to be in a bit of pain when I'm getting close to time for my breaks. But it hasn't been lasting as long, and doesn't have the same net super-energy-draining effect that it did the very first week that I was back.

Dilation has also finally gotten a bit easier again over the last few days. Inserting the #2 dilator is finally getting reasonably easy, and I've been doing 20 minutes consistently for the last week or so without the pain issues I had before. I might consider trying the #3 dilator some time in the next week-ish.


Right now in terms of my recovery, the only concern that I have is that there's a couple of strange little "fingers" of flesh around my urethral opening that have gotten a little bit more prominent over the last few weeks. I'm not sure what they are or where they came from, but basically they're just little protrusions of reddish skin, maybe 3-4 millimeters long, that stick out from around the urethral opening. I'm not sure how they got there, but I noticed the first ones about halfway through my recovery period in Tampa last month, and then about 2 weeks ago all of a sudden a couple more seemed to appear. (About the time that my boyfriend visited.) They almost look like the flesh around my urethra was somehow squeezed through the stitches on the inside, leaving raw tissue jutting out. So, I don't know, I'm actually kind of afraid that it's because I got aroused too early in recovery? Because I tell you, when my boyfriend was here, and I was experiencing all these desires that I've never felt for the first time, I was REALLY REALLY in to it. Neither of us touched anything, but I'm scared that somehow the internal pressure from being aroused for so long while we were snuggling caused some of the skin to be forced out. I don't know. It's a moderate concern, something that makes me worry a bit, but it's probably isn't a huge deal. It's not like it hurts or looks like an infection or anything, it's just an aesthetics/function worry.

I am not sure but from your description, it sounds like proud flesh or granulation. It's tissue that over healed and can be a problem if it doesn't clear up on it's own. It may be time for you to get a bottom inspection and if it's what I think it is, it will be treated in the office. If left untreated, it may become a problem when you dilate.

Quote from: Carrie Liz on October 24, 2016, 08:34:20 PM
Right now in terms of my recovery, the only concern that I have is that there's a couple of strange little "fingers" of flesh around my urethral opening that have gotten a little bit more prominent over the last few weeks. I'm not sure what they are or where they came from, but basically they're just little protrusions of reddish skin, maybe 3-4 millimeters long, that stick out from around the urethral opening. I'm not sure how they got there, but I noticed the first ones about halfway through my recovery period in Tampa last month, and then about 2 weeks ago all of a sudden a couple more seemed to appear. (About the time that my boyfriend visited.) They almost look like the flesh around my urethra was somehow squeezed through the stitches on the inside, leaving raw tissue jutting out.

I know someone who had what you describe, although worse than yours by the sounds of it. It wasn't granulation. They did slowly get smaller and were removed as part of a revision.

I finally tried the #3 dilator tonight, and I may be about a month late on it, but it worked!

It went all the way in on the very first try, to full depth, (I used the #2 for 30 minutes before trying it to make sure everything was thoroughly primed for maximal stretching,) and it feels about the same as the #2 did the first time I got it all the way in.

So hooray! I've made progress!

(And honestly I'm in no hurry to make it up to the #4 dilator. That thing is scary. )

*
Allow these two contributions to the post-op experience:

     -  Your post-op diet should continue your in-patient diet.  Limit foods to light fare such as soup, broth, fruits, and vegetables.  Constipation strains your new surgery area; consume nothing heavy such as meats and breads that cause constipation.  You have been on medication that stopt your bowel function.  Remain carefull of your food until you normally and naturally restore your function.

     -  Consider your dilation schedules are minimum times.  I will certainly not suggest from afar that anyone violate your program or your doctor's orders.  Unless you have a complication that otherwise prevents you, consider adding extra time if you so desire.  Use your time to explore your new anatomy.  Test your muscles; get to know that you likely have entry, mid, and deep muscles with different capabilities.  Tense; relax.  Flow in; flow out.  Take deep breaths, hold your breath, exhale.

Wherever one travels, know that your medical team is bound by confidentiality obligations.  They are prohibited from disclosing your presence to anyone and everyone without your express permission.  You must specifically authorize your medical team to release whatever information you wish they divulge to whom you choose.  Otherwise, you could be in the next room and not know the other person ever existed.

Dr. Chettawut patients who recover at Baan Siri Cottages have that bonding experience, too, among fellow patients, family, companions.  They all meet and socialise in the closeness of the accommodation along T Alley.

Forming patient companionship groups - whether during your pre-op or post-op days - is up to you the individual patient and for your benefit.  Dr. Chettawut held regular re-unions in the past.  You may consider resuming re-unions and include others from the 'Big 3'.  Lunar New Year is next January, Songron is next March, good times to overlap participating in culture that you missed with visiting friends now that your patient days are your past.

Best recovery to all.
*

Quote from: Carrie Liz on October 29, 2016, 09:11:40 PM

(And honestly I'm in no hurry to make it up to the #4 dilator. That thing is scary. )

Not as scary as some things.

Quote from: Carrie Liz on October 29, 2016, 09:11:40 PM
I finally tried the #3 dilator tonight, and I may be about a month late on it, but it worked!

It went all the way in on the very first try, to full depth, (I used the #2 for 30 minutes before trying it to make sure everything was thoroughly primed for maximal stretching,) and it feels about the same as the #2 did the first time I got it all the way in.

So hooray! I've made progress!

(And honestly I'm in no hurry to make it up to the #4 dilator. That thing is scary. )

Congrats, CarrieLiz. Hope you continue on your progress. Keep up the schedule and positive attitude.

With warmth,

Joanna

Hey Carrie! I was just reading your posts and had a good laugh because I think we were at the suites at the same time. I believe I know the Australian girl you're referring to, and I spent a lot of time with Cindy while we were there. I'm not in the fb group because I don't use fb, but I'm wondering how I could have missed you?! I met a lot of other Chet patients. I wonder if our paths ever crossed at breakfast one of those days.

I am just passed two months, so if you want to compare anything in regards to recovery timeline, feel free to ask!