Good luck Charley Ann!
Moni

Good luck, I am very excited for you.

Surgery went well!
Dr. Rumer says everything went perfect and I feel ok.

I checked into the hospital at 11am Tuesday and was wheeled into the OR at 12:20pm, the next thing I knew I was waking up in my room about 5:15pm. The operation took 4 hours total.

I spent Tuesday evening, Wednesday and Thursday morning in the hospital flat on my back. Dr. Rumer does not want us out of bed during the hospital stay. Dr Rumer came in to see me on Wed. morning. She removed the bandage and examined area, everything looks good. There are 2 drains in place and the catheter. She did not replace the bandage, the area is open except for the stretchy panties. Thursday morning her assistant came in and examined me and then started the discharge process.

I was impressed with the hospital up until checkout. All of the staff was friendly and attentive.
Pain control was very good, I was on morphine that was controlled by a black box, just push the button and another measure was injected into the IV. I could push the button once every 15 minutes.
Pain wasn't too bad probably about a 3 with the morphine. I think it may be more of a comfort level than pain. The packing feels HUGE, like someone stuffed a roll of TP up my butt! It's not at all comfortable.
I don't know what happened, but when discharge time came, my nurse went to arrange for a cab and transport down to the main entrance. A while later the cab driver called and asked where I was, (still in my room) then called again and said he couldn't wait any longer. Still don't know what happened to my nurse. I had to call for another. She arranged to get me downstairs and we called for another cab.

The trip from the hospital to the recovery center was about a 40 minute cab ride. I was dropped off and walked up to my room on the second floor. I was totally exhausted! One of the nurses here examined me and helped me into an adult diaper. I then crawled in to bed and slept off and on for a few hours.

I was able to walk up the stairs with no problem. I don't have any pain issues and everything appears to be healing as expected.
My Daughter arrived about 3:30, she will stay with me for the recovery time. We ordered food delivery about 6pm. I took a few bites of my sandwich and felt like I would throw up if I ate anymore. The food was good, it just didn't set very well. I'll ask the doctor about that tomorrow. I think it's probably from all the morphine in my system.

Now it's Friday morning, up at 4am, only slept about 3-4 hours last night. Was finally able to brush my teeth and clean up my face, almost feel human now.
Been passing a lot of gas this morning, hope that means my systems are coming back to life.

Will post another update later today.

Congratulations, Charley!  I wish you a speedy recovery!

~Terri

Congratulations !

Make sure you take a stool softener like Colace. I was taking 3/day till I went. There is peri-colace which is a softener and for constipation. Drink plenty of water and stay away from caffeine for 3 weeks (it dilates the capillaries and inhibits blood flow). Eat protein and keep your calories up to aid in healing, even if you are not hungry.

For protein I eat mixed nuts, landjaeger ( lean dried red meat with light spices), chicken and a healthy protein cookie called Complete by Lennie and Larry.

I am glad your daughter is there to help you.

Congrats girl!  Welcome to the other side.

Today has been much better. I'm able to walk around, sit and surf the internet and laydown in several positions. I just can't do any one for too long a time.

The nurse was just here to examine me. Everything still looks ok. Not much coming out of the drains but they are leaving them in until Tuesday. The drains, catheter and packing will all come out Tuesday. There is a lot of swelling but she says it's not out of the normal. There is very little bleeding from the stitches or the drain insertion points, just enough to stain the diaper in a few spots. Not bad for being on for 24 hours.

I was able to eat lunch today with no problem. The nurse said the combination of the pain killers and other drugs can cause the stomach problem I felt last night.

So we'll be on our own this weekend. The nurse will be back Monday to check in again.

Quote from: Mohini on November 05, 2016, 10:01:05 PM
Hi Charley,

Can you please explain why Dr. Rumer considers her procedure a one-stage modified penile inversion vaginoplasty?  What is different about this method versus the "usual" penile inversion method?

I asked Dr. Rumer about this. She said: She does not require laser or electrolysis hair removal, she creates a clitoral hood, she creates a soft pink area at the inside the labia.

Ice can help with the swelling.

Glad you are doing so well.  Congrats Charley Ann!
Moni

Saturday, Day 4 post op.

I may have overdone moving around yesterday. I was a bit sore by bedtime. Pain level was only about 3, but annoying enough to keep me from sleeping. Took 2 pain pills, which reduced the pain level to 0.

So for today I'm trying not to move around so much. Did a self-exam this morning and discovered some bleeding around one of the drain lines. I changed the diaper and cleaned things up, checked again a couple of hours later and the bleeding had stopped so I'm not going to call anyone about it.

Hey Hey, I pooped this morning! It was really soft, more like runny.
The hospital had given me a stool softener everyday while I was in there. When I got back to the recovery center I started back on Metamucil twice a day. I've been taking that twice a day for years and it's always kept everything flowing so I figured I would stick with it.

So far, so good!

A small amount of blood is to be expected for a month or more. If the blood is excessive (making a big mess on the bandages or diaper) you should discuss this as soon as possible. You will be disturbing unhealed incisions and have sutures popping for a couple of months after surgery so don't worry about spots, streaks or pinkish blood.

How long did it take when you scheduled your appointment? 3-4 months Did you use insurance?

Hi Dena, Ya the Doctor said not to worry about the small spots or short duration bleeding.

I've had a strange feeling off and on since yesterday and continuing through today. I keep getting an itch in a place I no longer have. Reaching down to scratch and finding nothing to scratch is such a weird feeling!

Quote from: PrincessLulu on December 03, 2016, 05:07:43 PM
How long did it take when you scheduled your appointment? 3-4 months Did you use insurance?

I had my consultation in early June and then scheduled Nov 29 as the earliest possible surgery date about 2 weeks after that. If I remember correctly the consultation was about 2-3 weeks out after my initial contact with Dr. Rumer.

My insurance would not cover it.

sorry to hear that when i started working my place of employment had the grs an exclusion but they just told me they have changed it. which dramatically makes it happen fast/ this is most likely the same surgeon since their are soooo many..... lol

I don't think my work place will be allowed to exclude any longer. I am going to try to get reimbursed after everything is done. Don't know if I will get anywhere but it's worth a try.

Quote from: Charley on December 03, 2016, 05:09:35 PM
I've had a strange feeling off and on since yesterday and continuing through today. I keep getting an itch in a place I no longer have. Reaching down to scratch and finding nothing to scratch is such a weird feeling!

You are getting the itch early and be ready for a year or more of it. That's nerves reconnecting and it will go away at some point but sooner or latter you will just put up with the itch because attempting to scratch it doesn't work.

Sunday, Day 5 post op.

Nothing much to report today. A little sore again last night at bed time so took 2 more pain pills for sleep.

Just finish my inspection and diaper change this morning. No bleeding and everything looks about the same to me. The doctor will be back in tomorrow to look things over.
Still doing good!

Monday, Day 6 post op.
Went down to the doctor's office this morning for my exam and surprise, they took everything out and started my dilations.

I felt almost nothing when the drains came out. They had a self-closing stitch around them so the small slits were closed as soon as the tubes came out. The catheter came out with a mild burning sensation but not really painful. The feeling of the packing being removed was rather strange, like someone taping on the inside wall of my vagina. Again no pain just a very strange feeling.

Dr. Rumers Physician Assistant help me with the first dilation. I was given a set of 3 dilators, she skipped the small one and started me in the middle size. This size went in up to the next to last dot. She also got the largest to go in up to the second from last dot.
She wants me to use the largest possible for 20 minutes at a time 4 times per day for the next 4 weeks. It is ok to start with the medium size for 10 minutes and then the large for the last 10.
After 4 weeks it will be 3 times a day for 2 months, then 2 times a day for 3 months and then finally 1 time per day.

I am to buy a medicated (with iodine) Douche and use it once a week for two months. After that go to once or twice a month.

I can start taking showers now but I'm not to wash the area. Nothing more than letting the water run over it and then pat dry. After 6 weeks I can wash the area as normal.

No sex for the first 3 months.

Everything looks ok to me. It's not looking pretty but I can see the structure and everything that's supposed to be there is. Very swollen but all there.

So far I'm very happy with my decision to go with Doctor Rumer.