Hey Everyone,

I am writing on behalf of my partner to share our GRS Journey so far.

We arrived in the Bay Area on 8/10 to enjoy a few days with friends before the date. Partner had her pre surgery consult with Dr Bowers on 8/13 and GRS date was 8/15. Surgery took about 6 hours and I met her post-op in her hospital room.

About 30 minutes after surgery she started having issues with pain shaking and crying. Was given several painkillers and things settled down. I have to say that the nurses were great and Dr Bowers did check up with us several times during the stay and things were mostly uneventful past pain issues and some concern for depth from Bowers. We left for hotel on 8/18 and was mostly smooth sailing.

Fast forward to 8/20...We head to Bowers practice for packing and cath removal and her first dilation. Post-Op report showed a depth of 5-5.5 and dilation reached 4.5-5 no biggie we were assured, wasn't a ton of bleeding and later in the day she even felt like heading out for some light shopping at the store.

That evening she heads to the bathroom to dilate and pee, about 30 seconds later I hear her sobbing and screaming and run in to find blood pooled under her and  her urging me to call Bowers. I call the paramedics and get her headed to the hospital and call Bowers to inform her it looks as though she may have prolapsed. Bowers met us at the ER, pushed the prolapse back in and repacked her as well as putting in a few stitches to keep the packing in place, and also asked us to stay in the area for an additional minimum of a week for monitoring.

We texted her today with some pictures expressing some concern as it appears that the peri-anal sutures under her vagina may have opened and she still has to change a bloody pad every maybe every 4-6 hours although she has been decreasing her pain medication. Bowers told us she is in NY teaching at Mt Sinai and is having us follow up with a local colleague on 8/29. We are supposed to return home on 8/31 but I have a nagging feeling that we will have to reschedule for a third time.

TL;DR - Bowers GRS had prolapse and peri-anal (think the area below the vagina) suture separation, We have had to reschedule our departure twice, one ambulance ride to ER, multiple followup appointments and probably $10k unexpected out of pocket at this point although thankfully the medical costs are all being covered by insurance.

Could really use advice, comfort, re-assurance, whatever right now. Typically I am on Telegram if anyone uses it.

@Kitkitsune 
Dear KitKitsune  Other members will be along to answer some of your questions.
   
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@Kitkitsune
Oh, and another thing KitKitsune:
Please stop by the Introductions Forum to tell the members about yourself.  You can include some brief information from your first post here on this thread so other like-minded members will be able to share with you and you with them.

Enjoy your time here on the Forums, I trust that you will find this an enjoyable and informative experience.
Best wishes to you.
Danielle   

Sorry to hear the experiences. I can still hear my surgeons (Dr.Sutin) word echoing in my head, when we went through risks and if certain things happen: "Then you are going to be in Thailand for a very long time".

I hope you can get back to home soon. But I think the most important thing would be, that your partner doesn´t move much. Just stay on bed and no unnecessary moving. That can stretch things and rupture stitches in any surgery.

I was stricktly in bed for I think 5 days in Thailand just getting up standing one or two times, supported by nurses. And I know here, they keep you in bed without any movement for 10 days or even more.

Hope things get better there!

We saw a colleague of Dr. Bowers today and they consulted over the phone. 2nd round of packing removed after being in for over a week, new antibiotic and pain pills refilled. We were told she may also need a revision surgery but still early to tell. Alot less bleeding and she is able to comfortably sit for short periods now and walk short distances.

We were asked to remain in California for anither week so having to change all travel plans again. This extra week will now mean a total of 4 weeks away from home.

Jeezus. I am so sorry to hear about this.

"Complications after GRS". I think this underscores the fact that GRS is major surgery, and things don't always go as planned.  Bowers is considered by many to be one of the top SRS surgeons in North America, along with Meltzer, McGinn, and Brassard.  Partly on the basis of reputation, I went with McGinn. I'm not totally happy with the result.  I didn't experience anywhere near what you and your partner have gone through, but one year post-op and I have booked consultations for a revision - one of the surgeons being Bowers, ironically.

@Mendi - That's very interesting about the bed rest, because McGinn and some other US surgeons want to get you out of bed and moving around by day two, to minimize the possibility of DVT. I was doing laps around the nurses station.  I felt okay.  No major bleeding/swelling and pain management was taken care of by ice packs and a morphine pump.

Recovery for me was less painful than the intense pain of FFS, but it went on and on.  I couldn't sit down without a doughnut for five months. I still am completely non-orgasmic.  Penetration, be it sex or dilation, still hurts, and I wounded up with only about 4-4.5 inches of depth. This is not at all what I imagined for myself.

I wish your SO a speedy recovery.  And kudos to you for being so supportive!  You are a gem!

With kindness,

Terri

@kitkitsune I'm so sorry to hear that. About the pain after surgery, I guess it depends on one's tolerance against it. I had my srs in June, and just experienced mild pain for two days (on the 2nd day, the pain was decreasing by half). About the non-stop bleeding, I guess it was caused by the window shopping (my doctor told me not to walk "too much", as it would result in the stitches to be opened (my doctor even gave me a fit to fly letter which also stated that I may need a wheelchair - it was 13 days after the surgery!). What I wanna say is that it may be best for your partner not to walk a far distance. If she insisted to go out, then she must use a wheelchair. I guess one month would be ideal to go with it. Anyway,I  wish her a super soon recovery