Hi all! Jordyn Here...

I'm 7 weeks to my sexual reassignment, and sort of freaking out. I had prior cancer surgery (testicular and ovarian cancer), removing testicles and ovaries from my surgeon who is also doing my SRS here in Beverly Hills, CA. I'm having full-depth surgery.

I don't have concerns with my surgeon himself, but more so the unexpected. I'm afraid to wake up with my new equipment and feel like I was handed a stray cat, and don't know what to expect. How has your Pre-Op life been? Is there anything that I should absolutely know about, that only you all post-op beautiful women would know living with your new vagina?

My biggest thing to look forward to is to actually be able to wear panties that I was meant to wear. Tired of tucking, and such... however I've heard that I wouldn't be able to wear thongs and such until around the year mark or so since apparently pads are a necessity from bleeding.

Are things looking like they are mangled and messy for a long time? I'm afraid my downtime will be a long time. I don't have to worry about work life or such at the moment, so I have all the time in the world to heal.

Apologies in advance for my all-over-the-place thread.. I'm just drowning in anxiety.

Signed, a girl in need.

I am about a year and a half post op after a partial, cosmetic or shallow procedure. I have been totally satisfied by the results but I had very few expectations going into it. I just wanted to be rid of things. As far as to when I could wear thongs, pads were needed for bleeding for a couple of weeks, not more. I did not have any separations or wound openings requiring extra healing time. But, the tissue was still sensitive for many months. Thongs didn't return to my regular wear for six to nine months just because of the comfort factor. The same goes for tight pants though I rarely wore them before....always been a skirt girl. YMMV

Hope this helps,
Tia Anne

I am about a month post op for full depth, so it's still pretty early in the healing process. I have been researching for like 20 years, and there were some surprises.

- Swelling!  Lots and lots of swelling. Everywhere! I expected some, but it's a lot more than I thought.

- Peeing. Yes it's basic, but everything changes and this is a biggie. I am lucky in the my pee stream points in the correct direction. For many women, with all the swelling, the urethra heals in a less than idea way and needs a revision to have a "normal" pee stream. Lean too far forward and you are peeing on yourself. Too far back and it's splashing everywhere.

- perineal area is very weak and for many women, the incision breaks and requires extra healing time. This happened to me and it was pretty scary as it was after I got home from the hospital. There was a lot of blood.

- pain - or rather, the lack of pain. There's a lot of soreness but surprisingly very little actual pain.

- dialation is annoying but not painful. I was expecting some discomfort but there isn't very much.

- return to normal happens as quickly as you allow it. My surgery was on 1/11 and I was back at work on 1/30.

- energy is super low and I get tired easily

- uhm yeah, getting turned on is WAY different. I thought it would take longer to adjust. Nope.

- pads. You will go through a lot of them especially if you have a perineal dehiscence. Then spotting after dialation for the first few weeks and of course something needs to catch all that lube. Buy stock in always... you don't need thick pads, just, a lot of pads. At the month mark I am just starting to  use less.

I'm sure there are more

Quote from: Anne Blake on February 05, 2019, 05:55:06 PM
But, the tissue was still sensitive for many months. Thongs didn't return to my regular wear for six to nine months just because of the comfort factor.

Was the sensitivity rough? Or more so bearable? I'm afraid I'll be so sensitive I won't be able to walk normal for a while.

Quote from: jill610 on February 05, 2019, 06:29:18 PM
- Swelling!  Lots and lots of swelling. Everywhere! I expected some, but it's a lot more than I thought.

- Peeing. Yes it's basic, but everything changes and this is a biggie. I am lucky in the my pee stream points in the correct direction. For many women, with all the swelling, the urethra heals in a less than idea way and needs a revision to have a "normal" pee stream. Lean too far forward and you are peeing on yourself. Too far back and it's splashing everywhere.

- pads. You will go through a lot of them especially if you have a perineal dehiscence. Then spotting after dialation for the first few weeks and of course something needs to catch all that lube. Buy stock in always... you don't need thick pads, just, a lot of pads. At the month mark I am just starting to  use less.

I'm sure there are more

How long did the swelling last? At only one month post op, do you look mangled or nice and nipped? I don't know how to word that differently! Apologies.

As with the peeing, I think my fear of peeing loudly has come to it's breaking point. LMAO!

With the lube... do you let it come out naturally? Or is douching your vagina something that is needed?

Congratulations on your surgery! I'm super excited for mine!

Quote from: jjordann on February 06, 2019, 02:18:41 AM
Was the sensitivity rough? Or more so bearable? I'm afraid I'll be so sensitive I won't be able to walk normal for a while.

How long did the swelling last? At only one month post op, do you look mangled or nice and nipped? I don't know how to word that differently! Apologies.

As with the peeing, I think my fear of peeing loudly has come to it's breaking point. LMAO!

With the lube... do you let it come out naturally? Or is douching your vagina something that is needed?

Congratulations on your surgery! I'm super excited for mine!

Strangely put question. No nothing looks mangled, just swollen and inflamed which is normal. Dr says will take 6 months for it to fully settle but I see a huge difference week over week.

Yes you need to douche several times a week to remove dead skin and any buildup of lube and ointment, but unless you are walking around all day with your pelvic muscles clenched, some lube is going to slide out. Gravity doing its thing.

When I had SRS I was just happy to have the parts that my brain said was supposed to be there.

This was years ago and all the popular SRS surgeons were very successful with outcomes.

Your fears are likely unwarranted......

Not gonna lie, it's gonna look like a disaster down there for a few months. No reason to freak as it all starts to take shape and look normal after all the swelling and incisions heal up. Normally around the 3rd to 4th month. Your scars will take a bit longer to fade but a little hair helps mask them. 

Quote from: ForeverLacey on February 12, 2019, 12:32:16 PM
Not gonna lie, it's gonna look like a disaster down there for a few months. No reason to freak as it all starts to take shape and look normal after all the swelling and incisions heal up. Normally around the 3rd to 4th month. Your scars will take a bit longer to fade but a little hair helps mask them.

Pretty much spot on.  Yes it hurts, yes it takes a bit of getting used to, yes you're gonna pee all over everything for a bit and yes dilation is all consuming for the first month.  But you know what?  This surgery is transformative.  Don't freak out if there isn't as much sensation as you would like at first.  That seems to take a bit of time for some of us.  I'm ending three year post-op come March, and this (GRS) is what made me whole.

I wasn't the clothing, or the makeup or the electrolysis.  It was this.  This was, for me, the final magic.  This was my declaration of authenticity.  This was the Rubicon that can not be recrossed.  This is what made me comfortable traveling to Peru, and Trinidad, and Mexico, and even Canada.  This is what made dating simpler, and less faught.  This was the beginning of the rest of my life.

The fear, and the concerns, and the anxiety are all normal and all pass.  PM me if you want my phone number and may the gentle zephyrs of love wash over you as you become complete.

Namaste,
Julie

Be prepared for complications and if you don't get any fantastic!! They don't have to be major ones to put a dampener on your experience. I 71 days post op and had separation issues along with some granulation both of which I can all but put behind me. The granulation is just about gone and the separation has come together nicely. It did look "a bit of a train wreck" for awhile because the two minor complications simply made things take longer to heal. No great issue other than that, for example most girls would be well shot of their daily salt baths whilst I am still going with mine. I had to go back down a dilator size and have had to use some "unusual" techniques to get everything healed.


It won't be the end of the world if you have a few irritating complications it will just be a little more tiresome.


Liz

Jordyn,

I'm 11 weeks post op.  Full depth.

Not everyone has issues or complications.  I've had neither. 

I stopped using pads at 8 or 9 days and switched to panty liners. I didn't bleed after about a week but there is a slight discharge. Some is probably lube but it's not bad. I use 3 or 4 liners per day.

Every surgeon has different dilation requirements.  Mine was 3x daily for 6-8 weeks then 2x until 6 months. Then daily until it's not necessary.  I'm not sure what constitutes "not necessary" but we'll see.

I'm happy looking in a mirror.  It's what I had pictured for decades.

Swelling is as individual as everything else.  I had very little but what they're is, is taking a while to go away.  I have a friend who had lots of swelling.  It's all about you.

Peeing, as others have commented, depends.  Even day to day it depends.  This morning I had to go badly and it shot out in a nice stream pointed mostly down.

You'll be fine.  If you can get contact info from someone else who had surgery recently with the same surgeon, they might answer your specific questions.  I'm working on setting up a group at the hospital for just this purpose.

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