Hi everyone,
I'm in Charing Cross hospital in London and had my op yesterday morning.
Today they took off the large external dressing and took away my drip and morphine dispenser and changed my catheter bag to a leg-bag, so today I'm up and about and can wander around the ward.

So...... so far, so good

Congrats!  Nice to hear you are doing well!

Congratulations on your new life.  Hope you're "out and about" soon.

Congrats!



Jay

Congrats, and keep us updated.

congratulations Steffi! Wow up so soon, you must be doing great! Nice to hear

S T E F F I.   Alrighty then you name is now officially on my list.

Congratulation Steffi.  Heal fast and heal well.

Congrats!!!  I bet you are thrilled beyond belief!

yay congrats!!!! So what was your first thought when ya woke up?

Congratulations, Steffi.

Just wait until you can pee normally.

Congratulations and please give my regards to Mr Bellringer - if that is indeed who you saw.

Are you on the top floor in the corner room? In which case if you are in the first bed it was mine back in January when I was having my 26 years late second stage.

Heal well Steffi.

Jenny x.

Best wishes and speedy recovery!

gratz!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay, congratulations!! That is great!

Congrats Steffi!!! 

Greetings from Hamerikha....

(And excuse the long post)

Well done Steffi, I wasn't allowed out of my bed from the Greenbaum until just before leaving....but don't push it....give yer body the very best chance for healing possible... and good luck with it all.

And I know for sure that here in Scottsdale four of us (tg ladies) this week have been under Dr M for labiaplasty's...how the other's are shaping up.... I have no clue? Or they're not keen to share there thoughts experiences on Susan's org?

So that's at least five of us gals with some form of ongoing surgical reassignment recovery happening this week, and if we dial in Thailand and Canada too..I'd wager thirty plus women with sore fannies right now, sweating and battling on through..lol

Though me being the only UK Brit chick here with an 18 year old fanny conceived ages ago by a long retired pioneering English surgeon proved more of a challenge to revise and bring up to date than expected, my internal urethra was too long and a mess according to Meltzer. So I had to endure a longer time down, and my recovery is more fraught (lucky me)......so I'll not be free of the damned catheter till at least Monday....(Labour day here)...

So here I am on bed-rest still only post-op day three for me, with my new girly parts steadfastly refusing to return to anything resembling more typical and pretty flower petal bits, (which is distressing the hell out of me)...as at the moment I look far worse than how I was on Monday pre any of this new surgery......(How long I now have to wait, to finally see if any improvements have been gained at all)... well of course no one can tell or answer me on that one? The big 'what if' elusive Holy Grail question...??.

(Jeeesus.. this is such a big-ask-n-act-of-faith-n-patience for any women whom are locked into our unique circumstances)...just trying for a shot of best chance of normal life possible....with pretty looking female anatomy!!

I feel many medics conveniently overlook this....with stock answers such as, don't compare yourself to anyone else, you all heal differently, results always vary....and there are never any guarantees... all totally true of course, so its your problem you signed the consent form...

So whatever happens, what will be - will be....the bottom line...its YOU that has then to live with the forever after consequences – while they bank the fees and move onto the next volunteer, guinea pig....

And due to my own (sobbing/crying) low point yesterday, I'm mentally prepared now for the very worst...last nights uber-swelling was my dark angst moment, ground-zero time (so had to get some Lorazepam down to steady the jitters)..... and I just have to accept that it will be weeks of waiting, and apparently I've a haematoma to bleed out also (nice) and will face days of discomfort...before I have any real idea as to what it is I've actually let myself in for this time around, and whether any small gains have in fact been achieved... if any?

(So a fun $35k holiday to the US, this has definitely not been, just a heart-ache trip, ongoing pain and the toughest mental challenge you can imagine....while locked in a hotel room solo watching the hours slowly tick bye....

It was all grim enough last time around during the 1990's, and maybe in yer 30's you're physically better to handle it?... I guess naively I thought this time around (having been through the main SRS before) it would be less traumatic/problematic for me this week as a big girl 52 year old.... (big mistake)...and on that score how wrong I've been!!

But i hope after next Mon to be a bit more mobile...but I did go out grocery shopping when it was cooler this morning with ma fab private N&T Nurse Michele, in her uber-bat mobile Merc today for some survival grocery's...she's such a sweetheart, and is great for boosting my spirits up. And she's well in with the Greenbaum team, so sourced me some more disposable knickers... forget real pants they are too uncomfortable...

So walking the first time around a mall did do me some good, so I'll try farther tomorrow...

I've decided, to help ease the solitude of this months time here for me..,to be ruthlessly honest with what's going on, so will update truthfully as we head through till the 29th.... as I feel that there is no valid reason for any 'mystery'....

And anyone undergoing this process should do so with their eyes fully wide open.... even if my truth is unique to me....

Equally if in 6 weeks time, if/when things for me settle down on my return to the UK and improve and the functional aesthetic results are fantastic (as is alluded to by Meltzer nursing staff frequently.. then I will share the outcome with you all, as I have nothing to hide on that score...either.

So all of you heads up for this in a month or two...the very best of luck!!

awesome! congrats!

it was indeed Mr Bellringer I saw.
I am on the Marjorie Warren ward, below Riverside - all SRS will come here now as there will be no nursing staff on Riverside upstairs at weekends.

Today, about an hour after my morphine was taken away, I suddenly vomited my dinner back in spectacular fashion 

I am pretty grossed out by my pads full of blood clots - I of course expected a bit of bleeding, but hadn't really prepared myself for pools of gunky blood          I'm not really a Blood person...... especially when it's mine

When they changed me over to the leg-bag, I did not fill it at all for 4 hours, despite drinking a big jug of water and 5 cups of coffee.
I had a painful feeling of a very full bladder but had to hassle the nurses three times before anyone took a look.  Turns out the tube was kinked.  I immediately filled the bag two and a half times......

Two things to tell you about yesterday, before the op:-
The nurse came around and gave me an enema - the first I've ever had and a strange and somewhat unpleasant sensation.
She told me to try my best to resist the urge to go until fifteen minutes had passed.  I managed barely four minutes....... my bowel went into spasm and I could not stop it coming out...... I had to run down the hall to the bathroom, leaving a trail behind me all the way 

I had to walk up to theatre under my own steam and climb onto the table.  Theoretically the anaesthetist is on hand to put you under pretty quickly - however, today he was very late for work and I consequently lay there with my eyes clamped shut for 20 minutes 
How I didn't crack and run away I'll never know

Quote from: Steffi on September 03, 2010, 06:23:24 PM
it was indeed Mr Bellringer I saw.
I am on the Marjorie Warren ward, below Riverside - all SRS will come here now as there will be no nursing staff on Riverside upstairs at weekends.

Today, about an hour after my morphine was taken away, I suddenly vomited my dinner back in spectacular fashion 

I am pretty grossed out by my pads full of blood clots - I of course expected a bit of bleeding, but hadn't really prepared myself for pools of gunky blood          I'm not really a Blood person...... especially when it's mine

When they changed me over to the leg-bag, I did not fill it at all for 4 hours, despite drinking a big jug of water and 5 cups of coffee.
I had a painful feeling of a very full bladder but had to hassle the nurses three times before anyone took a look.  Turns out the tube was kinked.  I immediately filled the bag two and a half times......

Two things to tell you about yesterday, before the op:-
The nurse came around and gave me an enema - the first I've ever had and a strange and somewhat unpleasant sensation.
She told me to try my best to resist the urge to go until fifteen minutes had passed.  I managed barely four minutes....... my bowel went into spasm and I could not stop it coming out...... I had to run down the hall to the bathroom, leaving a trail behind me all the way 

I had to walk up to theatre under my own steam and climb onto the table.  Theoretically the anaesthetist is on hand to put you under pretty quickly - however, today he was very late for work and I consequently lay there with my eyes clamped shut for 20 minutes 
How I didn't crack and run away I'll never know

Wow!  SOunds like a pretty cold hearted place.  Sorry to hear your experience was unpleasant.  They actually made you walk to the operating theater alone?  What's wrong with these people?

Quote from: Steffi on September 03, 2010, 06:23:24 PM
it was indeed Mr Bellringer I saw.
I am on the Marjorie Warren ward, below Riverside - all SRS will come here now as there will be no nursing staff on Riverside upstairs at weekends.

Today, about an hour after my morphine was taken away, I suddenly vomited my dinner back in spectacular fashion 

I am pretty grossed out by my pads full of blood clots - I of course expected a bit of bleeding, but hadn't really prepared myself for pools of gunky blood          I'm not really a Blood person...... especially when it's mine

When they changed me over to the leg-bag, I did not fill it at all for 4 hours, despite drinking a big jug of water and 5 cups of coffee.
I had a painful feeling of a very full bladder but had to hassle the nurses three times before anyone took a look.  Turns out the tube was kinked.  I immediately filled the bag two and a half times......

Two things to tell you about yesterday, before the op:-
The nurse came around and gave me an enema - the first I've ever had and a strange and somewhat unpleasant sensation.
She told me to try my best to resist the urge to go until fifteen minutes had passed.  I managed barely four minutes....... my bowel went into spasm and I could not stop it coming out...... I had to run down the hall to the bathroom, leaving a trail behind me all the way 

I had to walk up to theatre under my own steam and climb onto the table.  Theoretically the anaesthetist is on hand to put you under pretty quickly - however, today he was very late for work and I consequently lay there with my eyes clamped shut for 20 minutes 
How I didn't crack and run away I'll never know

Well you are in good hands then. I would say the best - but then I am probably a little biased after he revised my vag which is somewhat older than even Cruella's! I was a private patient of course which probably explains the different ward.

Give my regards to the team there, including Iffy Middleton if you see her, and of course Mr. B. himself.

In my experience day two is the worst, once you are past that its all downhill. (Being a bit of a hard nut, I refused all pain relief and toughed it out on both the original op and the revision.)

Anyway I wish you a really good outcome and a swift recovery.