Surgery with Dr. Satterwhite June 10th 2016.

[HouseHippo]

Sorry I didn't respond to some messages, and was nonresponsive for a while! I didn't have my passwords handy.

I don't know what to write since I didn't do it at the time. I wish I would have done better of documenting this surgery like I did with my last one. Anyways so I'll just share what I remember. Probably ramble a lot.


I never really had worries about this surgery, so the whole process leading up to surgery was easy. The only problems I had was with electrolysis, housing once I got into San Francisco, and feeling like I didn't have enough time for hair removal. Electrolysis just hurts and takes forever.

I arrived in San Francisco on the 7th with my friend and got all checked into my Airbnb studio thing. It's a pretty nice room for my stay here. Pretty small but it's right in San Francisco. Very close to the hospital. Very convenient. I was able to do some touristy type things like see the golden gate bridge. Fisherman's wharf and those kind of things. I do photography as a hobby so it was pretty fun to take pictures of all the infrastructure and people. This is a pretty fun city. I like how diverse the people are. It's an interesting change from Colorado. I have an easy time talking to people about nothing and having fun while doing it. So taking Uber around is pretty fun because I can bull->-bleeped-<- with the drivers.

I had surgery on the 10th of June with Dr. Satterwhite. I'm a very calm person so day of surgery I was ready to go. I met all the nurses and they were very nice. My anesthesiologist had a very San Franciscan look with dyed purple hair and the sides shaved off haha. I then saw Dr. Satterwhite and we talked about the procedure for a minute and I was ready to go. I finally got nervous when I was seconds from going under, and they had an oxygen mask on my face where it felt like I couldn't breathe. That's the last thing I remember.

6 hours later I was awake in my room and everything was done. No real pain just minor stuff. I think I threw up a little on the first day. The next couple of days went by pretty fast. I had my laptop so I just watched Futurama and slept a bunch. The Orlando shooting happened while I was in the hospital and that was a very sad day. I wish people would just leave us alone. I saw Dr. Satterwhite a couple of times. Overall everything was pretty easy. Threw up a couple of times. The food was gross so I had my friend bring in pancakes and stuff like that. OH yea I'm so glad I brought a butt donut haha. Make sure if you have this surgery you bring a nice one. It seriously makes everything bearable. 

I got out of the hospital on the 13th. I was pretty able and ended up walking out of the hospital myself. Their person that was supposed to wheel me out was taking forever, so I just left. The next several days were pretty easy. Carrying a catheter with you everywhere is a pain though. My friend that was helping me left on the 15th. I was happy when she left. She used to be a fun calm person but in the past couple of years she always has something to be upset about even when it's not even a problem. I'm a very calm person who doesn't think very much is worth getting upset over so I have a hard time dealing with that anymore. So the whole time we were together she had problems that would completely devastate her and consume her whole day. It's exhausting taking care of someone's emotional health while recovering from a major surgery. I would have gone alone if I could have. I do well on my own. I always have my online friends that are relaxing interesting people to talk to.

I had my first postop consultation on the 16th. This is the appointment where they take out all of your packing and catheter. Having all that gauze taken out is a really strange feeling. It's kind of like rough tugging feeling on the inside of my new vagina. So that was an interesting sensation. The packing just kept coming and coming though! I couldn't believe how much was in me haha. After that we took out the catheter and I was expecting it to hurt a lot from what others have said and was a little nervous about it. It was fine and didn't hurt at all it just felt strange. I finally got to look at my new vagina and I'm happy with how everything looks even though it's awful looking right now haha. Labia and clitoris look very defined and how I want them to. Once I'm healed I think everything will look how I want it to. I was given my dilators and shown how to dilate. It wasn't a great feeling and still isn't. Dilating so far is a huge pain actually. 10 minutes 3 times a day seems like such little time but it's a huge pain. Oh yea I was also able to start hormones again which is nice. There's this awesome place called peets coffee and tea right by the office. If you like chai they have a really good iced chai tea latte. I seriously go there every time I go to the office haha. I stopped taking painkillers regularly around the 20th, and also stopped using the butt donut.

So up until the 22nd I was doing great and was actually able to walk around and do more touristy stuff. Make sure to go to the Exploratorium if you like sciencey stuff. Also strandbeests are there right now which are this really neat contraption that walks along beaches (look it up seriously! It's hard to explain) it's really cool.

Anyways what I'm trying to say is I had a day where I was feeling kind of sick and down. Felt feverish and hot flashy and was concerned It could be an infection. I ended up getting kind of freaked out by it after hours on Thursday and ended up calling the office which redirected me to Dr. Satterwhites cell phone to ask what to do. I never did get a response from that. So the next day I called at 9 when they opened and 12 again and left two voice mails asking to return my call because I was concerned I may have an infection. I decided to just go to the office myself since I wasn't able to get in contact with anyone. I finally got a call from them around 2 P.M. when I was already on my way to see them. So I guess it's nice they finally got back to me but I would have appreciated a faster response. I'm sure there is a good reason though. I went in and no infection. I'm fine. So I'm guessing It may be a response from starting up hormones again or possibly from cutting back on painkillers. I'm not sure but it was gone today and I am no longer feeling feverish. Friday was kind of emotional because of all that stuff that was going on. I felt home sick, and got close to crying for the first time in a while.


Today (the 25th) I went to Pride and took lots of pictures of people. Pride isn't really my thing anymore. I don't like dancing and if you're there alone there's not much else to do besides buy ->-bleeped-<- and dance haha. There was a surprising amount of weed smoking going on. I shouldn't be surprised but I thought since it's not legal here like it is in my home state that people would more incognito about it haha. I don't smoke so it doesn't matter but it was just something that struck me that I couldn't go anywhere and not smell weed. Just going out and doing stuff is a nice thing to do after the past couple of days.


So besides a couple of days this trip has been going well. Surgery overall has been easy peasy. Dilating sucks hard. Seriously it's a pain.


I will be updating this in the future and will answer any questions anyone has! The frequency of updates depends on if anyone is interested. 

[kittenpower]

Congratulations, I'm glad you're doing well now. Your Dr. should have called you ASAP, if you have any more issues, and you can't reach him, or someone else, please don't wait, and go directly to the nearest hospital emergency room. And Strandbeests are very cool 😊

[WendyAnn.1969]

OMG I'm so interested in this and any other details since I'm personally going in for the same procedure with the same surgeon... and it's even less than a month away...   I have a lot to do before then so there is no time to worry over this.

I'm having mine on a Thursday not Friday so I am extremely interested if CPMC has gotten their ->-bleeped-<- together (especially over the weekend) in caring for trans surgical patients yet.  Ruby had such a bad experience (in comparison) .  I am hoping I don't have to intervene if they don't properly care for me...trust me that I will and so will my wife.

I'm interested in how long you stayed on PCA pump, when you switched to oral, when you could drink, eat, and get up...was there a bathroom in the room for your support person, could they shower if they wanted, is there a recliner or cot available for them if they want to stay?  How young and fit you are, etc.  I'm 47 5'7" and 190 and not the "athletic" type..heck, I don't really exercise or even walk that much on a day to day basis.  I did lose about 180 lbs 7 years ago and have kept it off...so there is that...

Do you have a low or high pain tolerance? What does this compare to in your past for pain and being laid up?

Your story gives me hope but reinforces that there obviously appear to be two modalities for this surgery. It's a either bitch or a breeze....not somewhere in between.

Not surprised about their lack of response to you.  In comparison I'm only staying about a mile from their Greenbrae office and I will just.....show up   I choose to stay on top of them because it would appear that the majority of the office personnel I have interacted with thus far - appears to lack the ability to handle the traffic of patients in their office  *and* provide timely support or even answer questions for people who are remote in a timely manner.  Certainly this is what I observed over the last year on a very consistent basis.

[DawnOday ✅]

I've had four heart surgeries over the years. Thanks DES. I have the same feverish feeling after each one. They have to bring fans in to keep me cool. It is the bodies, fight or flight response to being subjected to trauma.

[HouseHippo]

Kittenpower, I am really happy to have all of this behind me now! I agree, I wish I could have received a callback earlier than I did. I was nervous that I would have to go deal with doctors that wouldn't know what the hell to do with a fresh post op trans patient. I was given their staff RN's contact information during the appointment that I can call at anytime. So it won't ever be an issue in the future if I need to call. Yea Strandbeests are really neat! They're huge in person.


KrisAvery1969, Dr. Satterwhite has been a very good surgeon. He's always been very nice to talk to and calming. The only issue I had was being unable to get in contact with him on Thursday. If that has you a little worried talk to him about it when you see him. I had good care while I was at CPMC over the weekend. Like you said Ruby did not! Which is an awful thing to go through. I'm glad you have some muscle with you if you need help. I was told by one of the nurses that I liked a lot that they were understaffed all weekend. So keep that in mind.

I was never on a PCA pump. I was able to eat and drink in the evening of the surgery, if I'm remembering correctly. I was told to stop eating food at noon the day before and I made the mistake of stopping at 6 in the morning. So by the time I arrived for surgery at 8 in the morning I hadn't had any food for 26 hours. One of the first things I asked when I awoke was when I could eat haha. Don't make that mistake! Around midnight on the day of surgery I was able to get up with assistance to go to the bathroom. Yes there was a bathroom in the room and there was also a shower, although I didn't get to use it since I had packing and a catheter in. There was only one chair in the room with me for my support person. She stayed at the studio we rented for the month. It would be pretty uncomfortable to stay in the hospital with you for a long time.

I'm 22 and healthy. 5'11" 140 pounds. With that said though, I sit at a computer all day and don't exercise more than walking on the treadmill, and hiking every so often. Congratulations on keeping the weight off! I have a high pain tolerance. This whole thing has been easy for me. I don't really have a comparison for a time when pain was really high thinking about it so I don't know what to say. Maybe I have a bad memory for pain. It was annoying to not be able to move very well during the first day to two days. I was able to go to the bathroom by myself and walk around by around day 2 to 3 with a hobble. Once out of the hospital movement was pretty easy besides the catheter.

I'm glad my story gives you hope! Thanks for saying that makes me happy. I would personally just look at past surgeries that you've had and judge how you're going to do from those. I enjoy going to the dentists(because of the people) and my past surgeries have been easy for me too. I think I included that bit about the dentist to show my attitude towards these kinds of things haha. I am pretty calm and worry free and I think that helps with dealing with everything. 

I was surprised at the lack of response I hadn't had any problems up until that point. Your experience is probably the reality though haha. I think I just give people the benefit of the doubt too much.



DawnODay, four heart surgeries is a lot! Hopefully no more! The feverish feeling is awful. It wakes me up at night. It's good to know that I'm not the only one that has these feelings though, so thank you for saying so!



I am looking forward to going home on Wednesday so bad....

[RubyAliza]

Hi, I wish I had seen this thread earlier. You're leaving tomorrow, maybe I could have given you some company during Pride. I ended up skipping the clouds of weed smoke and swarms of people.

I'm happy to hear though you liked your results. Same here with me, although once the healing process sets in it looks like a mess. I hope once it all heals, and you are happy And hey, I liked the food at CPMC! Haha maybe it's because I'm poor and usually have to cobble together home cooked meals out of a bunch of random ingredients that don't go together (they should put me on that Chopped show on the food network haha). Anyways, sorry to hear about your friend not being so supportive. I know the feeling sadly, I spent a lot of time by myself after the surgery in pain, wishing I had someone with me, someone without the baggage or drama.

KrisAvery1969, I'm sure your surgery will go well like HouseHippo's. I agree though, their office staff is almost entirely lacking, especially on the scheduling end of things. Post op though, it's been easy at least for me. HouseHippo, I think the reason why Dr. Satterwhite didn't answer is because he's in Europe right now and maybe didn't have signal or something. Still though, that must have been frustrating, sorry to hear that

I'll be following your thread, especially to hear about your healing. Hope you feel better at home. Get lots of rest my dear

- Ruby

[allie0365]

Hi, I'm very interested in following your recovery/healing, please keep posting if you can. It must feel pretty great to be on the recovery side of things, congratulations. I have a consultation scheduled with Dr Satterwhite in late Oct so I have a vested interest! -Allie

[HouseHippo]

Hey everyone sorry it's taken me a while to update. I've been settling back in from getting home. So here's a quick update. I'm doing great. I am so happy to be home and not in a small San Francisco apartment.


My flight home was nice and easy. Before surgery, I was scared that I would need to be pushed through the airport in a wheelchair after surgery. I assumed I would still be too hurt to walk long distances or wait in line without assistance. Thankfully that wasn't the case. I did fine and felt no pain or discomfort. I could have handled the airport without assistance 10 days after surgery no problem.

I thought I would talk a little bit about my anxiety. Obviously this is just my experience so please don't expect GCS to be like magic. My anxiety is completely gone. Just poof overnight. Ever since the start of my trip when my brain registered that this is finally happening, I haven't had any anxiety about anything. For example: talking to strangers, talking in public on the phone, and meeting people used to give me anxiety. Not anymore!  I really think that this surgery has made me complete. Sorry I'm not sure how else to phrase that. I know it sounds dumb, but something just clicked when I was days away from surgery, and I haven't had any anxiety since. I'm finally me and I couldn't be happier.

Dilating is so much easier now that I'm home. I previously was just standing in the shower each time I needed to dilate. That was annoying and hurt my feet. Now I can sit in front of my computer and keep myself busy. 


Awww Ruby! I wish we could have met at pride that would have been awesome. I can't wait to get all healed up. I want to see the final product! I am very confident I am going to be happy though! Haha the food wasn't as bad as I was making it seem. Restaurant food was just better. I wish my friend would have been better too. I also wish I could have gone alone haha. I'm sorry you were in so much pain without a supportive friend. That must have been hard . Thanks for letting me know about him being in Europe. That makes sense.


Thanks, Allie. It's so nice to be done and recovering. Yay! Your consultation is coming up fast! Congratulations to you too .


Okay I can't think of anything else to put in this update. I'm sure I'll think of something later.

[kittenpower]

Hey everyone sorry it's taken me a while to update. I've been settling back in from getting home. So here's a quick update. I'm doing great. I am so happy to be home and not in a small San Francisco apartment.


My flight home was nice and easy. Before surgery, I was scared that I would need to be pushed through the airport in a wheelchair after surgery. I assumed I would still be too hurt to walk long distances or wait in line without assistance. Thankfully that wasn't the case. I did fine and felt no pain or discomfort. I could have handled the airport without assistance 10 days after surgery no problem.

I thought I would talk a little bit about my anxiety. Obviously this is just my experience so please don't expect GCS to be like magic. My anxiety is completely gone. Just poof overnight. Ever since the start of my trip when my brain registered that this is finally happening, I haven't had any anxiety about anything. For example: talking to strangers, talking in public on the phone, and meeting people used to give me anxiety. Not anymore!  I really think that this surgery has made me complete. Sorry I'm not sure how else to phrase that. I know it sounds dumb, but something just clicked when I was days away from surgery, and I haven't had any anxiety since. I'm finally me and I couldn't be happier.

Dilating is so much easier now that I'm home. I previously was just standing in the shower each time I needed to dilate. That was annoying and hurt my feet. Now I can sit in front of my computer and keep myself busy. 


Awww Ruby! I wish we could have met at pride that would have been awesome. I can't wait to get all healed up. I want to see the final product! I am very confident I am going to be happy though! Haha the food wasn't as bad as I was making it seem. Restaurant food was just better. I wish my friend would have been better too. I also wish I could have gone alone haha. I'm sorry you were in so much pain without a supportive friend. That must have been hard . Thanks for letting me know about him being in Europe. That makes sense.


Thanks, Allie. It's so nice to be done and recovering. Yay! Your consultation is coming up fast! Congratulations to you too .


Okay I can't think of anything else to put in this update. I'm sure I'll think of something later.

Hey Hip chick, I'm glad you're home and doing well, please keep us posted on your progress.