GCS surgery draws closer: I'm now "top of the waiting list"

[Tills]

Is there anything you can tell me about Tina Rashid?  I have a consult with her in late June.  Hopefully my visa issues will be sorted by then, Home Office willing.

Oh that's great news Liz, assuming the visa situation is okay.

Everything I've heard about Tina Rashid has been extremely positive. I've heard great reports from a variety of unrelated sources. Even moments like yesterday add to that picture: 'Oh I know Tina well. She's great.'

I was chatting separately to another doctor recently who was at a Conference where Tina Rashid was a keynote speaker and he said that the whole room was totally in awe. 'Could have heard a pin drop,' he said and he added, 'You could not be in better hands.' She seems to be garnering a lot of accolades, to the point where I think she's probably THE go-to GRS surgeon now in the UK.

However, in the interests of objectivity I will add that Tina Rashid has worked under Dr James Bellringer and both he and Parkside did come in for criticism on this forum some years ago:
https://www.susans.org/index.php?topic=242022.msg2191475#msg2191475

@SoupSarah had GRS more recently at Parkside under Dr Bellringer and said that Parkside is a lovely hospital.

[Stottie Girl]

Tina Rashid would definitely be my first choice. I can only see positive comments about her and I just don't want to have such major surgery abroad. It's bad enough I don't have a support network.

[Tills]

Tina Rahid would definitely be my first choice. I can only see positive comments about her and I just don't want to have such major surgery abroad. It's bad enough I don't have a support network.

I totally get that.

When I had my 9-hour FFS in Thailand I thought I was going to be on my own. I had lined up an English-speaking Thai nurse to help during the nights after discharge from hospital, which was arranged through Bobbie aka @warlockmaker  My intention after that was to go to Koh Phangan for several weeks to recuperate, not the full moon party side of the island but the northern parts where there are lots of Buddhist and related retreats. In the event the friend with whom I still have a base in Surrey flew out to Thailand to be with me through the operation and immediate aftermath: totally off her own bat and I flew back to hers a week after the op.

Whereas back then my C-PTSD was still buried deep within and raw, I've since been treating with it and I'm much more conscious of its presence and the triggers. Therefore I too don't think I could mentally cope with surgery abroad again: not even the bilateral orchidectomy which I had out there, and probably not the lip lift either. I would too readily go into panic mode.

xx

[Charlotte Kitty ✅]

Is there anything you can tell me about Tina Rashid?  I have a consult with her in late June.  Hopefully my visa issues will be sorted by then, Home Office willing.

Congratulations on such big news. Hopefully you'll get in quickly afterwards X

[jackiefox5585]

So exciting. I hope it goes well.

[Tills]

So today I got the phone call giving me my first appointment with the hospital next week. It's a triage and general consultation to start with and they will then talk me through the next steps.

I don't know how long the actual Gender Affirming Surgery will be from here but it feels like things are happening and a significant step.

Wow. 🙂

xx

[Dawn Kellie]

That's great news. Keep us informed

[Athena]

Good luck and when they say to ice for pain management they mean it.

[Lori Dee ✅]

Good news, Tills!

Congrats!

[Charlotte Kitty ✅]

So today I got the phone call giving me my first appointment with the hospital next week. It's a triage and general consultation to start with and they will then talk me through the next steps.

I don't know how long the actual Gender Affirming Surgery will be from here but it feels like things are happening and a significant step.

Wow. 🙂

xx

Congratulations x

[Stottie Girl]

So today I got the phone call giving me my first appointment with the hospital next week. It's a triage and general consultation to start with and they will then talk me through the next steps.

I don't know how long the actual Gender Affirming Surgery will be from here but it feels like things are happening and a significant step.

Wow. 🙂

xx

That is wonderful news Tills. I'm so excited for you. It's all go in your life at the moment! I am very interested in your journey as it is the route I would like to follow with Dr Rashid. How long have you been on the list if you don't mind me asking? I'm assuming it is the NHS route and not private.

Have they discussed whether you would need to have electrolysis down there or not? I know some surgeons don't require it. No worries if you don't want to discuss it, I realise it's a bit of a personal question.

[Tills]

Hi @Stottie Girl it's fine by me to ask

I started a thread a while back with timelines, so here's your answer on that score:

https://www.susans.org/index.php?topic=250977.new#new

So, yes, NHS route. I did slightly wonder if things accelerated because of going there for my private lip lift consultation and forthcoming procedure. My lip lift surgeon wrote to the Gender Surgery team - at the same hospital and the two surgeons know each other well. But it might just be coincidence that the first appointment has come through a few days after she wrote to them.

I've had 6 laser hair removal treatments down below. It'll be interesting to see next week whether or not they want me to have more.

xx

[Tills]

Good luck and when they say to ice for pain management they mean it.

Can I ask others who've been through this whether they used ice?

Apparently I have a high pain threshold although I'm beginning to wonder if that's any longer true!

I can't take anything with morphine in it, including codeine, as it makes me throw up.

After I had my orchidectomy I just used paracetamol.

xx

[Stottie Girl]

Thanks for the link Tills.

My Mum has the same problem with Morphine (throwing up violently). I worry about her if she ever gets any severe pain. She broke her arm at the ball socket a few years back and they couldn't give her opiates so they just gave her Ibuprofen. She said it basically did nothing. I hope there are alternatives for people in your situation.

[Tills]

God that sounds horribly painful

Naproxen is fairly strong and non-opioid.

When Dr Sutin realised the issue he switched me to another strong non-opioid one. I think it was Celecoxib but it might have been Ketorolac. I'll ask my friend if she can remember which it was. I was in a bit of a blur at the time.

I will also say that although Dr Sutin was fantastic, as were PAI, the hospital were not. The nurse on the intensive care ward where I was supposed to be monitored the first night refused to let my friend into the ward and she went to sleep. She also spoke no English.

PAI have since switched to using a different hospital.

[Charlotte Kitty ✅]

I'm going to ask my surgeon for a non opiod pain relief regime if possible as believe this is a much more modern method. I had codeine prescribed for migraines and it just made me feel nauseous. And didn't stop the headache.

Charlotte

[davina61]

Did I say this to you before? I did not need hair removal, just a couple of months from first visit to operation and I only used the morphine once to get to sleep after the op. Found I did not need pain killers, Dr Tia came and did the follow up checks as she assisted on the op. Out and back home in less than a week, bit stiff walking for a good few days. I had to climb stairs up to the 2nd floor to my flat and I managed that okay. Just make sure you have plenty of pads and baby changing mats for when you get home as it can be messy for a while!

[Charlotte Kitty ✅]

Hair removal really depends on both the surgeon and technique. I'm going for scrotal skin graft and my surgeon needs perineum and scrotum clear. They can follicle scrape the scrotal skin to deal with some, but I prefer to be cautious as hair growth inside is not good at all. For the sake a removing as much hair as possible this mitigates risk so much more. But really best to check with surgeon and decide how to proceed.

[Tills]

Well following comments above ^^^ I've been in touch today with my laser hair clinic in Surrey. See here: https://www.susans.org/index.php?topic=250585.0

I think I'm going to start another round of 6 x treatments on face, chest & tummy, and down below.

I don't really want to take a chance with it for my Gender Affirming Surgery and I'd like to have more work on my lip ahead of a lip lift.

xx