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

[Tills]

Good morning ladies.

Well in my absence from this forum for a few months everything started accelerating at an amazing pace. I've had various phone calls, online appointments, and a face-to-face clinic appointment with full medical check-up.

And: I'm booked in at the end of this month (August) for my vaginoplasty. I'm so thrilled.

xx

p.s. I increasingly like to call it Sex Confirming Surgery. Hopefully the phrase passes the censors as I feel it's the one which resonates most for me. My sex and gender are female. The surgery confirms it (even better than affirms which seems to place the power more in the hands of others).

[Tills]

p.s. oh by the way, the hospital have NOT asked me to come off estrogen. Their advice is now amended in accordance with recently updated WPATH guidelines.

I understand from the hospital that they will only tell you to come off estrogen if you are a) on oral administration and / or b) your estrogen level is high above e.g. > 800 pmol/L

[Lori Dee ✅]

And: I'm booked in at the end of this month (August) for my vaginoplasty. I'm so thrilled.

Welcome back, Tills, and congratulations!

That is exciting news.

[Tills]

p.s. I'm also booked in for a bullhorn lip lift: https://www.susans.org/index.php?topic=254703.0

xx

[Tills]

Welcome back, Tills, and congratulations!

That is exciting news.

Thanks so much Lori Dee.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder Actually I've been up to my eyes in renovating and decorating in Scotland so it worked quite well really.

xx

[Rochelle]

Welcome back, you were greatly missed. Hoping everything works well for you. 💚

[Stottie Girl]

Brilliant to see you back Tills.

I am massively excited to hear about your journey. Are you still going with Miss Tina Rashid? She is still my no 1 choice for me when I get to your point in my own journey.

[Charlotte Kitty ✅]

Hope it all goes smoothly

[Tills]

Brilliant to see you back Tills.

I am massively excited to hear about your journey. Are you still going with Miss Tina Rashid? She is still my no 1 choice for me when I get to your point in my own journey.

No Mr James Bellringer in fact. There's a bit of a backstory about this. Under the NHS funding you can't request a particular surgeon. Well, you might be able to if you had for example a particular problem with a male or female surgeon, but they work as a team and therefore you are assigned according to their list schedules. The added factor about this is that I have heard Ms Rashid only operates every fortnight, at the most, whereas Mr Bellringer is full on with his surgeries. So the bottom line (ho-ho) is that I'd probably have had a lengthy delay if I had insisted on Ms Rashid.

So I accepted that and I'm happy about it. I don't mind at all. I got on well with Mr Bellringer at our consultation and he is, after all, now the most senior transgender surgeon in the UK.

It's quite possible that I will still see Ms Rashid in the process as they interchange e.g. on ward rounds and follow-up appointments.

xx

[Stottie Girl]

I think Tina Rashid does a fair bit of private work so that's probably why.

Either way, you are in good hands, they work out of the same place, so I'm still interested in your experience. I'm quite excited for you Tills! It seems to have come round so quickly.

[Tills]

I think Tina Rashid does a fair bit of private work so that's probably why.

Either way, you are in good hands, they work out of the same place, so I'm still interested in your experience. I'm quite excited for you Tills! It seems to have come round so quickly.

Thanks so much Stottie Girl.

It really did accelerate all of a sudden didn't it? It was suddenly appointment after appointment in a quick rush, which I'm so pleased about.

Generally Mr Bellringer gets great reviews. Our very own @SoupSarah went to him privately at Parkside I believe and had nothing but praise for the whole experience there.

xx

[Stottie Girl]

Well keep us posted. I thing Mr Bellringer has been around for as long as I remember wanting "Sex confirming surgery" he must be getting on a bit. I've been hearing that name for decades He must have fantastic experience.

[Tills]

G'day everyone.

Had my final pre-Assessment appointment today, which went well.

So I'm booked in for 3 weeks today. Yay!

Slight trepidation but I know it has to be done.

xx

[Finally Anna]

So I'm booked in for 3 weeks today. Yay!
Slight trepidation but I know it has to be done.

Exciting! Can't wait to hear about the experience(s) when everything is "in place".
💕

[Stottie Girl]

G'day everyone.

Had my final pre-Assessment appointment today, which went well.

So I'm booked in for 3 weeks today. Yay!

Slight trepidation but I know it has to be done.

xx

Woohoo! I'm so chuffed for you Tills! I would give anything to be where you are now!

[Lori Dee ✅]

Congrats, Tills!

That is exciting news. You have been waiting a long time for this.

Hope all goes well and wish you all the best.

[Tills]

Thank you so much ladies 💕 Your kind comments and encouragement are massively appreciated.

I woke up quite early this morning and I know that it's because now I'm back from renovating my place in Scotland, with the pre-assessment appointment completed, and having the surgery 3 weeks today (not y'day: I was getting ahead of myself lol), ... it's now very very real. It's not awaking with dread, at all, more excitement but also of course some trepidation.

And it's a strange thing. You're right @Lori Dee about the long, long, wait. Suddenly though it's accelerating really fast. Like a river you meander for ages but then you see the mist rising on the horizon, hear the roar of the rapids, and soon your boat is hurtling towards the raging torrent (but hopefully not the rocks).* I don't think an ordeal metaphor is a bad one because at the age of 62 I know this is going to be life-changing and, at times, tough.Very soon you're through the other side and you know it's something you had to do: to reach your goal and be on the stretch of river you knew you were always meant to inhabit.

@Stottie Girl I know the wait like this is awful and I really hope that yours will come through more quickly.


* Real life metaphor. A few years ago I paddled down the upper Mekong in a rickety canoe.

[Tills]

p.p. s. I also haven't told a single family member. My friend in Surrey knows because I'll be convalescing at hers, but her children don't which could be interesting. Two friends on the south coast know because after a month I may need to stay with them whilst my friend goes on a mini holiday. My old school friend in Bangkok knows. You friends on this forum. And my counsellor knows. And that's it. No one else and right now I've no intention of telling anyone else. Why so?

I would spread the cloths under your feet
But I, being poor, have only my dreams
I have spread my dreams under your feet
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

[Tills]

Also I have a question please.

Exactly a month after the procedure my friend at whose house I'll be convalescing is going on a mini break and I will have to find somewhere else to be for 5 nights. My friends on the south coast have offered to have me, which may sound ideal but I do have some slight reservations. I'm not very good at staying in other people's homes, in fact I never now do it apart from my Surrey friend's where I have my own en-suite attic bedroom. I often get up in the night and make a cup of tea etc. and I also get anxious if I'm feeling trapped which I've a feeling I might at theirs especially as it's a ground floor room with little light. And I don't particularly fancy the 2 hour journey to get there and back.

The alternative is a lovely new Hilton hotel a mile from my friend's where I have stayed a few times. I really like it. Superb rooms, fantastic views, spotlessly clean, outstanding breakfast, nice staff, full room service. I am very tempted to stay there especially as I'd get the 5th night free (the Manager owes me one). My friend would drop me off and pick me up after her break. It's only 10 minutes from A&E and, indeed, only 30 minutes from Parkside itself. It will be a month after surgery but I'd be on my own ... so is it a good idea / bad idea?

xx

[Lori Dee ✅]

That sounds like a great place to stay. A hotel with housekeeping and room service? Sign me up!

As it will be a month post-op, I think you will be fine on your own. But let your body tell you what it needs. If you are having issues and you would be unsafe or unsure about staying alone, reconsider the friends' offer. Barring any complications, I think you are in for a nice, relaxing treat at a nice hotel.