My Sex Affirming Surgery at Nuffield Parkside southwest London

[Tills]

And an update about my bullhorn lip lift also at Parkside:

https://www.susans.org/index.php?topic=254703.new#new

Xx

[Tills]

Good morning!

4 weeks since the surgery.

I'm taking 2 x 400mg p.d. slow release ibuprofen along with a PPI to protect against ulcers. Whilst ibuprofen is a decent pain relief and good against inflammation, it is risky because of stomach and intestinal ulcers so as soon as I can get off this, I will.

Yesterday I managed to reduce down from 4 x 1mg paracetamol per 24 hrs to 3 x 1mg paracetamol. (Paracetamol = Tylenol)

Also taking 3 x 100mg DulcoEase p.d. and drinking two cups of prune juice p.d. to help against constipation, which is a hazard of both ibuprofen and reduced mobility. I've also maintained a high fibre diet and I've passed stools all but one day in the past 4 weeks, without strain.

And I'm on 1 x 100mg Doxycycline p.d. as an anti infection prophylaxis for another week.

There is no longer any discharge.

Pain? I'm still sore. If I could grade this out of 100:

Orchidectomy 15
Full Facial Surgery 55
Bone contusion in left tibia 70

This GCS 100

I'd say it's now around 70. Possibly reducing by a point or two per day.

I shower now 3 x per day, carefully washing with lukewarm water and I have 1 x bath p.d. In lukewarm water for extra cleaning. No soap or other products on the area healing. After peeing I pour lukewarm water down over my vagina. Then after patting dry with a soft dry towel, I use a hair drier on lowest and cold setting to dry myself down below. I spend a lot of the day naked from the waist down with windows open and a distant fan blowing air gently over me to promote natural healing.

Every night I apply medical grade Manuka honey to the granulation / dehiscence / sore area. But I'm going to switch this to the gauze version because every time I pee in the night the honey washes away. I pee two or three times between 10 pm and 5 am because a) I've always drunk loads of water and b) the meds that I have to take at bedtime typically require a full glass of water.

I don't smoke and I haven't consumed alcohol for 7 years.

Mobility is increasing but, wow, I was totally unprepared for how spaced out I would feel with even small amounts of walking. Half a mile leaves me completed zapped. This is from someone who hiked 10kms every day.

My vagina looks fantastic and feeling is gradually returning down below. Swelling has reduced to very little. Pain on dilation is to be expected but the real soreness comes from granulation/dehiscence tissue at the base of the V, which has been excruciatingly sore at times. Gradually, gradually, easing.

I can definitely feel sexual pulses going on, which is quite a strange (but not unpleasant) feeling.

I haven't used ice much at all. Mainly because ANY pressure on the wound site hurt like hell, even ice, and partly because all it did was reduce pain for a few minutes. And you're not supposed to use it too often. In fact I came to feel it was doing more harm than good.

It's a long haul and I wasn't prepared for it. That may sound a strange thing to say, but I really wasn't prepared for just how sore I would be, nor how absolutely wiped out I'd feel.

Next week my friend is away on holiday so I'm going to be in a local brand new Hilton hotel for 5 nights. It's a nice place with room service so hopefully it won't be too scary being on my own now.

xx

[Tills]

By the way, I put myself onto the Doxycycline but I informed my GP, who was totally unfazed by my decision. Doxy is an excellent broad-spectrum tetracycline which is particularly useful against some UTI's.

I had a solid supply of Doxy because I've used it as a great anti-malarial on many occasions in my world travelling so I know I tolerate it well. Always take it with a full glass of water and sit upright for half an hour. And don't sunbathe.

I did this because when I was discharged from Parkside I had what turned into a very nasty infection, and the warning of 'sepsis' was even being used by doctors in A&E. I was given i/v antibiotics in hospital and then a powerful 7-day cocktail of antibiotics but when these stopped I still had some discharge down below.

Whilst I understand the current urgency of western medics to stop dishing out antibiotics because of increasingly resistant bacterial strains, the fact is that the 'third' world continues to use them readily and many are available over the counter and, secondly, on this one occasion I just didn't want to play with fire. The infection I had was horrible. My GP was supportive of my decision.

Generally I don't advise self-medicating, especially not hormones, but on the other hand I've lived very remotely, including 6 years in the rainforest where the handbook 'Where There is No Doctor' was our bible.

(That book even included a DIY appendectomy 🫣🫣🫣)

[Robyn Zola]

So glad you're doing better, Tills

[Petunia]

Tills, I'm really impressed you are taking the time to document all this in real time.

It can only benefit others who decide on the same procedure.

I hope you are over the worst of it now.

There is only one direction for you now.

Best wishes. P

[Tills]

Thanks so much @Petunia and others.

I hope that by posting full but measured updates it may be helpful for others in the future.

I had my first relatively pain-free night since the surgery. Mobility is slowly increasing: 3700 steps yesterday and likely more than that today.

A little later I am being collected by friends on the south coast with whom I'll stay for 5 days. For my mental wellbeing this turned out to be preferable to the hotel option which risked being lonely, and occasionally frightening. The Hilton gave me free cancellation which is pretty impressive for a corporate organisation in this day and age.

I have what the Parkside nurses tell me is granulation tissue. It's a pink patch on one side of the V about the size of a £1 coin, 1 Euro, or (I think) a US Quarter ... and it hurts, a lot. At this stage it only, they say, becomes an immediate issue for attention if it turns into hyper-granulation or if I get a return of other complications like fever, feeling unwell, or sickness.

Apart from that everything else seems at the moment to be healing well. Fingers crossed.

xx

[Tills]

Five and a half weeks after surgery and progress isn't too bad. Pain is gradually falling so I've been able to reduce pain killers slightly. I still have sore days which usually seem to follow a previous day of more activity. Once the slough skin was cleared I went back to showers only (not baths) and this seemed to help soreness diminish.

Walking has increased. It's not exactly major but I did total 9,000 steps on Tuesday with an average now of 5,000 steps a day so I'm gradually building back up. I still get exhausted suddenly but mobility is definitely better.

Down below the granulation tissue is annoying and gives off a slight odour which isn't pleasant. It's about the size of a £1 coin and I put medical manuka honey on it at night which seems to help. I believe Mr Bellringer may treat the granulation with silver nitrate when I see him in December.

I'm also a bit annoyed by hair growth on the outside of the vagina: on the labia. I did have laser treatment prior to surgery and so far as I can tell there's no hair growth inside my vagina. I haven't dared take a lady shave to the labia yet for fear of disturbing the healing and scars.

Generally though, I seem to be on the mend, fingers crossed.

[Stottie Girl]

That's not minor walking either, so soon after major surgery Tills. I'm delighted that your recovery is finally starting to ease, at least a little. I love these little updates you give us on your progresss.

Take care.

Sarah xx