Thoughts on Lower Surgery

[Felix]

I thought I'd put a few of my thoughts down about lower surgery having recently watched my friend have his gender reassignment and watching his recovery over the last two weeks.

His surgery took 9.5 hours which is a long time! He's had a hysto, grafts from his arm and both buttocks and now after two weeks he says he has never experienced such pain in his life
I would be lying if I said I'm not at all scared of what lies ahead of me and I don't feel like a weakling for admittimg it . I am concerned about so many things related to my surgery and after but that's a bridge ill l cross when it comes to it.
I know no pain no gain so I will do what I have to do to get to where I want to. Xx Felix :hugs:

[Katesback]

I have not seen nor herd of any result from F to M lower surgery that was even close to being what would fit into what I (and many other people) would call worth going through.

[nikkijo]

9.5 hrs... yikes... that in its self is not something I would want to pay for... regardless the results... even if igt was perfect.... the costs would kill me...

[alpha12]

I've only ever had arthroscopic surgeries and those hurt enough for me. I would only ever consider surgery it very, very good results were very likely.

One think to consider is that it sounds like you're dealing with some very cutting edge techniques, and each guy who gets the surgeries is another step to developing better techniques.

Of course, that sounds really great, until one contemplates weeks of terrible pain, scarring, and not great results. That sort of thing goes a long way towards undermining my sense of altruism.

I think it would be amazing and awesome and awe-inspiring if you did it. But I wouldn't.

But I'm disappointed whenever I wake up from a particularly nice dream and realize that in reality land, I don't actually have the equipment.

I guess it seems to me that it is such a difficult set of complex choices that wimpiness or the lack thereof is a pretty minor concern in the the big picture. Well, it isn't really, but it should be. And this is coming from someone with a pretty hefty obsession with being non-wimpy....

[Andy66]

There are some things you just have to do, because not doing it is unacceptable, right?

So you're saying your friend is still in pain after two weeks? Is it getting better, worse, or no change? How long is it supposed to take until he feels well? Wow, poor him. :sad:

[DanielMacBride]

Two weeks after a phallo surgery is not a long time - it's MAJOR surgery (radial flap phallo in a nutshell requires stripping the skin from the forearm, rolling it into a tube and attaching it to the groin, then placing skin grafts from the thigh or buttocks over the forearm) so it's not surprising that after only two weeks he is still in a lot of pain. I know a few guys here in Australia who have had the same surgery and it takes a long time to heal and can have complications.

I think sometimes people forget that surgery this invasive is a huge ask for the body, and expect recovery to be a lot faster than it happens naturally - modern medicine can do a lot of things, but it can't change the fact that surgery this major requires a long time for the body to heal all the skin, nerves and blood vessels etc that were used in the procedure. I could go into a whole rant about how western medicine in particular expects people to be up and about and back to normal within a far too short timeframe that isn't good for their bodies, but I won't (mainly because I will get sidetracked and rant about western medicine in general lol, there is so much wrong with it).

Felix is right though, it IS a scary procedure because it is so major - I would be worried if he said he wasn't scared, because he is right to be, it's a BIG thing. However it's also good that he is able to see the whole picture through his friend and be more informed about the aftermath and recovery, so that when he has his own surgery it won't be quite as scary because he will know what to expect and what's normal for this procedure.

[Felix]

Well My friend is doing better his bum graft is healing well and should be fine in another week or so :) As for the phallo that is not attatched to the groin it is at the front where any genetic males penis should be. it is attatched to the the pelvis through the pubic skin at the front look in this pdf from the site it explains everything and has pictures.

http://www.andrology.co.uk/downloads/Patient-Guide-To-Phalloplasty.pdf

His graft on the arm has took exceptionally well and all the stitches which took an hour and a half to extract and was excrutiatingly painful. He has full sensation and I mean full use your imaginations. He's on strong pain killers and can get about now but only short distances he needs transport for anything else. Next stage is the urethral hook up and possibly the ball implants. It's uncomfortable because of the amount of wound sites and the amount of stitches. Plus total hystorectomy.

Yeah Dan I feel sooooooo privillaged to be supporting my friend through this :) I just want them to ring me now and say here's ya date and like my mate not give me time to think too much just get on with it :) xx Felix :hugs:

[Lex]

Ooh, that does sound painful and scary. And the scars from the skin grafts...But you know what? Worth it. If this is what makes you happy and whole and content, it is so worth it. And I certainly don't think you're a weakling for being scared. In fact, being scared about something, but finding the courage to do it, that's bravery.

[Felix]

Thanx Lex :) xx Felix :hugs: