One Month Update

One thing often missing from surgery stories is a post-surgical update. What is life like post-op? These are my experiences at one month post-op. I will similarly write up my experiences at three months post-op.

Sutures

Sutures are the stiches that go all through your vagina to hold everything together. They disolve somewhat randomly, so when you're dialating at any time you may pull out your dialator to find what appears to be a piece of string stuck to it. Don't pull on any loose sutures you see, they'll come out when they feel like it.

Dilation

Dilation is a pain. As I mentioned, I was quite narrow, and found dilating with the smallest dialator difficult at first. About two and a half weeks post-op I was able to move up to the middle dialator. One thing I found helpful was to rotate the dialator. Since Dr. Meltzer's dialators are curved, this can only be done early in insertion. I think using a little rotation really helped me get up to the medium dialator.

A little over a week after I got the medium dialator in, I got the large one in. I was surprised, but it just happened. For a few days I'd been pressing on the large dialator once a day to see how far it would go in. This was quite uncomfortable, but it's important to make progress early on. Then, one night, it just started to slide in. I was applying pressure and, slowly, it slid in. It hurt a fair bit actually, but after a while it began to feel better.

I am probably going to try some of the Intellistents. A friend of mine who I met at Eastmoreland sings their praises. While Dr. Meltzer's stents are great, the Intellistents are shaped differently, and the variety is apparently a boon for increasing vaginal size. Also, the intellistents come in larger sizes than the largest of Dr. Meltzer's dialators. I have discovered, unfortunately, that my boyfriend is quite a bit bigger than my largest dialator.

Health

At one month post-op I'd say my health has been totally restored. My energy level is as good (if not better) than when I was pre-op. Certainly, I'm capable of doing anything physically I could before.

My abdomen is still a little tender and swolen. I presume this is in part from dilation, which must agrivate the surgical site.

Sensitivity

My clitoris is still sensitive. The area around the clitoris is also very sensitive. For about a two inch radius, there is some sexual sensation associated with pressure on the skin.

Besides my clitoris, my vagina as a whole is not sensitive. I can pinch my labia without feeling pain. There is no particular sensation associated with the skin of my vaginal canal, though pressure in the vagina I can feel. While as I've described, there is sexual sensation associated with pressure near the clitoris (Dr. Meltzer keeps most of the glans tissue below the clitoris, where it still can produce sensation), I would have to say that the skin itself is not sensitive.

Speaking of sensitivity, wearing any sort of tight clothing (like jeans) introduces uncomfortable sensitivity for me. When I walk, fabric inevitably rubs against my clitoris, which is uncomfortable. Stock up on skirts, dresses, and loose clothing!

Masturbation

Dr. Meltzer is known for his post-op orgasmic success rate. Based on some of the accounts I've read, I half expected to orgasm while waking up from surgery.

Finding myself with essentialy a zero sex drive after surgery, I waited a little over two weeks before trying to masturbate. The results were not impressive, as i was unable to reach any sort of state or arousal. i just wasn't interested in doing it, I was doing it mostly just to see if I could indeed orgasm. I tried again a week later with similar results.

After that I decided I'd wait until I actually felt some sexual arousal. My sex drive stayed at zero. Then, about five weeks after my surgery, I decided to peruse some erotic fiction. It took me a long time to get really aroused (maybe 40 minutes). Then, I masturbated, and managed after maybe another ten minutes to orgasm. The orgasm when finally reached was surprisingly strong, and long. I would have probably tried for a second, but I was distracted by the fact that my panties were wet. Apparently, during orgasm, or working up to orgasm, I produced a lot of...something. My vagina was very wet. I hadn't noticed until orgasm because my efforts were focussed on my clitoris.

I don't know exactly where all this lubricant came from, but I suspect it was produced by the prostate or the cowpers gland. I have no idea whether this will be relevent to vaginal intercourse, since I suspect most or all of the liquid was produced close to or at orgasm. I don't want to give anyone the idea that Dr. Meltzer's vaginas are self lubricating when the individual is sexually aroused. By my understanding, no SRS procedure exists that will allow someone to produce vaginal lubrication when aroused. There are ways to cause the vagina to produce lubrication (e.g. through use of a piece of the intestine) but the lubrication so produced is produced continually, not only at sexual arousal. By my next update, I hope to have more details about exactly when and how much of this lubrication is produced.

The method by which I masturbated involved rubbing and pressing on the area directly above my clitoris. As I reached orgasm, the rubbing and pressure on that area increased in vigor, until I orgasmed. I was also doing other things while masturbating, playing with my other parts so to speak, but at the time or orgasm, I was focussed entirely on the area directly above my clitoris.

Mental State

What can I say...I'm fine. I'm content. I'm bored with dialating. Any regrets? Not a one.

I'm finding it difficult to relate to being pre-op now that I am post-op. The idea of having a penis seems bizarre to me. I find myself feeling deep sympathy for any pre-op, who wants surgery, who can't get it immediately. I honestly can't see how I benefited at all in spending two and a half years transitioned before surgery.

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