I had acupuncture with Rose again today. This time it was for my dodgy knee. i've never had a dodgy knee before but I've turned 30 and look at me now. As Rose activated the needles I could feel the bottom of my left labia tingling like crazy. Other than that, things have settled down tremendously. I went to see Doc Bellringer on Thursday last week. Only a minor complication. I'm fine again.
He had the other SRS surgeon, Phil Thomas, in with him. The poor guy has a horrible looking skin condition on his face and arms. I was in and out quickly as per usual but there was a slight complication. Bellringer frowned when I mentioned still having a pussy discharge. He had a look (my first gyno examination, yay...) and then there was some discussion amoungst themselves and the diagnosis was granulation. That's right girls, a new word. A granulation is a point where the flesh is not completely joined together after re-constructive surgery. The solution dispensed was... sodium nitrate?? HAVE TO CHECK.
He daubed at the inside of my vagina with what looked like a giant matchstick that you'd use to light a BBQ. It was highly unpleasant, a little painful but mercifully quick. "Come and see us in a month's time, ok?" OK indeed.
The good news is that it seems to have done the trick and although some really horrid smelling discharge came out over the next 24hrs, the matchstick seems to have dispelled the pus.
This caught my eye today and I'm being truly punished for not concentrating on my work. Living with a rectovaginal fistula describes how a small fistula may only be identified by a brown discharge on a pad. I think I've got one. Wrote to Bellringer but it'll probably be a few days before I get a response.
Of course, now I'm feeling every little tiny movement down below and every twinge is scary. No more blading for now.
You're supposed to wait three months beford doing any aerobics but the book says nothing about rollerblading. I decided to give it a go, taking it relatively easy though. It was heavenly to be back on my feet gliding again.
I seem to have a new sensation around the clitoris every since though. It's not painful.
It doesn't appear in any of the notes or documentation I've found so here goes a little practical advice on inserting a dilator. It seems obvious in hindsight but I could have done with a little in advance...
Start by angling the dilator straight down into the vagina, and gently push it in. The angle of your artificially created vagina may differ slightly from that of a GG's. After inserting it a little way, drop your hand, about 45 degrees, so that the dilator is aiming further up your body. The point at which to start doing this will become obvious as you start pressing against the pelvic bone otherwise. If the angle isn't right you aren't going anywhere, so don't rush yourself and put yourself under pressure. I found that it was sometimes easiest to pull out and try again.
Received letter from James Bellringer to GP:
I saw this patient in my outpatient clinic on the 17th June 2002. She is doing well following gender reassignment surgery. There was some florid granualation tissue over the urethra which I have treated with silver nitrate and I have asked her to come back in a further month.
The letter is actually slightly out-of-date. Went back to Charing Cross on Monday, had a full inspection by Phil Thomas and I'm booked in for a minor procedure on 5th August that will enlarge the urethra slightly and hopefully deal with the granulation. Phil said that it may have cleared up by then but that the urethra narrowing was unlikely to reverse by itself. I need to pee quickly so I'm up for another op.