This is my post talking about the first couple of days after surgery.

I went to Dr. K Ashley Brandt in Reading, PA.

05/04/2023 - Surgery Day

I had to do a clear liquid diet as well as bowel prep the day before surgery. It was intense but it clears you out for sure. I checked into the hospital at 5:30 AM. They verified my I.D, insurance card, surgery procedure I was getting done, etc. Once I was checked in, they brought me back to pre-op right away. I met with the admission nurse who gave me a gown, grippy socks, and some wipes so I could give myself a good wipe down. Then, she drew my blood to run some lab tests. My anesthesiologist came into the room and asked me a bunch of questions. Finally, my surgeon came into the room and checked in with me, went over the procedure one last time, and we ended up just talking a bit which helped calm my nerves. Next thing I knew, my anesthesiologist and surgeon asked if I was ready to go, I said yes, and they started transporting me to the OR. They gave me a light sedation headed towards the OR but I was still conscious. I remember the OR being frigid and bright. Watching the OR team work was incredible. They transferred me over to the table, got me hooked up to EKG leads, put my arms and legs in position, and the last thing I remember vividly was my surgeon walking over to me with her Batman cap, and placing her hand on my arm. This brought me so much comfort, I knew for certain I was in good hands. I closed my eyes.

When I came to, I remember feeling slightly dizzy and disoriented. I was dying for a sip of water, and the medical staff supervising my wake spoon fed me some ice chips which felt heavenly. The first pain I noticed was the catheter putting some pressure on my bladder and intense pressure on my prostate. I’d say maybe a 4/10 on the pain scale. I was surprised at how quickly I was coming to my senses. They rolled me to the inpatient room I was scheduled to stay in for three days. Here, things started to get a little blurry again. I remember my pain increasing from a 4 to a 6 or 7. They were setting up a machine that puts pain meds into an IV at the press of a button (Dilaudid), and the medical staff transferred me from one bed to another. In a dazed state, the food service staff was asking what I wanted for dinner (they had a big menu.) I started with some noodles, veggie broth and a fruit cup to keep it light and easy on my stomach. The food came pretty much right away and I inhaled it, which led me to feel even better after not having eaten any real food 24 hours prior. I slept on and off that night, my pain was managed well. I'd say after the Dilaudid it never really spiked up past 3 or 4.

05/05/2023

This day was the worst, I woke up incredibly itchy from the Dilaudid, but was hesitant about going off of it because of fear of pain. I became incredibly nauseous that day and ended up skipping breakfast and lunch. I did throw up a little bit which in all honesty helped me feel better. I honestly don't remember much from this day due to the drugs but I do remember being able to eat tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner because throwing up made me feel less nausea. I also remember spending most of this day deep breathing and trying to not throw up which only held me off for so long.

05/06/2023

I remember going in and out of sleep most of the day until around 1:00 P.M when my surgeon came in to remove my bandages and put on fresh ones. This was certainly a sight. Seeing my vagina for the first time in person was astonishing, I saw past the blood and the stitching to see the potential of a really well crafted vagina and it gave me lots of hope. Once my bandages were changed I felt good. Pain was managed, nausea was doing okay especially after a dose of Zofran. The most pain I was feeling at that point was from all the gas I was having. I couldn’t fart for the life of me and I was too scared to try pooping so I just kinda held it in and it became pretty bad. In hindsight, the gas pain was the worst out of all of it with moments of it shooting up to an 8-9. I also had a moment on the evening of this day where my fever became slightly elevated at 101.8 (totally normal) so I felt that chill-ish feeling you get from having a fever. This was also the point that I requested to be taken off the Dilaudid and put on oral meds (oxycodone) which helped so much with itchiness and grogginess, also depending on where you go, you have to wear a breathing monitor if you’re on Dilaudid since it’s a narcotic and having something that's attached to your nose and hangs in front of your mouth is really annoying and inconvenient, so I felt great when they took that off. They also make you do breathing exercises to prevent pneumonia. After some tylenol and a final dose of Zofran, I was able to sleep intermittently, waking up about once every hour or two.

05/07/2023

I didn’t have an appetite when I woke up so I just sipped some orange juice, water, and munched on some graham crackers. My surgeon and one of the RN’s came in to check on me and see how I was feeling. I told them I was very motivated to go home today so they almost immediately went to work. My surgeon stayed and went over some post-op instructions with me. My packing and catheter would stay in for about 10 days (usually it’s 7 but I ended up having a very narrow urethra.) Standing after three days of laying was a challenge. Mind you, I’m a very active person, I work out almost daily, lots of leg strength and cardio. I thought standing would be easy but it took me about 10 minutes to get out of bed and each of my legs felt like they weighed 100 pounds. The drive home wasn’t terrible (you can not drive yourself, I had a friend drive me.) I live about an hour away from my surgeon's office and it was fine. I put a donut pillow under my butt and laid back the entire way. Getting home was an absolute blessing. Being back in my bed and my comfort space was incredible. I also had a bowel movement for the first time in like 3 days which relieved so much of my gas pain. I ordered some food and pretty much laid in bed the rest of the day. Sleeping when I got home was so much better. I slept through the whole night for the first time in 4 days. I woke up the next morning feeling fresh and well rested. I haven’t taken anything stronger than Tylenol since I’ve arrived at home. I’m planning on posting my 10 day follow up as well follow up’s at one month, three months, six months, and a year. If you have any specific questions feel free to reach out to me and ask! I’d be happy to answer.

In summary, the whole experience was definitely a challenge but I couldn’t see myself doing it with anyone else. Dr. Brandt is unexplainably sweet, professional, and relatable (us both being non-binary lesbians.) She made me feel validated and her staff is just out of this world when it comes to round the clock care.