As the title says I got PPV Vaginoplasty 3 weeks ago with Dr Gallagher. Here's some of my story. It's a bit long and maybe some TMI but I don't want to leave anything out.

Last year I did my consult and set everything but insurance up because my insurance refused to do anything until this year. The first day of the year I contacted Gallagher again and gave them my stuff for my insurance again and got silence for over a month. Then it was a mad rush to get everything set up before the deadline of last month so I could actually get the surgery, with Gallagher's office lagging behind until the last second or I kept calling them until it was done. The day before the surgery I went to the hospital (Coral Gables, one of the higher end hospitals in Miami) and they handed me another bill for $3k after I already paid $14k to Gallagher that was supposed to be all my expenses for the surgery after insurance. I had to spend several hours getting the bill from Gallagher because I didn't think to take a several month old bill with me and I had to wait until 4 hours past the time the appointment was supposed to happen, but otherwise pre op went sort of normal.

The day of the surgery they got me in the waiting room, in my gown and set up, put the IV in me, and then wheeled me to the OR after a bit of a wait. I was knocked out before I even left my hospital room. I woke up afterwards drowsy and barely able to move and in a ton of pain and don't have any memory of right after the surgery other than I couldn't sit up or get up.

Day 1 after my surgery my mom came in to visit and tried to help, the nurses were nice but I could still barely move. Turns out someone forgot to turn the IV back on (why?) So I was getting dehydrated. All the nurses were waiting for the doctor to come in most of the day to ok me eating and drinking. When Gallagher did come in and say yes she was really nice and checked everything to make sure I was ok. I was barely able to eat and drink and move, I couldn't sleep and basically cried night one as I was forced to move around while they kept changing the makeshift diaper made of pads to keep blood from getting everywhere. The nurses did what they could to help and eventually gave me morphine for the pain.

Day 2 was a bit better. My appetite came back and I could move more. They got physical therapy in and I was a bit overenthusiastic and jumped right up to standing instead of sitting first since they tried to sit me on the diaper and it hurt. I almost knocked myself out and still have flashbacks to what happened then. The PT people said they'd come in twice a day every day but they didn't come in later. I had to try standing on my own, mostly because I was afraid I'd be unable to move anymore if I didn't, to which the nurses scolded me for putting myself in harm's way. I feel really bad about that night. I kept calling the nurse over for my meds as soon as I was able to because they'd wear off after an hour so I'd wake up every hour.

Day 3 in the hospital and I was able to sit up a bit but had no back muscles. It was most of the same except Gallagher came in and finally took the diaper and tape off. Gallagher said I was doing great and that I should be able to leave the next day. A PT came in and I was able to stand but not walk at the time. They said they'd be back but they never came back. This is also the day that the nurses changed and the new ones were noticeably worse. They'd walk in and I'd tell them it was time for my pain medicine and they'd just walk out without doing anything. One of them tried to argue with me to take pain meds that don't work with me instead of the morphine that did work (most pain meds just don't work for me and most of my family, idk why it's just how we are. The only alternative they gave me I tried day 2 and it didn't do anything at all) saying I was becoming addicted. That night they put these leg pads to prevent DVT on and later that night I needed them off so I could get to a better position to sleep, so I called a nurse to help instead of hurting myself trying to take them off and the nurse talked a bit about some random stuff and ran off.

On day 4 I was woken up by breakfast then before I could do anything PT came in and realized they were too early. I called them in and walked a bit and when I got back to my room they removed all the blankets and everything. I was informed I was leaving by 10 no matter what (it was 8) and that I was perfectly fine (I could barely walk the 15 steps in the hall, couldn't sit up still) and needed to leave. My mom came in, one of the nurses helped me get dressed, and I was wheelchaired out because I couldn't walk.

The next days in the hotel we're horrible, i could barely be out of the bed for 2 minutes without breathing problems and getting nauseous. I couldn't shower by myself, and had a panic attack when my mom tried to help me shower. After 2 says we went to Gallagher's office and she removed my packing and catheter and taught me how to dilate. We went home that day because my mom couldn't take being in Miami anymore (we were both born and raised there and hate the city)

Right when I got home I bloated up and it was a herculean effort to pee when I desperately needed to. Over the next couple of days it was almost uncontrollable and would take all my energy and I couldn't poop still so me and my mom panicked and I took some more laxatives to hopefully help. 3 days ago I started pooping but it was a clear white liquid and hurt and wouldn't stop. The night before last night I went to the ER and was completely dehydrated with almost no electrolytes so they helped with that and took blood tests and a CT scan. Turns out I have a kidney infection and I called Gallagher yesterday and she's thinking I might have a colon infection too, I'm going to my primary today to find out.

I really don't know how to feel about this honestly. Every since my surgery it's been nothing but literal hell. I almost died several time and my pain hasn't gone away. I haven't been well enough to dilate even so now I have to work extra hard to get back to where I'm supposed to be. When I'm not having to deal with my infections it feels amazing down there, especially when I'm dilating. I don't know when I'll be able to start living a normal life or even just processing and enjoying my new vagina.

These problems im going through are definitely not the fault of Gallagher, she's been doing what she can to help. Some of these things just happen sometimes.

Edit: it's been 3 weeks. Time is so weird right now.