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GRS with Dr Joshua Roth, Indianapolis Indiana. (Peritoneal pull through) - 11/15/21
Just a few little things, as I am writing this while dilating, and I am not fully focused. XD
(1) My surgery date was 11/15/21. So, I'm still rather fresh in the healing process. It was at IU University Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana - though I have heard of people having it done at the adjoining Riley Hospital. I'm assuming, with covid, this is just related to bed availability and staff availability at the moment.
(2) I woke up with a lot of stomach pain. They said this was because of the robot having to go through my tummy. Makes sense, honestly! However, thanks to the epidural, I felt nothing below my waist. Woke up in good spirits, joking with the nurses around me in recovery. They took me to my room after a good close hour of monitoring.
(3) I got a private room, as I think is standard with GRS, but also probably a precaution of COVID as well. Either way, I was grateful! The first few hours, I had a nurse that didn't seem very comfortable taking watch of me. She misgendered me before the end of her shift. Luckily!!! I never had her again. I saw her in the halls when I would start walking, but she avoided me. I'm guessing she isn't comfortable with transgender patients, and honestly? Don't care. I'm glad she had the courtesy to ask that I not be on her rounds. I didn't want to deal with that sort of thing while there.
ALL of my other nurses were simply wonderful! Respectful and happy for me.
(4) I pooped post-op day two. I wasn't up yet, and still on an epidural. I had to use a bedpan. That wasn't something I was prepared for. I had a cry the few times I had to do this. The nurses and techs were amazing, but there's just something dehumanizing about pooping in a little container, and having someone have to wipe you clean. I felt so bad.
(5) Surgery was on a Monday. They removed the epidural on a Wednesday. After this, I relied on Oxycodone and Tylenol for pain. Tylenol barely touched it, so for the first two days, they were generously safe, but also generous with the Oxycodone. They knew I was in pain at times.
(6) Dr. Roth checked up on me from time to time. Thursday, he came to see how I was doing. He let me know that his plan was to unpack everything on Tuesday, and discharge me on Wednesday. He said the extra time being packed would give him more confidence that I'm ready, and it would help with the healing process.
(7) They had me walking post-op day three, but I didn't start to be independent about it until post-op day 4 and 5. I couldn't get far, but I'd try to push myself to at least keep a good presence. I wanted them to know that I was trying. They let me independently use the restroom by the fourth day. The was a bit scary, but pooping alone was nice! Heh. I just asked them to check at times to make sure I was clean, and they would. They were nice about it. I was just scared of missing some, and then causing a risk of infection.
(8) By Saturday, I was walking further in the halls. This started to feel good! I mean, it tired me out, and it was uncomfortable. The drains started to be the biggest pain in my bum! The stitch on one of the drains seemed tight, and it would hurt whenever I did.... Anything. It wasn't unbearable, but more uncomfortable. I just had to deal with it. I knew there would be some issues.
(9) Dr. Roth surprised me on Monday. He had a surgery that took less time than he anticipated, and he wanted to know if I wanted to get on with the unpacking. I absolutely did! So, he and his assistant both worked on unpacking everything. It was ... Ouch. I mean, it wasn't the worst pain of my life or anything, but the dressing and stint inside were stitched in, so they had to cut the stitches and pull them out first. It's a weird feeling. The stent (packing) was this large, thick thing. They had me take in a deep breath, and told me to exhale when they pulled it out.
I can't explain how that felt! Like a bunch of rocks just falling out of my front. It felt oddly good after. Less bloated and full... Huff.
Then, out came the catheter. They wanted to leave the wound drains in another day. (BLAST!)
(10) I got to see my puss and dilate, FINALLY! Dilation was intimidating, but not painful. I was able to comfortably fit the second dilator, which was good for me. Dr Roth also checked for clit sensitivity, and my clit was certainly responsive! Heh.. It felt odd... Good, but odd. The point was to check if the nerves were okay, so Dr. Roth was happy about it.
I do want to say that Dr. Roth had the most wonderful respect! He was kind, and he cared about my comfort. I kept thanking him, and he just kept saying things like, "Thank you for making it here. It wasn't easy. The life you had, and you finally made it." He even thanked me for trusting him to care for me and to do such a life-changing procedure for me. We had a little chat about what got him into this, and why he was so passionate about it. I'll leave those details out, as I feel it was personal, but... He's very much respectful and understanding of the struggle that we transgender individuals go through, and he very much wanted to change lives for the better. There was more to that, but that's the basic jest of it. He cares, and he wants to do something good for the world in such a way to improve the lives of a minority that is overlooked and not cared for.
(11) They removed the wound drains (YES!) and sent me home on Tuesday. I've been so happy to be home!
Pain is minimal. I still occasionally have some times where my belly will start to sting or hurt, but it usually goes away fairly quickly . I think my bowels are still adjusting, and I also feel like I might be having light bladder spasms from time to time. I think everything is just adjusting to the new things, so I'm not too worried. I'm hardly needing the pain meds, but if I do? I have a script for oxycodone and Tylenol extra strength.
As for discomfort? Well, moving around is a little hard still, but I'm doing it! I can get up and walk, and get to where I'm going - I just have to be slow.
Sitting is another story! It sucks, and I don't want to do it. Haha! Ugh.
Anyway... That's the soft of it. I'll try to answer any questions you might have!
Thanks!
he just kept saying things like, "Thank you for making it here. It wasn't easy. The life you had, and you finally made it." He even thanked me for trusting him to care for me and to do such a life-changing procedure for me.
This is absolutely incredible omg. I'm so happy for you!!
Congratulations! I had my PPT six days before you. It’s interesting to see how different methodologies play out. My drains were located above, where yours are below.
I have a lot more swelling.
It looks like things are working out nicely for you.
What ointment are you using on your stitches?
I should be using Bacitracin, I believe. Unfortunately, I have none at the moment, so I put Neosporin on them last night. I know I'm not allergic to it, so I took the chance. I'll probably order some bacitracin from Amazon or something. Heh.
Is that what they told you to use as well? I'm curious. They also said Vaseline was okay for them.
They said nothing to me about any of it. Of course, my stitches have a big thickness of surgical glue over them.
I’ve also heard of some docs telling their patients to coat the dilator with Methonidazole cream or Bactricin for the first dilation of the morning.
Isn't is fascinating how different everything is?!
I've read that, but my doctor never mentioned it. He also only asked me to douche once a day, and I've read others that said never, or twice, or after every dilation. I'm curious what yours said about this, too! :)
Good lord, I just want the swelling to go down so I can pee easier! Hah. I hate the toilet right now. It's just a place of slow suffering. XD
Oh, it so is! I’ve been fortunate in my peeing. But god, the swelling. I told my ex-wife/caregiver, “If the Elephant Man had a p***y, it would look like this.”
My doc told me to start douching this week. Once a day.
Someday, maybe trans medicine will be important enough that there will be some degree of standardization.
Yesterday was my two week mark from surgery. Last night I started having some more-bloody-than-usual issues. I probably got over-exertional and spent too long (3+ hours) sitting up on my donut cushion and irritated the daylights out of my site.
First: That Elephant Man joke is spot on! Ugh... Heh!
Second: How often did your surgeon ask you to dilate. That apparently changes as well from surgeon to surgeon.
I hated myself and laughed at the same time when I came up with the Elephant Man analogy. 🤪
Oh, yes, no standards. I’m on a 3x/day dilation schedule. Every eight hours is just such a weird interval. There’s no way not to have to get up in the middle of the night.
I know of one girl who didn’t start dilating till 14 days post.
I wonder if we could increase to 4x a day, or even just maybe dilate right before bed, ya know?
I haven't been sleeping well, but I have been dilating every 4-6 hours, so I can sleep at night and not worry. Then again, I only ever get 6-8 hours of sleep, so it isn't horrible.
I dilated at around 830 today, so I will probably dilate about 2-3PM, and then around the time I go to bed.
What I meant was, due to us not doing anything right now but recovering and wobbling around (I feel like a penguin), I wonder if it would help to dilate more frequently while we are awake, and maybe that would help the worry of dilation while asleep.
I slept like shit in the hospital. Basically none. For the entire 10 days.
My first good sleep was last night, about 6-7 hours.
Oh, my six days in the hospital were a time waffle. No sleep. Pain meds. Massive pain from my catheter. Bladder spasms. The worst hospital food imaginable.
My surgery team was fantastic. Not so much for the nursing staff. Within 15 minutes of getting to my room, I was misgendered eight times.
We need to be careful with dilation, simply because we can traumatize the internal work by being over-eager.
What I’m doing is an early morning dilation, then again six hours later, then eight hours after. So, like 8 a.m., 2 pm, 10 pm, and then I get to sleep the night through.
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Target has bacitracin (that's where I've been buying mine). A two pack is 3 dollars and change.
It looks great! Thank you for posting! I’m trying to get one more letter and then I’ll be able to book my surgery! I wish you a speedy recovery!
How’s the pain? I’m scheduled. Wondering about peritoneal regrowth in the abdominal cavity or if there’s and issue with intestine’s adhering to the donor site. What did they tell you if anything?
The only thing they could say, and this appears to be across the board in terms of PPT (not just my surgeon, but all) is that they don't know the long term problems. This is to cover legal bases. This technique has been used on cis women for years, so...
The canal does run right between the bladder and colon, but I'm not sure if I have the expertise to answer your question specifically.
It seems the long term outcomes should model what cis woman have after the surgery was performed in terms of the peritoneal aspect, so going by that whatever those rates of complications are should mirror any transgender woman
Oh! And the pain is surprisingly less than I anticipated. I was sent home with oxycodone to use as needed, and honestly? I don't really need it. It's nice when I have a little flare up of pain, but I haven't had anything above a 3/10 for days now. (Knock on wood.)
Very nice!
Wishing you speedy recovery. But wow you had epidural for 2 days? I never ever heard of this before!!😲
They use co2 to separate the peritoneal donor tissue and that supposedly has to work its way out and causes pain. Epidural? was the pain after it wore off?
The pain from the stomach was felt fairly early on. It just felt like constant gas that needed to come out, so that makes sense, honestly. It wasn't killing me, but it was annoying! They placed the epidural in such a way that I didn't feel pain from my waist down, but that didn't help the gas pains for some reason.
I will contact my surgeons office to find out about the epidural, I’m not sure if that something they offer as a standard operating procedure.
They do with mine, I suppose. Either way, I took that shit. Haha! I wasn't going to argue it.
Overall looks like it should be a very nice result. Congratulations. 🎉💕
Congrats! Hope healing continues to progress quickly, and thanks for sharing!
Is the orange you are using the smallest of your dilators (orange<purple<blue<green) or the biggest (purple<blue<green<orange)?
It's the second in the set.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Your doctor sounds wonderful and makes me want to jump on a plane.
While the surgery and recovery don’t sound pleasant, the thought of looking down and seeing a vagina instead of bits is a dream to come true. I hope that you continue healing quickly and it’s all that you hoped.
Is it full peritoneal pull through?
There's Half?
There is combined with skin also.
Such wonderful results all around! Such a beautiful woman! I live in Indiana and not far from the IU Hospital...in fact my gf had gastric sleeve surgery in that very same building. Was wondering how your recovery has been going. Considering vaginoplasty as well...you're almost a month in now, how are things?
Would you recommend Dr. Roth now that you are a few months post op? I'm also in Indiana and my PCP said he seemed to be good at it but I know he is still new so I've been hesitant. Id love to hear someone recommend him.
Absolutely!
I could further on that, but Roth and his team have been phenomenal, and my results are far beyond what I expected. :)
Let me know if you would like more information!
I would love some more info! Your results look fantastic and you're absolutely beautiful! Congrats, girl! 😍
Did you go to the Eskenazi clinic and did your Indiana state insurance cover it? How long was away after your first intake at the Eskenazi clinic?
I go to Eskenazi's gender clinic and also have HIP, and it's covered. My consult is in February (ugh, I wish it was sooner - scheduled in January). I just had two FFS procedures done with Dr. Vernon, and it was covered by HIP. He is an amazingly nice man, and everyone at Eskenazi treated me so wonderfully. On my year-and-a-half hrt check-in ima ask for a referral to Dr. Hadad for top surgery. So far HIP has covered all my care through Eskenazi. Any questions hit me up.
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