Hey all! Long time lurker, first time poster. I made this account so I could help the community with some information and my experiences, I hope someone finds it useful!!

I'm a trans woman. I had a simple orchiectomy (horizontally on the scrotum) though Kaiser SoCal in Aug 2020. The process leading up to it was pretty smooth, and they scheduled relatively quickly once everything was in order - only about a month out. I had done lots of research on it and most people said it would be a pretty easy surgery with a quick recovery, like a week-ish. This is still the most common sentiment even now, so I'd like to be the bearer of realistic expectations 😅 Along with some uncommon and unforseen complications I've had to deal with.

Day 0

Waking up from anesthesia was scary. I was in a lot of pain, groggy, and in a bustling surgery recovery room where I wasn't the only patient. Once I was slightly awake enough to know I was hurting, I tried to get the nurse's attention for more pain killers. It took a sec because in reality I was barely moving lol, but she saw me and gave me some. Then I had to wait there until I was was awake enough to be put in a wheelchair and moved out to the car for the ride home. Stressful and blurry. The car ride home wasn't the worst but I barely remember it even though it was over an hour long.

Day 1 - 3

Not gonna lie, it sucked. A lot. Moving hurt. Walking was incredibly painful so basically impossible; I slept on the couch these days. I wasn't prescribed a stronger painkiller than ibuprofen so I was taking it whenever I could. I kept an ice pack on the surgery area, as well as the pubic/inguinal area where most of the pain was. I slept with a pillow between my legs to both keep the pressure on the area and to keep my legs safely apart.

Day 4 - 7

Still sucked, but not quite as bad. Still couldn't really walk due to the pain. (by the way, the pain being in the inguinal area is because that's where they cut the spermatic cord. I actually didn't have any pain on the incision per se, but we'll get to that.) I took a shower and it was really scary. Very painful to stand for that long, I cried a bit from the anxiety.

Day 7 - 14

Not quite as bad. Each day was a little better, a little less painful. By the end of two weeks I was feeling much better, but not back to normal. My second shower a few days after the first was still scary but not as bad. The next was better still. The swelling in the incision area didn't seem to be healing evenly though, over the course of healing it seemed like there was a raisin/small grape swelling on the left side of the incision that was very painful to the touch, and by this point it hadn't fully gone away. Not only that, touching it felt like being kicked in the balls, a very distinct feeling. I messaged my doctor and she said that was normal and should heal over time. Turns out, it was more complicated than that.

Day 15 - 30

By a month, I felt pretty good. I was able to finally walk again! It was quickly tiring but it was doable. I can't remember when exactly I stopped using a pillow between my legs to sleep, but it was probably around the month mark as well. The swelling had gone down significantly but it still wasn't fully gone.

2 Months

Now is when I really started to notice and worry about something. See, that area with extra swelling on the left side was still painful, more than it should be by this point. It was not only painful to the touch, but the area was also somehow numb. It was the left side of the incision, slightly up but below the base. I messaged my surgeon and she seemed a bit surprised. She said that it was very likely nerve damage, which is uncommon but not unheard of, and that there's not much she can do for it. She told me once things had healed more to gently massage the area daily to try to activate it and help it heal faster. That was pretty painful though, so I rarely did.

6 Months

The timeline starts to get fuzzy, but by now the swelling was all gone. I tried to massage the area when I was up to it. The pain in the damaged nerve area was subsiding but still there, as was the numbness. My surgeon reiterated that nerves take a long time to heal and that it eventually would. However, I occasionally started to get aching in the pubic/inguinal area. She said it could be related but idk, it feels different.

1 Year

Same deal. Almost all the topical pain is gone, as is the numbness, but it feels uncomfortable to touch that area too much.

Current, 1 Year 5 Months

Almost all of the numbness and pain is gone. However, I've omitted some details that need to be explained.

I started electrolysis in prep for bottom surgery back in October of 2020. I've tried to avoid the damaged nerve area as much as possible but it still has to get done. In general it's okay but there's been a few times where the nerve has been hit, and again it literally feels like a kick in the balls.

Tbh, I don't know if this is all due to the damaged nerve. I have a theory that the spermatic cord was maybe not cut or retracted fully on that side. It has the same feeling as if the testicles are still there, and it's pretty traumatic when it happens. The latest time this happened (a few days ago), about a half hour later a got a sharp spike in the nerve that felt like a knife. It lasted for a second or two, dissappeared for about ten seconds, then came back and felt stabby again twice quickly. Then it subsided and I've been a bit achy in that area since.

My surgeon prescribed me gabapentin to help with the nerve pain, I picked them up from the pharmacy but I've been reluctant to take it for multiple reasons. Though this latest time was pretty bad and might be what makes me start.

Verdict

Was it worth it? I'd say yes. Those parts of my body were my biggest source of dysphoria. It's been very nice not having to take Spiro, and I halved my estrogen and switched to patches. Tucking is definitely easier now, especially as I used to to get aches in them if I tucked too long. Would I do it again knowing this was a risk I'd be taking? Probably. I asked my surgeon how this would affect bottom surgery and she said it shouldn't, things get moved around and removed anyways. We'll see, I don't super trust her optimism haha.

I searched high and low over trans and cis forums for information on nerve damage after orchiectomy and couldn't find anything. I really hope this post finds someone who needs it, as I've kind of felt alone in all of this. I'm willing to answer any questions you may have, I want to help 💜

My surgeon and team of trans healthcare coordinators has been helpful, so I'm really grateful for my time with Kaiser. My electrologist too has been so amazing and supportive and understanding, I couldn't imagine dealing with this and having someone else. I have FFS scheduled for mid February with Kaiser as well, so I'll be posting an update about that eventually, no pics though.

Anyways, this has been long enough and it's getting late 😅 I hope this is useful!!

Edit: Here's a pic of the scar for those interested. Obviously NSFW!! I'm marking the post accordingly.