I’d like to start by calling myself an idiot for saying I was going to have a Urethrascope today. While technically not incorrect, the procedure is actually called a Cystoscopy, and the camera they use is called a Urethrascope.
I didn’t know whether just to do a summary at the end of the day, or do a blow-by-blow account like I did for my surgery day. Ive decided I’m going to do the latter; basically because up until this point, I had no idea what was involved – and the aim is to help!
To get you up to speed, a few days ago I had a call from the hospital admissions team. I had done my pre-admission online, but there was a glitch somewhere and it hadn’t gone through. It’s the same deal as stage 1 – they go through and make sure your details are right, and then give you a run-through of what’s required of you on the day.
Because there is no plan to use anaesthetic or sedation- I don’t have to fast. That being said, I can’t eat right now anyway because I’m quite nervous.
0600 – Dr Goossen’s receptionist told me to get to the hospital for 0700, but the admissions staff said 0630. The time differences do wonders for my nerves (not), so I ordered a cab to leave at 0600. My parents are about half an hour away from the hospital, so I’ll leave it up to traffic to decide what time I get there!
Dr Goossen doesn’t start until 8ish anyway – so I don’t want to be too early!
0618 – Apparently the traffic wanted me here really f***ing early.
0631 – You don’t need to see the staff at the front desk, you can go straight up to the day surgery area. The staff there were lovely, and very efficient. After “checking in” it’s just a case of waiting for the nursing staff to call you through.
0717 – The nurse just came and went through my paperwork again. Annoyingly it looks like the scales at home are out of whack… I have a bit more weight to lose before stage 2 than I’d originally thought. I hope it doesn’t affect the surgery date – because I know I can hit that target.
Apparently I’m second on the list, so they’ll come and get me sorted when the first person heads through. Hopefully I’m still not here for too long.
0745 – All gowned up. Apparently surgery starts at 0800 today and the first one is really quick. I’ve been given my stylish underwear and a bed to sit in until it’s time to go.
0924 – I’m waiting for my cab home! So at about 0815 they took me through to theatre. I actually recognised a few of the staff from stage 1, and they remembered me 🙂
Firstly – operating rooms are bloody cold! I knew they were cool, but normally I’m heading off to sleep quite quickly lol. They shuffled me onto the bed and got all the equipment onto position.
Then Hans got the dye and he had a look for any narrowing; once that was done, he had a look with a camera. I have some scarring on the tip that made it difficult to get the camera through – so they had to use a metal dilator to manipulate the scar tissue enough to get the camera through. After that – all done! No anaesthetic at all… the worst was a slight pinching sensation, but it was more than bearable.
So! I do have some narrowing down near the bottom where the granulation is – about an inch or so. To be honest that doesn’t surprise me. As soon as I started having the slough issues I knew there would be something going on there.
The scarring at the tip may need revising, but Hans is going to take it as it comes and we’ll see what happens. The rest of the pipe is looking nice and open 🙂
No issues regarding stage 2 occurring, I have an appointment to see Hans a couple days before surgery to go through everything one last time, and I have some bloods to get done a week prior to the procedure! Exciting times!
My Transition FtM 