Stage 3 RFF Phalloplasty – 4 Days Post-op

Slept better again last night – only woke up once through the night, which was good. I was also in much less pain this morning.

Today itself was pretty boring. I walked around the yard a couple times and walked into spider webs… I discovered I can react to walking into spiderwebs without hurting myself… But other than those wild adventures, I didn’t really do much.

I actually managed to get into a pair of shorts today!! The swelling has gone down enough that I might be able to start considering other clothing options than a sarong, lol. I was hyper-aware of the fabric sitting against me, but it didn’t hurt, and the fabric was literally only sitting against me – not rubbing.

Pain-wise, today was a good day. I’m not really in any pain anymore – it’s more an ache. You know when you have a massive bruise that just aches? Like that.

The swelling is continuing to go down too. Today I had a bit of a feel on my scrotum for the pump button. I couldn’t find it.. I think it’s a bit higher than I’m anticipating it to be – but I haven’t had a good feel around, because I didn’t have the little keychain pump as a visual gauge. Tomorrow night I think I’ll have a proper feel.

I’m at the point now where I’m moving in a way that could be considered walking! This is opposed to me waddling around like I have a pole up my bum, wincing like my stomach is going to split open at any moment. That sounds much more painful than it actually has been – it’s more like when you move suddenly after not moving for a while and your body is all stiff.

I’ve decided that I feel comfortable enough to start reducing my pain medication; so from tomorrow, I’ll only be taking my slow-release painkiller at night, and through the day I’ll see how I go with just paracetamol and ibuprofen.

3 Months Post Stage 2 RFF Phalloplasty

This month has been both good and bad.

On the one hand, I’m back at full time work, I’m back exercising and my healing feels like it’s going really well (for the main part). On the other hand, I appear to have developed a stricture, and I’m probably going to have a catheter placed tomorrow sometime. I’m not going to go into the stricture-thing too much in this post… that’ll be in a separate one over the next few days.

I’m a bit annoyed that I’ve put on a bit of weight as a by-product of the lack of exercise. 

Movement

Ah, movement is back to 100%. Having the catheter out really was nice. It wasn’t so much the catheter that was causing the issues, as the stitches that were holding it in place. 

I’m back exercising and everything too, which is nice. Still taking it slow, getting back into it, but able to do everything.

Full Thickness Skin Graft (FTSG) 

I’m still using silicon on the scar. There isn’t much change this month, it pretty much looks the same as last time. A bit pinker because of the cooler weather, but that’s about it.

Phallus

Healing very well. The scar is lightening really nicely, and I’m happy with how the glansplasty has taken.

Sensation-wise things are still slowly getting there. It’s just going to take time.

Scrotum/Perineum

No change. 

Voiding

As things currently stand, voiding isn’t something I’m particularly willing or able to talk about. Suffice to say that things aren’t going well in this particular area at the moment.

Arm

The arm is continuing to heal well. Unable to do pictures this time around, but the scars are getting lighter and flatter 🙂

2 Months Post Stage 2 RFF Phalloplasty

Apologies for the delay. My excuse – life.I’m at a strange point where I feel like I still have a ways to go in order to be fully healed from this stage, but at the same time stage three doesn’t feel like it’s very far away at all. 

I’ve started back on full days at work this week. It’s exhausting, but it’s nice to be out of the house and feel like I’m actually doing something. I’m going to see a trainer in the next couple of weeks to see about starting to get back into shape properly. My aim is to change jobs in the next year or so, and I need to be as fit as I can be to ensure that happens.

I’m no longer taking any pain medication. If I’m honest, I could’ve stopped taking everything the same day the catheter was removed, but I wanted to step down. I probably should be taking some still (I’ll go into why in the voiding section), but I want to keep an eye on the levels.

Movement

I am so much more comfortable since having the catheter removed! All I can think is that it was sitting awkwardly in my bladder and that was starting to irritate me. I’m also getting quicker and quicker in my movements, but I think that’s just going to take some time. The other day the wife and I went to the driving range to see how I went with golf, and I was presently surprised to see that I had no issues at all (except for being terrible at golf)!

Im still a little uncomfortable when sitting on hard surfaces, but lets face it – it’s only been two months since major changes were made to my body, I thinks it’s entitled to be a little sore!

Full Thickness Skin Graft (FTSG) Site

I’ve completely stopped using tape on the scar, and I’m now solely using silicon. It seems to be doing the job, the scar seems lighter and isn’t irritated anymore – which makes the whole thing more comfortable. Pictures below, comparing a couple of weeks ago to now. 

 Today

Phallus

He’s pretty much fully healed and all swelling has gone down. I’m using the silicon on my glansplasty site too, which is helping the appearance. The graft seems to have taken quite well, and the scar is flattening out nicely.

Scrotum/Perineum

No real change here at all. The swelling has completely gone down, and everything is just bobbing along nicely. Hans mentioned that he may do a mons resection as a part of stage three, but we’ll see how things go. I can definitely see why, the phallus is hanging a bit low, and the scrotum currently sits between my legs. I’m hoping to have lost a bit more weight by the time I see him again so that we can see if I actually need the resection or if it’s just thigh fat.

Voiding

*sigh* I wish I could say that I’m 100% happy, but I’m not. Don’t get me wrong, I love the way I’m urinating now; but it’s not exactly how I’d hoped things would be right now. 

I’m getting quite a bit of pain whilst urinating. It’s in my pubic area, and it’s… it makes my eyes water in its intensity, but it dulls after a bit. I find it’s worse when I’m a bit dehydrated, so I’m stuck in these two vicious cycles:

1. Not wanting to pee – so I don’t drink as much, get dehydrated, eventually pee and have a lot of pain; or

2. Drink a lot to stay hydrated, pee a lot more – so I’m in pain more often, but it’s a duller pain.

My GP has run urine tests to see if I have a UTI, so we’ll see what those results show. Currently I’m just keeping an eye on the pain. (Edit: tests came back negative for UTI, but showed high levels of pus and blood cells – which can be common after having a catheter in for an extended period of time. I’m redoing the tests to make sure the levels are going down)

Stream-wise, I’m a bit disappointed as well. The scarring at the tip of my phallus appears to cause somewhat of a buildup of urine, which has a few effects:

1. My stream is quite small because only a certain amount can push through at once,

2. I pee at about a 45 degree angle (which doesn’t bother me if I’m honest, it’s easy enough to rectify),

3. Once I finish peeing, I dribble quite a bit for a good half hour or so afterwards, because it just builds up behind the scar tissue and comes through in drops.

I can minimise the effects of the last one, with a combination of shaking, pressing just above my scrotum, and doing a little half-squat that seems to open up the scarring at just enough of an angle to let a fair bit pass… However the end result is that I have to wear a liner in my underwear. I know that dribbling isn’t uncommon – but the amounts are such that if I didn’t wear something, I’d stink of urine – which is just unpleasant. Ive put a picture below, showing basically what I mean – obviously it’s not to scale…

I’m going to have a chat to Hans about it when I see him in June, but I may need a revision done on the tip to remove some of the scarring. This isn’t preferable, but it may need to occur.
Below are a couple pictures of the healing from my SPC site. It’s healed pretty well, although it is indented slightly. 

Day after SPC was removed

After 1 week

Today

I think I’m at the stage where I’m happy to go back to monthly updates. Thankfully things have calmed down much quicker than they did with Stage 1, and overall so far I’m very happy with my results.

Catheter Review #3

0647

Well, I’m back at the Gastroentanology area this morning to hopefully get this catheter out. Im torn between being nervous that something else is going wrong, and not really caring – it’s a complicated state of being, lol. From what I can pick up from speaking to Hans, the plan is for him to have a look at everything; and then hopefully take down the catheter. What that looks like at this point in time – I have no idea.

0708

One of the nurses just took me through the the rooms to do an initial set of obs and give me a little hospital bracelet. She’s going to call Hans and see where he’s at. He doesn’t normally start surgery until just after 8 – so hopefully things won’t be too long. 

0829

Just saw Hans. He’s happy with the way everything is healing so far – so we move on to the trail void. Basically the nurses are going to clamp off my SPC. I’ll then try to urinate into a bottle, and they’ll make sure I’m emptying my bladder enough. If they’re happy – my catheter comes out!

Hans also said that if I get home and start having issues, the best course of action is just to place a new SPC.

0915

I’m a leg bag down! Just the trial void to go. The plan is to give me a jug of water to drink within an hour (should be easy enough). Then I’ll wait until I get the urge to pee and go in a bottle. One of the nurses will then measure it and they’ll check my bladder to see if there’s any leaking internally or if I’m withholding urine. Apparently the fact that I’ve voided at home is a good thing, although the pain could still signify a hole.

I’ve asked if I can have a flip-flow valve if I can’t get the catheter out today… it works like a tap, so you can train your bladder to “search” for the need-to-pee feeling… but also means I don’t need to lug around a sodding leg bag.

1200

Looks like I’ll soon be catheter-less!

I’m still getting some pain when I pee, but it’s not too bad, and Hans is happy for the catheter to still come out. The nurses had me drink a litre of water and then I’d pee it out, get it measured and have my bladder scanned to see if I’m withholding. I’m averaging 150ml per void and I’m ending up with about 40ml leftover – which they’re happy with.

I’ve had an intramuscular antibiotic in my thigh to help avoid infection from the site once the catheter is removed, and the plan is to keep me here for a bit once it comes out so that they can see if I’m leaking. 

Apparently SPC sites can leak quite a bit initially when the catheter is taken out. 

1300

I have no catheter!

The worst part about the whole removal was the fact that I had a stitch knot embedded in the granulation tissue, which was very unpleasant the remove. 

Then the leaking started. I had been to the loo not long before, but when the catheter came out, so did a fair bit of urine. I managed to wet through two combines and a bluey; I now have two combines stuck to me and a massive nappy/pad. When they say it can leak a lot – believe them! It can take anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple of hours for the bladder to seal again, and then a few days for the SPC hole in your abdomen to heal over.

1533

I’m back at my parent’s place and resting. I feel so much more comfortable already, and I’m so glad I’m finally tubeless. 

7 Weeks Post Stage 2 RFF Phalloplasty

A few days ago, I bypassed my catheter again. After some initial pain (unsure what that was caused by), I managed to continue to void. Even though my stream is a bit smaller than it used to be (not sure if that’s because I was holding back or if I was worried about injuring myself), it was a steady flow that was all going in the right direction! I have a minor spray happening when I first start voiding (because of the scarring inside the tip), but once I start – it stops.
I decided that was as good a time as any to give Hans an update – since I hadn’t spoken to him for a couple of weeks – and he came back and said everything was looking good for a takedown of the SPC. So! At the time of writing, I’m in Brisbane waiting for the nurses.
I started my trial of half days at work this week. Because of my Brisbane trip, I only did three days – but it was enough. Same as last time, I’m exhausted. It’s nice to be out of the house though. Work is really good about everything, and thankfully it doesn’t hurt to sit at my desk. 
I’ve been a bit concerned that my body is trying to reject my catheter again over the last few days. It’s feeling very uncomfortable, and what didn’t help was that I pulled on it in my sleep the other night. Hopefully it’s not there for much longer anyway.

Movement

I’m actually starting to be able to do things a bit quicker! It’s taken a long time, but I’m getting there. The discomfort I’ve started feeling again makes me think that a lot of the problems I’m having with movement are to do with the catheter making me feel uncomfortable.

Full Thickness Skin Graft (FTSG) Site

Still healing well, and I’m now using tape and silicon to assist in scar management.

I’m not quite at the point of massaging just yet, because the area is still a bit sensitive – but at least the redness and swelling has gone down from the opsite dressings that I had it on

Phallus

No real change here this week. Everything is continuing to heal and reduce in swelling. 

Movement is getting better too. The more I move him around, the less it feels like things are pulling.

Scrotum/Perineum

No real change here this week. Everything is continuing to heal and reduce in swelling.
The granulation tissue around my clitoris is still there, but finally looks like it’s starting to go away/die. I haven’t been able to use the Mepilex because I can’t keep it in place – so I’ve just been trying to lee the area as dry as possible.

6 Weeks Post Stage 2 RFF Phalloplasty

This week has been the most active I’ve been since surgery. We were advised there was a cyclone on the way – so the preparations began! My wife is currently out of town, so I had to do all the prep myself. This included putting all the outside furniture into the shed, moving gas bottles around, checking stores and preparing our little bunker room. Thankfully (although slightly annoyingly because it was my first cyclone) it passed by us. Unfortunately it hit a little to the south of us and smacked a good few towns. 

If anyone wants to donate to those affected by Cyclone Debbie, authorities have advised that places like GIVIT are organising donations. A google search will yield results of more places to donate. 

On the whole, I’m feeling better again this week. I’ve been able to sleep on my side for the past few nights – which has meant a better quality of sleep. 

I saw my GP again this week, and we’re going to do a trial of me going back to work on half days. I’m starting to get twitchy at being home all the time, so it’ll be good to get back – I just remember how exhausted I was last time.So Monday – Wednesday is my trial, and then I fly to Brisbane Wednesday afternoon in time for my appointment with Hans on the Thursday. HOPEFULLY… This time I’ll get the catheter out.

In my readings, I found a website that talks about SPC management. It’s not written from a trans perspective – but I don’t really think it needs to be. You can read it here

Movement

As I mentioned before – I’ve been doing a lot this past week, and it’s been good to really see what I can do. There wasn’t much pain at the time, but once I’d finished and it was time to just sit back – I was in a fair bit of discomfort. That’s lasted a couple days now, but seems to be easing thankfully.

Driving is getting easier as time goes on too. At the moment the seatbelt sits directly over my SPC site, so it can be a bit uncomfortable, but changing gears and the driving experience in general isn’t too bad at all.

Full Thickness Skin Graft (FTSG) Site

Continuing to heal well. I don’t have any tape at the moment, so I’ve had an opsite dressing covering it for the past week. This was fine until I removed it a couple days ago – and now my skin is voicing its displeasure at the tape.

I saw my OT yesterday and spoke to her about the healing. She’s agreed that I can start using silicon and vitamin E creams/oils – so I’ll start doing that!

Phallus

No real change here this week. Everything is continuing to heal and reduce in swelling. 

Movement is getting better too. The more I move him around, the less it feels like things are pulling.

Scrotum/Perineum

The main part of the swelling has finished now, so it’s just down to the minor swelling stuff now. I’m quite pleased with how things are looking at the moment, but I can’t wait to see what the scrotal implants will do for me.

I’m not leaking anymore at all which is awesome, and obviously means that I no longer have to wear pads.

The granulation tissue around my clitoris is still there. I spoke to my OT and were trialing Mepilex AG on it to try and at least stop anymore from growing. 

5 Weeks Post Stage 2 RFF Phalloplasty

I’m feeling better about everything this week. It took a couple of days to get my head back in the right place, but I’m there. I’ve got myself into somewhat of a routine these days, so it was easy just to slip back into that. 
The oozing has slowed considerably, and I don’t really even need pads anymore. I just make sure I give my body enough time to air out. It seems to be working, so I’ll keep doing it. 
I’ve started getting some bladder spasms again when trying to go to the loo. This is unpleasant, but thankfully nowhere near as bad as it was with the urethral catheter in. 
I’ve felt a lot more normal this week, and have even started hoping they’ll let me go back to work soon. I have a strong suspicion that they’re not going to give me the go-ahead until after the catheter comes out though. Hopefully only another couple weeks…

Medications

I’ve finished my antibiotics and I’m now just taking the paracetamol as needed. I’ve reduced it to 6 tablets a day rather than the maximum of 8 – but I still take the last two of I’ve had a big day. 
This will be the last time I mention medication – the paracetamol will continue until I’m no longer in pain.

Dressings

I’ve been told I can remove the dressing on my graft site, so now I’m just keeping it covered for scar control purposes. 
I still have the opsite over my suprapubic site… that’ll continue until it gets removed, and it gets changed daily because it gets wet in the shower. This will be the last time I mention dressings – the SPC dressings will continue until it comes out, and I really don’t want to have to mention it every week. 

Movement

So! Movement is back to about 98%. This week I started taking the dog for very short walks. I’m averaging about 1.6-1.7km in about 20 minutes. They’re quite tiring and I can only really do one a day for now, but the aim is to work on distance and then speed. 
I also started driving again this week with the approval from Hans. Driving is fine for the main part, but I drive a manual – so driving through areas with a lot of gear changes is quite uncomfortable. 

Full Thickness Skin Graft (FTSG) Site

Looking good. Scar-management from now on. The skin is hypersensitive at the moment, but that should start calming down now. I’m meant to be having something covering it still – to keep the tension on the area to assist scar healing – but my skin is having a massive reaction to having the dressing removed (not pictured).  I’ll give it a day or two to calm itself down, and then I’ll cover it up again. 

Phallus

Swelling is continuing to go down (it’s about 3/4 of the way there), and the graft site is getting less and less scabby. I have a lot more movement too, and can comfortably have him sitting on either of my legs or even sitting back on my stomach (although that one is still a little uncomfortable). 
I’m not bleeding at all now. Just occasionally dripping a bit of urine / serous fluid.

Scrotum/Perineum

Not much to report again. Swelling is going down still and I’m now almost completely stopped oozing fluid. I feel that some of it is still urine from the hole… but it’s significantly less… and for now, that’ll do. I’ve been making an effort to make sure I give it time to dry out a bit during the day and after my shower. 
I’ll add a little note here… I’ve been keeping an eye on where my clitoris was moved to as well. Basically it now sits just to the right, at the base of the phallus. There hasn’t been anything interesting happening so far, which is why I haven’t mentioned it before now. However! I’ve noticed some granulation tissue has started making its way to the surface. A part of me is annoyed at this, because it’s just another little thing that hasn’t healed the way it was meant to. But! Worst case scenario is that it gets fixed during stage three. I’ll keep you informed of its progress, but it’s not getting its own section. 

Second Urethragram

0716

Ooo… I’m actually a bit nervous today. I don’t have to be at the hospital until 1030, but I’m a bit restless. I think the nerves come from the unknown – no one has been able to tell me exactly what happens during a descending urethragram, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. I think that I’m also just ready for all the tubes and dressings to sod off so I can just concentrate on finishing healing. 

0924

Just waiting for the cab. I booked it for 0945 just so I’m definitely there in time. Last time there was a gas leak on the off-ramp to the hospital and they had to close it and divert traffic. While I know I’ll probably just be waiting around for ages anyway – I still don’t like being late. 

1010

Got here just after 10… I love being early. Thankfully it worked in my favour too. I went to the Gastroentanology suites like last time and was told I didn’t need to be there, I could go straight to Queensland X-ray… so now I’m on my way there. 

1023

Word of advice: print a copy of the referral and bring it with you. Despite the referral having been faxed through on 07 march, they can’t find it. Luckily I keep all of my emails, so I’m in the process of emailing it through again… Phone reception is shit.

1153

Urethragram is done. They filled up my suprapubic catheter with a contrast dye and then the aim was for me to pee it out. I told them upfront that I wasn’t sure I could do it. I couldn’t. Now in the GE Suites again waiting to see Hans. I hope I haven’t stuffed my chances at getting this tube out…

1230

So! I have to go back to X-ray to have a pericatheter urethragram done (the same as last time). Obviously because there was a small hole last time, Hans wants to make sure that’s sorted itself before taking things out. I have to say, I’m feeling better about things now that I’ve seen what it looks like inside. I hope this test goes well. 

1325

Yeah, the test didn’t go well. I’m still leaking in the same area as before. On the plus side it isn’t pooling – but I’m still pretty bummed out. 

1334

So… one of the nurses just came by and told me to stop eating and drinking just in case I had to go up to surgery. Apparently it’s just a precaution because Hans hasn’t seen the results yet – but it’s quite unnerving.

1500

I have the catheter for another three weeks minimum.

2223

Sorry for the delay, I needed a bit of time to process my appointment with Hans. I got myself to a point that I was so hyped up about possibly getting the catheter removed, that when I saw the contrast on the urethragram leaking out – I just crashed mentally. 

Hans wanted to talk to me about two things. The first was the fact that I couldn’t pee (I told him it was a stage fright thing, he said he thought it might have been), the second was about the leak. 

He said that at this stage he wasn’t ready to call it a fistula. He asked about the test, and seemed very interested in the amount of pressure the doctor performing the urethragram had used to push the contrast through. I got the impression that he thought that maybe the urethra had healed, but had been opened again by the force of the contrast going through. The plan is to give it a couple of weeks to heal and for the healing to mature enough to withstand force. He’s out of the country until April, so I’m seeing him again on the 6th. This is where the plan gets a bit sketchy on details.

Over the next couple of weeks, Hans will think about how he wants to check how things are going. I may go for another urethragram, or he may do a cystoscope in the operating theatres. Depending how that goes, I could get the catheter removed then, or (if the hole hasn’t healed) I could end up booked in for surgery.

This surgery would entail taking a buccal mucosa graft from my mouth and fixing the hole. We also discussed changing my catheter because it will have been in for 6 weeks by the time I see him next and will be due to be changed… if he doesn’t remove it on the 6th, I’ll be getting that done at home. I’m not flying to Brisbane just to get a catheter changed.

Personally, I think that whatever I did the other week is the reason I’m not fully healed. I think that in another few days everything will have closed, and that by the time I see Hans again, he’ll be ready to remove the catheter. Hans’ concern is that the hole has healed as a hole (as opposed to healing correctly), which I fully understand. But for the amount of bleeding I had, I think that it’s just a wound that is still trying to heal…. And that’s the story I’m going to tell myself for the next three weeks… 

I was so ready to have this catheter out so that I could finish healing and get on with life. I just want to be able to sleep on my side again without waking up because my catheter is blocked (from lying on it), I want to be able to shower properly without trying to keep this stupid catheter dressing dry, to not have to change the dressing almost every single night because the bloody thing is about as waterproof as a sieve – no matter what I do. I know this is only a small setback in the grand scheme of things – god knows I have friends who are currently going through much worse in their own phallo journeys – but I think psychologically I had managed to tell myself that it’d all be ok regardless of what the test said.

My plan is to hammer my diet and supplements for the next three weeks especially, to try and aid the healing. It’s been pretty good for the main part, but I’m going to have to ramp things up if I want this stupid catheter out. 

1 Month Post Stage 2 RFF Phalloplasty

I thought I’d do my update today rather than tomorrow. I have my urethragram tomorrow so I want to concentrate on that.

This last month has been both very quick and excruciatingly slow, but here we are. I can’t believe I’m a month post stage 2.

This past week on its own hasn’t been too bad at all. The bleeding has all but stopped – it’s just kind of pinkish droplets every now and then. I did start bleeding slightly from behind the scrotum, but I feel that that is something to do with pulling stitches – so I’m not too concerned. Again, that’s pretty much stopped too; I’m just getting pinkish droplets there as well. I found that lying down for a couple hours each day with nothing on my lower half helped. I was doing about 2 hours in the afternoon and about an hour after showering in the evening. Because I’ve been wearing pads solidly for the last couple weeks, I’ve been very aware of the fact that it can get pretty sweaty and warm (ah the sun-tropics).

I’ve been meaning to mention this for a while, but I keep forgetting. Pads. They’re going to be required – just get used to it. Personally, I’ve been rocking a variety of styles over the last month. I started with just a combine dressing whilst in hospital, worked my way up to adult nappies (very stylish), and was onto your normal panty liners before I had my bleed. Then I went back up to the nappies for a few days, and as we currently stand, I’m wearing some heavy duty pads during the night and just your normal Always medium ones during the day. Is it weird? Yes. I thought my days of pads were over. Is it worth getting funny over? No. At the end of the day, I needed something to catch blood, they’re there to catch blood. 

One thing I’ve learnt very quickly during these surgeries is that you do what you need to do to heal. It’s not forever. 

I went for another GP review yesterday. Although she noted that I am walking much better – she still wants me off work for another month. This all pretty much comes down to the fact that they’re worried I could have another bleed. Thankfully she still wants to review me frequently so that can be amended if required, but still… I think I’ll be driving my wife insane by then!

I’ve had a couple instances where I have partially bypassed my catheter and one where I fully bypassed it. These have only happened in the past week and are only when I’ve been trying to go to the loo. They’re not that comfortable, and generally feel like the whole bladder spasming thing again – but I think that’s because I’m meant to have something in place to stop it happening. I was initially freaking out, but I spoke to a mate that has had the surgery – who said that it had happened to him too – and my dad, and they both said that it’s probably something to do with Post-surgery swelling going down… So I’m not too concerned. On the plus side, the bypassing helped pass the blood quicker, and I don’t appear to be leaking from my scrotum. Hopefully those are both good signs for tomorrow!

Medications

I’m still on:

– Antibiotics (Cephalexin) once a day (at night); and

– Paracetamol every 6 hours

Antibiotics are going to be finished on Sunday. I can’t wait, I hate taking tablets. The paracetamol is still for comfort, and I feel that I’m pretty much at a stage where I can start pushing my times out slightly and start coming off them… Probably after I get back from Brisbane though. 

Dressings

Glansplasty site:

– Opsite dressing

Everything is looking really good. I’ve kept the opsite on for now just to protect everything a bit longer, but I’m pretty much happy enough to take the dressing off once I get some tape to cover it with (to assist with scarring).

Suprapubic Catheter Site:

– Opsite dressing

(*fingers crossed* 1 more day, 1 more day, 1 more day)

Everywhere else:

– Nothing

Movement

I’ve noticed this week that I’m definitely moving better. Not necessarily faster, but better. 

I’m also able to stretch down a bit easier to do things like dry my toes after a shower. Again, still slowly… but better than last week. 

Full Thickness Skin Graft (FTSG) Site

I managed to get a picture this week! The tape got really irritating so I took off the dressing to give it some air. I’ve since replaced the dressing, but I’m planning on getting rid of it fully soon and getting into a scar-care routine. 

Phallus

Not much to report. The swelling is still slowly going down and the glansplasty site appears to be healing well, a little scabby at the moment – but that’s to be expected.

Scrotum/Perineum

Not much to report again. Swelling is going down, the leaking is getting less and less…. Yeah that’s about it for now. 

Sensitivity

Not much to report here either to be honest. Feeling is pretty much back to where is was pre-stage 2, so I don’t really see the point in updating that here anymore. I’ll add it back into the update for Stage 1.

3 Weeks Post Stage 2 RFF Phalloplasty

On the whole, this week hasn’t been too bad at all. 

The spasming that I was experiencing has completely gone since getting that urethral catheter removed (thank God). This has made moving quite a bit easier.

On Sunday night, I bent down to pick up the cat bowls to feed them, and felt a twinge. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but not long afterwards I stared bleeding from my phallus. Like, a lot of blood. I think that since Sunday night I’ve probably passed a good couple hundred mils. 

Thankfully, it is slowing down. I think I’ve pulled slightly on the urethra somewhere and it’s just opened the floodgates for blood to get in (rather than the urethra itself being the cause of the bleeding). I messaged Hans, and he thinks it could either be some old blood or a haematoma – either way, he’s not concerned at this stage, so neither am I. Even if I’m still bleeding next week, it’ll pass eventually. I don’t have any blood-clotting issues, so I think I just bled a bit and it’s making its way out because I don’t have any muscles in there to assist it out. 

Medications

I’m still on:

– Antibiotics (Cephalexin) once a day (at night); and

– Paracetamol every 6 hours

I was due to finish the antibiotics in 4 days, but Hans said just to finish the box (an extra week). The paracetamol is still for comfort more than anything else, although it has helped with a couple of high temperatures I’ve had over the last couple of days. 

Dressings

Glansplasty site:

– Opsite dressing

The old Opsite dressing was taken off at a doctor review I had at home. Everything is looking really good, and there’s only a small open area left that actually happened when they took the dressing off. 
Phallus:

– Nothing

After the urethragram, Hans said not to worry about dressing the phallus anymore. This is good because it’s meant that everything gets some time to air and get all cleaned out. It’s also made all this bleeding much easier to clean up!

Suprapubic Catheter Site:

– Opsite dressing

I’ll be so pleased when this catheter comes out (hopefully next week). This dressing has been the most difficult to keep dry, because the bloody thing just won’t get waterproof!! As a result, I’m changing the dressing almost everyday.

Everywhere else:

– Nothing

Movement

Movement is continuing to come back slowly but surely. 

Today I managed to get out of the car and walk to the far back corner of a hardware store (Bunnings for those who have an idea of the size) at about 90% speed and mobility. Unfortunately a short time after that, I got very tired and achey very quickly, and had to go and sit in the car. Baby steps. 

As I’ve said before, I can do pretty much everything, as long as it’s done slowly and under control. 

Full Thickness Skin Graft (FTSG) Site

The graft is looking really good, but at the moment it’s still covered. The dressing was changed a couple days ago, and I don’t really want to aggravate my tape allergies just for a picture. I’ll take one at the next dressing change though. 

Everything is looking good from what I hear though 🙂

Phallus

Bruising is all but gone now, and swelling is getting there too. 

The graft is healing really well, although it has a long way to go before it’s properly healed. 

Scrotum/Perineum

The bruising is pretty much gone here too, just waiting for the swelling. On the plus side, I’m starting to be able to move the skin around more, so the swelling is going down – it’s just taking its time.

Sensitivity

Whilst the hypersensitivity has gone down, it appears I’m still numb in some areas. This by itself isn’t an issue, but some of the numbness is going now – which is leaving an aching feeling in its place. Thankfully I’m still on painkillers, so that combined with some anti-inflammitories should help out.