So, that whole computer thing ended up being quite the issue. Not to mention my fiance (now wife!) and I decided to elope during the pandemic, so we basically planned another wedding during the next 7 weeks of my recovery. Life in pandemic times plus the computer issue was the perfect storm for an update to take this long. I’ll recap the best I can since more than two years have passed. The week was uneventful, with me taking it very easy and my fiance and I venturing out a few times to see sights like Pebble Beach and a few other outdoor sights nearby. My post-op appointment with Dr. Safir an ..read more

I’ve been waiting to write this post to make sure my rescheduled surgery date didn’t get postponed again. Then I was going to write this post the night before surgery on June 9th, but my computer is potentially busted. I got it to boot up for now, so, here we go! EDIT: My computer literally locked up and died in the middle of writing the first two paragraphs of this post. I come to you from my fiance’s dinosaur of a computer. I was rescheduled for surgery in early April after a postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Dr. Safir promised, due to the fact that I am paying for COBRA insuranc ..read more

Like many other transgender people, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into my surgery plans. As I watched the crisis unfold in the days leading up to my surgery, I kept telling my fiance, “I won’t feel better until I get on the plane.” The morning, of March 16th, we checked into our flights and I went to work. That morning, at work I got a call from the anesthesiologist asking routine questions related to surgery. When I mentioned the possibility of cancellation, she said they were doing their best to go forward given the directives in place at that time. I went on about my day trying to fi ..read more

Now that I have everything sorted, decisions have been made and travel plans have been finalized, I am happy to report that I am scheduled to fly out to San Francisco again to replace my left testicular implant, have more mons work done and potentially have a cordee or buried penis repair with Dr. Safir. Surgery is March 18th and I’ll be in San Francisco for a week. Here’s how it all happened. I have not mentioned that in between my 3rd stage of metoidioplasty and loosing my left testicular implant that a professional opportunity I could not pass up presented itself. Readers of this blog know ..read more

I’ve been struggling with writing this post for the last week. While extrusion or loss of an implant is a risk that a person takes on during these procedures, most people feel like it won’t happen to them. You follow the pre-surgery directions and aftercare instructions and in my case, trust your body’s excellent healing track record and at 7 weeks, you feel like you are in the clear. Well, I was not in the clear. Dealing with this has been the hardest thing I have dealt with emotionally since my first stage of metoidioplasty. Below is a timeline of how I lost my left testicular implant at 7 w ..read more

Today I had my post-op appointment with Dr. Safir for my recent 3rd stage of metoidioplasty. For me, this consisted of a monsplasty and testicular implants. This was potentially the last time I will see Dr. Safir face-to-face. It is too early to say if there are any further revisions I will want or need to feel “complete.” The staff was good as usual and I was sent back quickly. As part of their new standard of operating procedures, the nurse took a picture of my surgical site for my medical records. I quipped if she had wanted pics of that, I had been taking them all week. Dr. Safir and his ..read more

My third stage of metoidioplasty was scheduled for 7:30AM PST on August 7th. Readers will note that I did not have a finalized surgical plan when I arrived at the surgery center. I went into surgery prep without issue and my fiance and I waited for Dr. Safir to arrive so we could discuss the surgical plan. When he got there, he said he thought that a monsplasty and implants would be enough to achieve being able to see my penis when looking down. I asked why he did not want to do the phallus lift as well. He cited being concerned about blood supply issues causing necrosis of the tissue, as well ..read more

The title of this post is really a misnomer. I was set to have my pre-op appointment with Dr. Safir on August 6th, at 1230PM, PST. My fiance and I arrived early to the appointment and I started filling out the requisite paperwork. As I approached the desk, Gia, the intake administrator, informed me that Dr. Safir was running an hour and a half late due to a surgery. She asked if I was fine seeing Dr. Safir’s nurse for my pre-op appointment instead and that he would call me later to go over what was discussed and form a plan. My other option was to wait for him to return around 4PM that afterno ..read more

I referenced in my post about my post-op appointment with Dr. Safir that I would be returning home earlier than a person normally would having just had a lower surgery procedure. I was able to arrange this because I found a urologist locally that could and would treat me. She also referenced me not being her first transsexual patient who had lower surgery during a previous appointment. I have been satisfied with her care, even though I have had issues with nurses in her office. I have separated this post into two sections because what shouldn’t have been an ordeal getting post-operative care a ..read more

On October 18th, I began my voiding trial. Obviously I was a little anxious, but I tried not to think about it as I waited for my bladder to fill after plugging the catheter. And then, the moment of truth… THE FISTULA REPAIR WORKED!!!!! To say I was relieved is a bit of an understatement. I was that along with elated, euphoric and in awe that I was no longer peeing from two places. I let Dr. Safir and Grainne know via email immediately. My bladder woke up a lot quicker after this surgery. I am not sure if that was due to taking less ditropan, having had a catheter before, or both. I kept the c ..read more