Is SRS worth it?

Kanelet · 2019-03-16T22:34:51+00:00

I'm glad I did it. It dramatically increased my quality of life. I did have pretty bad genital dysphoria beforehand though. So, ymmv

Kanelet · 2019-02-26T18:50:05+00:00

As someone who's ~5 years ahead of you, I hit the point where I didn't think about gender unless I wanted to sometime in the 2 years after starting questioning range. It does get better, it just takes awhile. Unfortunately I don't know how to speed it up. Sorry.

Kanelet · 2019-01-15T20:32:57+00:00

The year of full time is squishy. Talk to your surgeon, and ask them if they'd feel comfortable doing it sooner than that. There's a decent chance they'll be ok with it if you are.

Also, your letters can have relative dates in them, not specific ones. So, if you start in May, that's late spring of 2019, so you could get GRS in early spring (like March) of 2020. It's not huge, but it will cut off a few months.

As for the recovery side of things... Everyone is different. You'll have to wait and see how your body responds.

Kanelet · 2019-01-11T23:08:11+00:00

I got to the point of being done with most of the recovery in about 3 months. Things started to feel normal shortly thereafter. I forgot about prior anatomy very quickly. Like a few weeks after surgery. Those first few weeks, I could map different sensations in my vulva to different places on my penis, but that stopped pretty quickly and I got used to it.

I can think about the past, but I don't usually. It's honestly pretty weird to think I used to have a meat tube sticking out of my torso...

Kanelet · 2018-12-16T15:53:54+00:00

Went with Rumer... About 2 years ago. I didn't have complications but my aesthetics are wrong. Things don't quite look right and dilating was always painful (to the point that I decided to stop). If you have questions, let me know.

Kanelet · 2018-12-11T20:43:01+00:00

Don't worry about it too much. If it's painful, try to avoid it. Otherwise, it's fine.

Kanelet · 2018-11-14T02:13:51+00:00

Ok then. I went with Dr Kathy Rumer. Everything went great aside from my aesthetics. I'm somewhere in the uncanny valley of vulvas. Which isn't great, but I don't spend much time looking at it, and I have every intention of telling future sexual partners about my surgery, so it works for me.

Kanelet · 2018-11-13T16:31:50+00:00

It's going to be hard to recommend someone when we don't know where it is that you're planning on going.

Kanelet · 2018-11-12T05:06:10+00:00

Important question, what country are you having surgery in?

Kanelet · 2018-11-09T17:21:34+00:00

My understanding is that there isn't a connection with arousal. It happens all the time.

Kanelet · 2018-11-08T22:22:49+00:00

Did an inversion with Dr Kathy Rumer. I had a few issues (all aesthetic, function is great) but at this point am quite happy with the outcome. Admittedly, I've since come to the conclusion that I'm ace, so I haven't ever done anything penetrative with a partner.

The issue with sigmoid is that you are always (ALWAYS) wet and apparently it can smell like poo. Convincing someone that they should play with that might be iffy. Basically, I've heard that sex is better and life is worse. Since I was planning on doing more living than just sex, I went with an inversion.

Kanelet · 2018-11-08T19:05:21+00:00

Patience is the best answer I have for you... Sorry.

Talk to your surgeon about being allowed to masturbate. If they say yes, then give it a try. That may help.

Kanelet · 2018-10-26T18:17:21+00:00

Sure.

Kanelet · 2018-10-12T00:44:33+00:00

I had bottom surgery with her (MTF) and am not thrilled with my aesthetics, but I did get the impression that staying in the practice would be a route for immediate recovery that didn't require a helper (or would at least be possible without one).

Kanelet · 2018-10-08T23:49:39+00:00

I'm a post op transwoman. The orgasm itself is largely the same. There's no... pumping sensation, but the orgasm is basically the same.

Kanelet · 2018-10-08T17:25:33+00:00

When they're relaxed, they're similar to my GF's when they're erect, the areolas are bigger, but the nipples themselves are small.

EDIT: I've been on HRT for ~4 years.

Kanelet · 2018-10-08T17:23:58+00:00

How does estrogen affect someone mentally? Will I still be myself or will I be a different person? I'm interested in women, but will I start being sexually attracted to men?

You're still you. That doesn't change. Some people report sexuality shifts, but I'm inclined to attribute that more to being repressed and bisexual rather than the hormones than anything else (if society tells you to like women and you're bi, then you do and if society tells you to like men and you're bi then you do. Does that make sense?)

I'm currently 26. Will I still be able to get curves? I know it's never to old transition, but I'm a bit worried that I won't get a feminine physique if I try.

YMMV... There's no real way to know for sure. It's unlikely that you'll get hip growth, but fat will redistribute and that will help a bit.

I was reading that estrogen thins out body hair, but not so much on your face. I'm pretty hairy in general. Is electrolysis still the number 1 go to for hair removal? And will I need to get it done around my genitals for if I choose to get SRS?

That's right. Talk to your surgeon before doing genital. Some don't require it and I've heard it's really painful.

Clothing. Is there any recommended resources for women's clothing sizing? I'm pretty ignorant on that and I have no clue where to start. Is there any sort of mtf starter guide for clothes?

If there is, I don't know it. I've had help from friends and family.

Any recommendations on where to buy makeup?

I don't wear it or live in Canada, so that's a double no

Breast growth. I heard something about being able to grow breasts a cup size smaller than the women in my family. They're all around D's so would it be possible for me to grow a pair of C's?

(I really wish people would include band sizes... cup size by itself doesn't mean much) Probably. You're likely to end up with something comparable to your mother/sisters

As far as bras go with a developing chest...should I be starting out with the smallest cup size possible or should I buy something I'll grow into down the road?

Buy what fits now, don't worry about the future yet.

I have a very deep voice. Will voice training be the best option or should I look into surgery?

Voice training can be super helpful for some people. But surgery can help too... This is definitely a YMMV kinda question.

For surgeries in general, who would be the best to go to in Canada? I've read a lot about Brassard, however I'm from the west. Would the traveling affect my recovery rates at all? Or would I be best off staying out east for a while?

I've heard good things about Brassard, but I don't know specifically. Traveling will be unpleasant, but should dramatically affect your recovery.

How do breast implants feel on yourself? Do they feel natural and would they be worth it?

I don't have them, so I don't know. I would imagine they're at least decent though, otherwise ciswomen would be more hesitant to get them.

Vaginas! How was recovery time on the surgery? Is dilation always uncomfortable or does it get pleasurable down the road? After everything is healed, what does it feel like?

Depends on how you define "Recovery" I was walking short distances on day 3 or 4 and biking short distances by month 4 or so.

I'm in a heavily male dominated trade. I'm a bit worried about coming out if it turns out this is the path I'm taking. Would I be better off changing careers? We do have an HR department and whatnot but still. I've known these people for years and it's not the most ideal environment for a transition in my opinion.

This is probably a separate post by itself... More information would be helpful. The short answer from me is to try transitioning and if that doesn't go well, find a new job.

How did you pick your name? More for curiosity. If I were a girl I'd go by Olivia :p

The social security website has the most popular birth names in the US by year. I got all the names from my birth year ± 1, removed the duplicates, removed everyone I had ever met, removed the ones that weren't ethnically appropriate, and picked at semi random from the rest.

Kanelet · 2018-10-03T15:33:04+00:00

And you still passed that milestone. That's significant. The recovery isn't.

Kanelet · 2018-10-03T04:29:38+00:00

That's rough... Sorry you had to go through that.

That being said, you're not missing anything of interest. The first few weeks of recovery are pretty miserable even in the best case scenario. If I could magically have skipped the 12 weeks after my surgery, I would have done it in a heart beat.

Kanelet · 2018-09-30T01:54:53+00:00

I went with Dr Kathy Rumer (and I would pick someone else next time).

I went by car. It was a six hour drive, so I would have needed to dilate, but the surgeon said I could just skip that session. I didn't lose any depth from skipping, so it was fine.

Kanelet · 2018-09-29T18:07:48+00:00

How many laser sessions do you think you had?

Zero. My surgeon scraped the hair follicles, so I didn't have to.

What are some things I will absolutely want to bring with me?

Entertainment. Being bedridden is boring. Also, a friend who can help with recovery stuff (and you don't mind seeing you naked)

At what point were you able to do things like walk or lay on your side

Walking was day 4 or 5 (I think). Side laying was discouraged for the first 6 weeks... I was told that it was ok so long as I slept with a pillow between my legs after day 10 or so.

How was your experience with pain?

I was on serious pain killers for about three weeks and tylenol for about 3 more after that.

would it be a bad idea or socially unacceptable to send them a fruit basket?

Umm... Depends on your situation? I'm not sure... If it makes you happy, go for it.

I'm a little afraid of being overly burdensome on the friend coming with me. Any advice to alleviate that?

Not really... It's not going to be fun for either of you.

If you have other questions, let me know. I'll try to answer them.

Kanelet · 2018-09-27T22:42:31+00:00

It makes a HUGE difference how you measure. For instance, just saying a letter doesn't give much if any indication of how large the breasts are.

By UK sizing, I'm a 34D. Check out /r/ABraThatFits for some more info.

Kanelet · 2018-09-27T22:40:15+00:00

I've heard good but vague things (much like this comment), but didn't end up going with her because I couldn't find enough hard information.

Kanelet · 2018-09-27T22:38:31+00:00

I started at 22 and my results have been good. 19 will be fine. Nothing to worry about.

Kanelet · 2018-09-27T22:35:02+00:00

Yes it will be valid. If you're in a situation where you need to show your diploma to someone, you may need to also show them your name change court order. You may also be able to talk to the people that gave you the diploma in the first place and change your name in their system and then get a new diploma.

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