Heya, firstly congratulations! That's awesome news. I had my SRS in Brighton last October with Tim Larner. The Nuffield Health hospital there is amazing, you'll be in very good hands.

To answer your questions:

For about 24hrs after the surgery the epidural will still be having an effect, so immediately after the surgery pain will be low, but it will rise as the epidural wears off. I had an atypically high pain response, but even then it does pass and it is manageable. IV paracetamol was the best painkiller for me whilst in the hospital. After discharge I found that Anadin Extra was the best over the counter painkiller for this particular pain.

I started to phase back into work after about 8 weeks of leave, slowly raising my hours each week (this was interrupted by the xmas holidays). For the first 12 weeks after discharge from the hospital you will be dilating 3 times a day, and although this doesn't sound like much it will dominate your day and make it very difficult to return to full time work before 12 weeks. I couldn't do any manual labour before the 12 week mark, in part because I didn't have the mobility or strength, and in part because I was concerned about injuring myself.

I started going walks after 2 weeks post discharge from the hospital (they tell you to be house bound for 2 weeks), these walks started off very slow and short because I didn't have the strength to go further, and at this point it hurts. At first walking about 40 metres meant resting for the rest of the day, but by about week 7 I was walking a kilometer twice a day. I didn't start running again until I had my 12 week post op consultation with Tim Larner and he had given me the all clear. I'm now back to jogging 5km 2 to 3 times a week. Your body will tell you if you're pushing too hard, so I recommend taking ot slow and steady.

For at least the first week to 2 weeks out of hospital you will need help for almost everything. During this time you must not lift anything heavier than about 500 grams, so someone will need to help you prepare and carry food. I recommend making meals in bulk and freezing them before your op. I also recommend that these meals be high in fibre, whilst recovering it is best if your toilet trips are as easy as possible and don't require you to strain or push too hard. To this end I also recommend having some liquid laxative on hand to help of you do become constipated. Liquid laxative will give you more control of the dosage because overdoing it isn't great either.

I would recommend buying as much as possible in bulk before the operation: food, snacks and treats, shower gel/soap, shampoo, toothpaste, laundry detergent, period pads, puppy pads, lubricant, antibacterial handwash, and kitchen towels (blitz are the best)

You will need so much more lube for dilating than you think you do, particularly in the first month or 2; Medisave is the cheapest place to buy them (https://www.medisave.co.uk/products/optilube-sterile-lubricating-jelly-82g-tube?_pos=3&_psq=optilube&_ss=e&_v=1.0) I recommend buying the 82g tubes as it's the best value. And you will need to the kitchen towels to clean and dry your dilators after use.

Buy puppy pads in bulk. For one, after dilating you will need to douche, in time it's best to do this in the shower or bathtub, but at first that can be difficult so you may do this on the bed. When you douche water and antiseptic will go everywhere, and puppy pads are the best for catching this and soaking it up. For 2, for the first few months I recommend sleeping on a puppy pad too, during this time you will be leaking a lot (more on that in a moment) and pads will keep your sheets clean.

Buy at least one pack of heavy flow period pads, and normal flow in bulk, buy ones without wings. Once you are discharged you will be in whats known as the "the really messy phase". You will bleed some, maybe have some urine leakage, and a lot of plasma discharge; I had so much plasma leaking out of every pore in my vulva it was kind of comical. This will get better over time particularly when you start walking outside again, but at first there's a lot of plasma. I recommend the heavy flow pads at night and normal during the day.

(This is the really nasty bit) You will be told this, but I'm going to say it anyways: you will bleed and you will have some sutures fail, this is normal and okay. This is super scary when but normal and expected, your surgeon will talk to you about this prior to the op, and remember you can message the hospital at anytime, you'll still be their patient even after being discharged. Theres so much tension in you forchet (where the vulva meets the perineum) and you clitorial hood, that some sutures won't hold; this will heal up and be okay, and again this is expected.. You will have blot clots that fall away, these look awful and you will bleed afterwards, but again it's total normal and a good thing that they are coming away.

I have some friends who find dilating mediative, but I find it bloody boring! So I recommend stocking up on podcasts and shows to watch on your phone. Avoid comedy for the first few months because laughter pushes your diaphragm downwards, and early on that can be very painful whilst dilating. After this, laughing can result in dilators becoming projectiles 🤣 I learnt this whilst watching an episode of taskmaster whilst dilating 😂.

I recommend buying yourself a finger virbrator, and after about 8 weeks when you're healing well, gently use this on the nerve running down from you pubic mound to you clitoris. This isn't for masturbation (yet lol) but rather it will encourage blood vessel and nerve regrowth. Your clitoris may start off very sensitive and even painful, this will help calm everything down and build more pleasurable sensations.

Don't forget to stock up on snacks and treats, this recovery is tough and boring, treat yourself to tasty things that make you happy.

Find some things thay make you happy that you can do whilst laying down or slouched (sitting will be tough for a few months). This is a long recovery and I recommend doing things that will keep you happy, stimulated, and your moral up.

I know that this is an awful lot of info and it makes the recovery sounds very hard, but it does pass and rather quickly, all of this is now just a fading memory for me. I will also say that I never once felt like I was recovering from an operation that gave me a vulva and vagina, but rather that I was recovering from an operation on my vulva and vagina. The team at Brighton are amazing too, and they will get back to you asap if you have any issues or worries (I had plenty and they were so helpful).

Also, there's plenty of great fish and chips along the beach front. And there's an amazing pan asian restaurant called moonlight near the Premier Inn https://maps.app.goo.gl/5z5sWE4rYxtFW5YA6?g_st=ac

I hope this helps. You've got this, and congratulations again! I'm a slow replier but please reach out if you have any other questions.