Monday, February 21, 2005

Day 3 - The Day Before

Amber and I were off for my pre-surgical consult this morning. We arrived shortly before my 9:30am appointment and appeared to be the first ones there. We were taken to an exam room and Janet had me initial and sign a bunch of forms. After I disrobed, I put one of their black robes on.

When Dr. Meltzer came in, I had a list of questions for him. I asked for a general description of surgery...just for clarification. He mentioned that he basically inverts everything...but went into a few of the items. I believe, and this is not necessarily in order, he makes a cut along the midline of the perineum, cuts a skin graft out of the scrotal skin, separates the head from the penile shaft while maintaining the nerve connections, creates a cavity thru the middle muscle area, sews the graft onto the end of the penile skin, pulls the penile skin down and inverts it up into the cavity, anchors it with a couple of sutures, places the previous glans into the spot for the new clitoris, creates the new urethra, and then sews it all back along the seams, and then sews it together....with the packing in place, of course.

I also asked him about where the skin that is just on the underside of the glans ends up. It's one of my most sensitive spots and I wanted to know where it would end up. My guess was correct as he said it would end up inside the vagina.

I also mentioned the small jellybean sized lump next to my right testicle that I've had all of my life. He said it was probably part of the epididymis. Hopefully he'll be able to tell me after tomorrow. I always wondered what it was.

We also chatted about body contour and breast implants. I said I was just looking at the areas around my waist, but that I didn't have too much there. He said the best results were on people that didn't have too much there...something that was nice to hear. He also said that he'd probably look at 250cc minimum for a breast augmentation. I think he talked about the relatively small size of nipple that I have and how the breast implant should generally be placed. He said the best placement would come off the nipple incision and not thru the crease or armpit. I also showed him the scar for my trachea shave. He said that in time it was going to look really good...but that it just takes a while in that area. He said the scar around the areola would heal up almost invisible. Dr. Meltzer has had some pretty good results, but I'll probably also get a quote from one of the local SF docs. Dr. Meltzer's office quoted me $5970 for the breast aug and another $2500 for the lipo...a total of $8470. They booked me for the breast aug and lipo during my labiaplasty...just to reserve my time, but I'll need to decide soon if that's what I want to do or not.

Once we were done, I asked a few questions at the front desk. They said that three letters would be sent to me concerning my irreversible surgery...letters I will need for a new passport and birth certificate. We also discussed the days I would be out in order to finish off the disability forms for work.

Since Amber was hoping to discuss some possible UTI complications with Dr. Meltzer, I hung around with her. They actually got us in quite fast, especially since the other patient having her consult didn't ask nearly as many questions as I did.

Soon, Amber was undressing in the other exam room...the one with stirrups. Last night, I showed Amber what I have to work with. She said I had a lot of scrotal skin which will probably make up for my lack of foreskin. I told her I've been exercising the scrotal skin in the hopes of having plenty.

As she was undressing in the exam room, though, she showed me what she currently has. Although the clitoris is protruding a bit, her result actually looks pretty good. This labiaplasty is going to leave her with one pretty nice looking vagina. I don't know what it was, but seeing her results in person (after being with her during her surgery last year at this time) really eased my mind. I realized this really is the right decision for me.

When we were back in the front waiting area, I realized that I hadn't dug the nudie magazines out in order to ask Dr. Meltzer what type of vagina/labia he could produce. So, when we were back in there and he'd taken care of Amber's concerns, we looked through my magazines. The one I really like was also one that he said he could realistically provide. Cool. I'm not really into the vagina's with a lot of extra labia, but the ones with a nice little amount seem really pretty. I told him I'd rather have more depth than extra labia.

He was definitely happy to scan through the magazines, though. It was almost amusing how happy he was to go through them. He also pointed out a lot of bad boob jobs...especially the ones that always had to hold their boobs in certain places or looked really bad when they were laying on their backs. One thing he pointed out about the breast augmentation, though, was that implants typically leave one with very firm, youthful looking breasts....not that it's a bad thing.

After leaving there, Amber and I picked up my mom at the airport, then ran her by Greenbaum so she'd know where it is. I also dropped off a goodie bag for the nurses....who appeared to move me into room 2. Ahhh...another two. Second floor of Holiday Inn Express, 2nd floor of the previous hotel...2nd floor of Greenbaum...Room 2? We'll see tomorrow night.

This afternoon has been nothing but water and Ensure. I've had at least 8 ounces of water every hour on the hour. I downed the Magnesium Citrate at 5:30pm while Amber and my mom ate dinner. About 7:30, something kicked in as I had to go...#2. Amber didn't have to go until after the suppository and Bisacodyl tablets. I was already at least two hours ahead of schedule. I was really surprised that it hit me so fast.

By 9:00, I'd already gone a few times, but inserted the suppository anyway. Yeah, it's a weird feeling shoving that up the anus, but with enough Surgilube on it, it wasn't that bad. I took the Bisacodyl tablets at 9:30. Things are starting to wrap up and now I'm starting to feel a bit hungry. I think the fact that I ate a lot over the past few days combined with the Ensure holding off most of the hunger pains has made it easier. Only tonight do I actually feel hungry...and I'm craving something to eat....but I can't. Oh well. I'm definitely looking forward to food on Wednesday....I hope.

OK, well, I'm off to bed soon. Last night. New day.

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