Walk Thru

Pulled from the pages of my written journal

I’m sitting in the Phoenix airport waiting on my flight back to San Jose after visiting Dr. Meltzer’s office this morning. Yesterday, I flew in and had Robin pick me up. Robin is the driver for Dr. Meltzer’s office. She dropped me off at the hotel and explained where a few of the local places were. After checking in and taking a nap to let the temperature and sun go down a bit, I walked to the Greenbaum Surgery Center. It was all locked up, but a call to JoanB later that night had her explain that there was an entrance one could be buzzed into. I grabbed a bite to eat, then headed back to the air conditioning. I tried heading to bed a little early so I could get in a restful night of sleep before an early morning run, but Claire called again at 11. We chatted for a while until my phone started beeping at me because it was running out of juice. Anyway we talked for a while about the dynamics of some of our friendships.

Early this morning, I was up for a run, showered, ate breakfast down in the lobby, then walked to the surgery center again. Man, it was hot out there. Anyway, the kind receptionist at the center let me sneak upstairs to take a look around. I said hi to the station nurses (there were a ton there for the 24 beds they have, unless it was two shifts during changing time) and examined one of the empty rooms. They were pretty nice and spacious, had flat panel TV’s with internet access, showers in the bathroom, a small table and chairs, and supposedly a pull out bed, but I didn’t see it. The receptionist, Ellen, also told me to come back down and she’d walk me through the limited access areas. We went through admissions, the check-in room, then the staging area before surgery. That was about all she could show me, but said that the recovery room was around the other side and that I would be in there for about an hour and a half after surgery.

After the tour, Robin picked me up at the hotel to take me to Dr. Meltzer’s office for the consult. Inside the office, there were quite a few older taller TS. I guess if you play the percentages, most T’s are going to be taller and older than me, but not all. I was the last consult that morning since they’d been nice enough to squeeze me in on my return flight from the wedding in San Antonio. I didn’t mind. I read up on the upcoming summer movies and that the Olsen twins will be hitting their 18th birthday very, very soon – all in People magazine. I also wandered around the lobby looking at the artwork, and even took a picture of the entrance from inside…perhaps being a little inverted?

After a while, Cheryl took me into one of the examining rooms to go over my info. She briefly went over a few items then said that Dr. Meltzer would be in shortly. After a few minutes, they were both in. He remembered me from the previous weekend, and after looking through the file of my info, he asked me if I had any questions. I only asked him what the recommended time off from work was, and if I brought a picture of female genitalia that I liked, could he get close. He said he recommended about a month simply because the 4 dilations are hard to do while working. He said most people were ok at about 2 weeks (after they were discharged on the 9th day). He also said he could try to get close on the GG picture, but that if I saw something of his work that I liked, he could definitely do that. Then, I think we talked more about running than anything else. He’d run an 18-miler yesterday, at which point we talked about hydration units. I haven’t had to use one since moving from Missouri, but might have to take one when I return this summer with Amber. I also asked him if he considered SF instead of Scottsdale when moving away from Portland, but he said it was too expensive there. True.

So, after that, they left the room and had me put on a gown. A few minutes later, both of them came back in and they had me lay back in the examining chair. Dr. Meltzer had me put both of my feet up on the chair and spread my legs. He kinda gave ol' Junior a good tug and examined the available skin. I think we were still talking for most of the examination, and Cheryl had to interrupt us to get a yea or nay answer out of Dr. Meltzer on the need for a graft. Dr. Meltzer says, "Yeah, she'll do fine." Cool. From what I gather from friends who have had surgery with Dr. Meltzer, you lose about 1/2 an inch (about 12mm) in depth in going from the length of the penis to the depth of the vaginal cavity. I'm starting at about 5.75" (146mm) and will probably end up around 5.25" (133mm) when it comes to depth. That can handle most guys, although a good dilation schedule and extra scrotal skin can increase the depth. I would say that I have decent scrotal skin available, so I will plan on the 5.25" depth, but hope for more.

After the consult, I handed over $500 and scheduled my SRS for early next year. I might reschedule with Amber if/when she has her labiaplasty or if I can find another friend that’s going about the same time. My mom has mentioned going with me again, so I’ll need to check her schedule as well.

Robin and I talked as she drove me back to the airport, where I now sit waiting on my flight back. I asked her, though, how the driver position read in the classifieds. She said it was a surgeon’s office looking for a driver. She didn’t know why they would need a driver. She said when they told her that the office did sex change operations she was still more obsessed with why they needed a driver, until the news of what they had said finally sunk in.