I had Sex Reassignment Surgery from male to female in September of 2018. My surgeon was Dr. Jess Ting of Mount Sinai hospital in New York City. I have been transitioning for eleven years. I started when I was 19 and have been on HRT for 9 years. It has been a long time coming to finally accomplish this major aspect of becoming who I should be. After a while of trying to research SRS, I read about Dr. Ting. I was impressed by what patient testimonials I was able to find around the internet and was particularly curious about his new method of using peritoneal tissue grafts in the procedure. On September 11, 2018 I had standard penile inversion sex reassignment with peritoneal graft method of vaginoplasty. I am documenting my surgical recovery with both this blog and photos on Imgur so others seeking surgery can find detailed information they need about Dr. Ting, Mount Sinai hospital and the peritoneal graft method of surgery.
WARNING: NSFW: Images of genitalia, medical gore and blood.
Link to Imgur Photos: https://imgur.com/a/tJHkd1g
I first went for my intake appointments at Mount Sinai hospital's new Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery in New York City in August of 2017. I had to meet with three people who would interview me. First was a social worker. She asked me questions and we filled out some paperwork, including designating a family member as a healthcare proxy in the event I needed someone to make decisions on my behalf, like if I end up in a coma or something. Second, I met a psychiatrist who also asked me many of the same questions about myself, my transition, what support I have and the like. He also assisted in getting my letters of recommendation for surgery together. Third, I had to meet with a nurse practitioner, again asking questions, confirming I'm aware of risks and how things work and I had to provide bloodwork. In total, my appointments took a couple of hours. My appointment to meet with and have a consult with Dr. Ting was scheduled. Before I went to my appointments at CTMS, I had to have two letters of recommendation for surgery written by my endocrinologist and another by a psychotherapist. There is a specific format they must be written in. The WPATH standard outline for letters of recommendation is a good guide to provide your doctors or therapists if they do not know what to write. If the letters aren't right, the social worker or psychiatrist you meet with will help get them corrected.
I met with Dr. Ting at his office at Mount Sinai's main hospital next to Central Park in Manhattan in December of 2017. We discussed the surgery, possible complications, risks and expectations. He showed me photos of other patients' results and I was confident in his abilities. We discussed the two options for surgery, one being the standard penile inversion vaginoplasty, the other was his newer method involving a peritoneal graft. I decided I would go with the peritoneal graft method. He inspected my genitalia and explained a bit what they would be doing in the surgery. He was friendly yet kinda serious and direct.
I met with the billing and other office staff after meeting with Dr. Ting to schedule the surgery date. I was told my insurance would cover 100% of the expenses. It did. I never got one bill. The only reason I got SRS was because my insurance paid for it, otherwise I would never have been able to afford it. I originally would have been scheduled for June 2018, but I did not want to spend my summer recovering from surgery. I was scheduled for September 11, 2018 instead.
Months went by and eventually I was scheduled for a series of hair removal appointments to destroy the pubic hair on my genitals before surgery. This is important for SRS patients, especially if the surgeon does not surgically remove the hair follicles during the surgery too. You do not want pubic hair growing inside of your vagina. Gross. I went to four laser hair removal appointments at Mount Sinai's Union Square facility. They used a really cool hair removal machine, the Lightsheer Infinity. I had previously had laser hair removal on my face and was terrified when they told me there would be no anesthetic. Laser hair removal is typically painful, especially in sensitive areas. But this machine was different than the previous Candela laser machine I had used on my face. In just four sessions, I had a solid 80% hair loss with no pain at all. I actually had to ask if the machine was even working. There was basically no feeling at all, just the pressure of them pushing the laser device onto my skin each time they zapped. Towards the taint region between my anus and scrotum there were very slight pinching sensations, but still painless. I was originally told I'd be receiving electrolysis, but they switched to the laser machine by the time my appointments were scheduled. Dr. Ting also surgically removes hair follicles during surgery. Any surviving hair follicles were scraped off with a scalpel.
A week prior to the surgery I had the pre-surgery testing appointment. I went back to the Union Square facility and met with doctors to give some more bloodwork and review everything that is about to happen. They test you for STDs, drug use, tobacco use and the like. I was told to stop taking my estrogen and progesterone pills a week prior to surgery. This is to help prevent blood clots, particularly in the legs as I would be bed ridden for over a week. They also told me to stop taking my anti-androgen (a testosterone blocker) the day before surgery. I was also prescribed the bowel prep drink that I had to consume the day before surgery.
On September 10th, the day before surgery I had to consume a gallon of GaviLyte, a bowel preparation laxative drink. I had heard from a lot of people that the bowel prep drink is disgusting. Mine came with a lemon flavor packet. The drink was weird tasting, but bearable. I totally recommend refrigerating it before drinking. Warm GaviLyte is kinda gross. The cold definitely helps. Every ten minutes I had to down a glass of it, approximately 8 ounces (1 cup) each time until I finished it all. Within 40 minutes I was pooping. Fortunately, there was no discomfort or pain with the pooping. It starts coming out as pure liquid within a couple hours, like diarrhea but without the pain, burning and cramping. The day before surgery I was only allowed to have breakfast. I decided to eat nothing. I had coffee in the morning and nothing else the whole day except the GaviLyte and water. I went to bed early because my surgery was early in the morning and I had to drive into New York City with a family member.
