I had my first Skype consultation with Dr. Rumer on September 19, 2017. She discussed the procedure with me, showed me some photos, and talked about timeline. I had to get letters from two therapists, lab work a month before the procedure, and clearance from my primary care doctor. She was able to then schedule me for December 5, 2017. I had a pre-surgery Skype appointment with her about a week before surgery. I flew from my home to Philadelphia the day before surgery. (During which I had to do bowel prep. Not fun while flying.) I arrived at the hospital early in the morning and it was pretty quick from arrival to gettin into surgery. Met with Dr. Rumer, she has a very good bedside manor.
All the nurses and other doctors were wonderful, asked about my pronouns, used my preferred name, and just all around just made me feel comfortable. I woke up from surgery and the next day was pretty much a blur. I was in the hospital for three days on bed rest. The pain and discomfort were pretty intense. After three days I went back to an Airbnb where I stayed until the 12th. I mostly stayed in bed, in a lot of pain. Walking and moving hurt and sleeping on my back was a drag.
On the 12th of December I went back to Dr. Rumer for my 1 week follow-up appointment. She took the packing out, catheter out, and drains out. She showed me how to dilate and then I went on my way. The next day we flew home and flying was not fun. Still a good deal of discomfort while moving. Dilating for the first time was awful. It hurt, it felt really uncomfortable, and there were lots of tears. But dilating pretty quickly got better and now it's not a problem at all. I did lose a good deal of depth. I don't know why, but it could have been from waiting too long to dilate the first time after the flight or what.
The next few weeks continued to be pretty hard. It was hard to move, and I stayed in bed a lot because of pain and discomfort. By week 4-5 I started to feel much better, moving became easier, and by week 6 or so I was both able to get back to my life and was able to finally enjoy having a vagina.
Depth is still pretty good (maybe 4.5 inches?), sensation is wonderful even if I haven't been able to have an orgasm at 2 months. Self-lubrication is surprising. Very self-lubricating. All around, surgery and recovery were rough, but now I'm very happy with the results.
Total out of pocket costs were about $3,500. That included airfare, emergency airfare (we had our flight canceled and had to but a new way home), lodging, and a rental car. The total costs billed to my insurance were $157,183. That included hospital ($133k), surgeon fee ($20k), anesthesia, anesthetist, and pathology.