9 mo post stage 1 & 1 week post stage 2 (self.phallo)
submitted 21 days ago by unapologetictransguy to r/phallo
I had my stage 2 on February 20th, and hit nine months post stage one around the same time. Prior to my stage one I had a surgery to remove the work from my abdominal phalloplasty and to do some reconstruction. That stage zero was in November ‘23, then stage one in May ‘24, and stage two Feb ‘25. At ~8 months post stage one I had sensation in about 20-30% of my dick. I was also doing catheter passes in the neourethra about 3 times a week, to keep it clean until hookup. RFF recovery was really intense, but it was absolutely worth it. I’m so thankful to have a penis of my own, no more silicone packers or rolled up socks. It feels natural and comfortable, and I wake up every day happy to have it. I had no qualms with my new dick, but there were other things I was still unhappy with. My original scrotoplasty (done with my original surgeon years ago) hid my tdick and made it hard to access. This was frustrating to say the least. Plus it was annoying to have to hold my dick out of the way when I peed. Of course I still needed glansplasty. And I had pretty significant dog ears on my hips from my previous surgeon’s attempt at abdominal phalloplasty.
Stage two has addressed a lot of these things. I had my glansplasty done, my scrotum redone/brought up a little, my tdick buried, and my right dog ear revised. I already had vectomy done with my previous team, and thankfully they did it right so I didn’t have to have that redone as well. They took the graft for my glansplasty from my right side, and my surgeon was able to get the dog ear while he was in the area, which I’m super happy with. I do still have the dog ear on my left side, but I’m gonna get implants anyways so hopefully that can be addressed then as well.
I also had a part of my gracilis muscle taken as part of the UL hookup. The incision is a few inches long, on the inner thigh. It had a drain, and so did my right side, but both came out Sunday before I went home. It was sore, especially to walk on, but not bad. And no where near as annoying or painful as the split thickness graft taken in my stage one.
Recovery has been fine. I wasn’t allowed to eat in the hospital the same day as surgery, but was cleared for food the next morning. I was on bed rest the day of surgery after I woke up and for the first whole day after, but was allowed to get up and walk the next day. I had surgery Thursday and went home on Sunday. I had such amazing nurses and PCAs. Walking the first few days was tricky, and is still a bit tiring. I do have to support my penis while I’m up, and carry around the catheter bag. It’s a bit of a hassle but manageable. The catheter is very positional, and I have to shift the tube around a lot to make sure it’s draining.
Right now I have a Foley catheter and a SP. The foley comes out at my post op on Friday. The SP I’ll have for about four weeks. I’ll start pee trials around then. The gracilis provides good blood flow, which is helpful for preventing structures and fistulas, so I’m hopeful. My dick is also wrapped in layers and layers of coban tape. This will also be removed Friday, where I’ll see my new glans and be given the ok to shower.
My leg and side are sore at times, my scrotum can be sore or painful, but taking Tylenol every six hours keeps me comfortable. And the oxybutynin takes care of bladder spasms. I’m also on ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic, for the first ten days I’m home. At the hospital I was on an IV antibiotic almost around the clock.
Wound care is just applying a mixture of half silvasorb and half bacitracin on my scrotal incisions, and when I get the coban off I believe xeroform around the glans.
When I had initial UL as part of my stage one with my original team in 2021, I had both catheters for some time as well. Towards the end of my time with the sp the pain was unbearable; it was super irritated and nothing was helping. I’ve been nervous about having an sp again because I remember how bad it was. But my reconstructed pubis mound is 100% numb. My whole lower abdomen is. I believe this is why the sp site isn’t bothering me at all. So while it sucks I have all those scars and had all those surgeries for nothing, at least there’s a silver lining.
I think that’s all I have to say for now. Open to all questions and things! I’m spending a lot of time on my phone right now lol.