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Douching: In regards to my surprise that Chettawut, unlike other surgeons, doesn't have you douche that douching is bad for your internal flora: Yup it sure is. Except with a neo-vagina there really isn't any real culture up there. The skin in a neo-vagina is also mainly external skin, penile shaft, scrotal, and in my case belly rather than the usual mucosal skin of the inside of the vagina. (It eventually adapts, the cells actually change shape, and you end up with what is a far more natural internal structure, usually with some limited self lubrication). And you also have wounds that need to be kept clean. Obviously, from Dr. Chettawut's technique it isn't necessary, but it's not quite like the havoc that twice daily douching would do to a natal woman.
May. 30th, 2005
Douching: In regards to my surprise that Chettawut, unlike other surgeons, doesn't have you douche that douching is bad for your internal flora: Yup it sure is. Except with a neo-vagina there really isn't any real culture up there. The skin in a neo-vagina is also mainly external skin, penile shaft, scrotal, and in my case belly rather than the usual mucosal skin of the inside of the vagina. (It eventually adapts, the cells actually change shape, and you end up with what is a far more natural internal structure, usually with some limited self lubrication). And you also have wounds that need to be kept clean. Obviously, from Dr. Chettawut's technique it isn't necessary, but it's not quite like the havoc that twice daily douching would do to a natal woman.
Well, it's been ten days I think. I guess it depends if you consider the day of your surgery to be the day or the day after or the day after my secondary procedure, tho from my point of view, I woke up (kind of) with a vagina (kind of) ten days ago. Whether or not the layout of the lower depths changed later is sort of irrelevant other than to expert spelunkers. And we have 11 days left here.
I'm happy. I guess that's really it.
I am, however starting to get pretty bored.
What did we do today. Well, for the first time we actually ate outside the room. Actually the first thing we did was the usual breast massage and dilation. It went well enough. It's mundane enough to be boring. But I'm not flexible enough for dilation to be completely painless. Plus I'm starting to live kind of normally at least part of the day and I'm sleeping normally, which is a change from the naked from the waist down legs spread that I spent the first week after surgery.
I called Janna and Kendra called her parents. It was wonderful to hear Janna's voice. Some of it was funny. "You sound tired." "It's 7:30 in the morning Janna, I just woke up, I'm still in bed." Everyone forgets about the time difference. And honestly, it's very hard to imagine that right now it's the middle of the night at home. The things you talk about when you're this far away are just so stupid. Utterly meaningless, just the pleasure of hearing each other's voice and connecting.
Ok back to food. The hotel has a breakfast buffet for 135baht, which is a little under $3.50 in US. So we headed down. It was a wonderful fest of protein. There are two things so far that Thai food seems to miss. The first is oddly vegetables. Fruit and rice is plentiful, finely chopped green onions are virtually ubiquitous, but big helpings of pure veggies don't seem to be nearly as common. The second is more obvious. Large hunks of meat. It's one of the few times I'm truly reminded of how American I am despite my general contempt for the current stupidity of our nation. I absolutely love meat. Well, there were no large hunks of meat at the buffet, but there were plenty of small ones in the form of bacon, ham, and "sausage" (they're little hot dogs in all honesty--kind of weird for breakfast but who cares) and I ate a ludicrous amount of them. Also a huge glass of juice. And a reasonable helping of fruit. Melon, pineapple, and something absolutely wonderful that I didn't recognize.
And then I found the machinery of joy, the coffee machine. It's one of these insane automated devices. Put the cup under the spout, press a button, and it grinds beans from a hopper and instantly brews them into a cupful of pure joy. It's not just that I love coffee, but it's also that for the most part coffee here is Nescafe (instant) and not fresh brewed and certainly not fresh ground, which is what I'm used to waking up to in the morning. And the coffee was delicious. I'm not sure how it was produced, possibly French press, but it came out sort of halfway between an espresso and regular brewed. And I could have as much as I'd like. And I did until I started to vibrate. Even had fresh cream and sugar.
The net nazi wasn't around, so I got on the net for a while. Chatted with so many people! Finally ran into Robin! Even posted a few pissy political messages on EQW. (I must be healing!) Since then we've been upstairs basically watching TV. I listened to music for a while and read a book. At least I still have plenty of those.
I'm happy. I guess that's really it.
I am, however starting to get pretty bored.
What did we do today. Well, for the first time we actually ate outside the room. Actually the first thing we did was the usual breast massage and dilation. It went well enough. It's mundane enough to be boring. But I'm not flexible enough for dilation to be completely painless. Plus I'm starting to live kind of normally at least part of the day and I'm sleeping normally, which is a change from the naked from the waist down legs spread that I spent the first week after surgery.
I called Janna and Kendra called her parents. It was wonderful to hear Janna's voice. Some of it was funny. "You sound tired." "It's 7:30 in the morning Janna, I just woke up, I'm still in bed." Everyone forgets about the time difference. And honestly, it's very hard to imagine that right now it's the middle of the night at home. The things you talk about when you're this far away are just so stupid. Utterly meaningless, just the pleasure of hearing each other's voice and connecting.
Ok back to food. The hotel has a breakfast buffet for 135baht, which is a little under $3.50 in US. So we headed down. It was a wonderful fest of protein. There are two things so far that Thai food seems to miss. The first is oddly vegetables. Fruit and rice is plentiful, finely chopped green onions are virtually ubiquitous, but big helpings of pure veggies don't seem to be nearly as common. The second is more obvious. Large hunks of meat. It's one of the few times I'm truly reminded of how American I am despite my general contempt for the current stupidity of our nation. I absolutely love meat. Well, there were no large hunks of meat at the buffet, but there were plenty of small ones in the form of bacon, ham, and "sausage" (they're little hot dogs in all honesty--kind of weird for breakfast but who cares) and I ate a ludicrous amount of them. Also a huge glass of juice. And a reasonable helping of fruit. Melon, pineapple, and something absolutely wonderful that I didn't recognize.
And then I found the machinery of joy, the coffee machine. It's one of these insane automated devices. Put the cup under the spout, press a button, and it grinds beans from a hopper and instantly brews them into a cupful of pure joy. It's not just that I love coffee, but it's also that for the most part coffee here is Nescafe (instant) and not fresh brewed and certainly not fresh ground, which is what I'm used to waking up to in the morning. And the coffee was delicious. I'm not sure how it was produced, possibly French press, but it came out sort of halfway between an espresso and regular brewed. And I could have as much as I'd like. And I did until I started to vibrate. Even had fresh cream and sugar.
The net nazi wasn't around, so I got on the net for a while. Chatted with so many people! Finally ran into Robin! Even posted a few pissy political messages on EQW. (I must be healing!) Since then we've been upstairs basically watching TV. I listened to music for a while and read a book. At least I still have plenty of those.
Well, it's been ten days I think. I guess it depends if you consider the day of your surgery to be the day or the day after or the day after my secondary procedure, tho from my point of view, I woke up (kind of) with a vagina (kind of) ten days ago. Whether or not the layout of the lower depths changed later is sort of irrelevant other than to expert spelunkers. And we have 11 days left here.
I'm happy. I guess that's really it.
I am, however starting to get pretty bored.
What did we do today. Well, for the first time we actually ate outside the room. Actually the first thing we did was the usual breast massage and dilation. It went well enough. It's mundane enough to be boring. But I'm not flexible enough for dilation to be completely painless. Plus I'm starting to live kind of normally at least part of the day and I'm sleeping normally, which is a change from the naked from the waist down legs spread that I spent the first week after surgery.
I called Janna and Kendra called her parents. It was wonderful to hear Janna's voice. Some of it was funny. "You sound tired." "It's 7:30 in the morning Janna, I just woke up, I'm still in bed." Everyone forgets about the time difference. And honestly, it's very hard to imagine that right now it's the middle of the night at home. The things you talk about when you're this far away are just so stupid. Utterly meaningless, just the pleasure of hearing each other's voice and connecting.
Ok back to food. The hotel has a breakfast buffet for 135baht, which is a little under $3.50 in US. So we headed down. It was a wonderful fest of protein. There are two things so far that Thai food seems to miss. The first is oddly vegetables. Fruit and rice is plentiful, finely chopped green onions are virtually ubiquitous, but big helpings of pure veggies don't seem to be nearly as common. The second is more obvious. Large hunks of meat. It's one of the few times I'm truly reminded of how American I am despite my general contempt for the current stupidity of our nation. I absolutely love meat. Well, there were no large hunks of meat at the buffet, but there were plenty of small ones in the form of bacon, ham, and "sausage" (they're little hot dogs in all honesty--kind of weird for breakfast but who cares) and I ate a ludicrous amount of them. Also a huge glass of juice. And a reasonable helping of fruit. Melon, pineapple, and something absolutely wonderful that I didn't recognize.
And then I found the machinery of joy, the coffee machine. It's one of these insane automated devices. Put the cup under the spout, press a button, and it grinds beans from a hopper and instantly brews them into a cupful of pure joy. It's not just that I love coffee, but it's also that for the most part coffee here is Nescafe (instant) and not fresh brewed and certainly not fresh ground, which is what I'm used to waking up to in the morning. And the coffee was delicious. I'm not sure how it was produced, possibly French press, but it came out sort of halfway between an espresso and regular brewed. And I could have as much as I'd like. And I did until I started to vibrate. Even had fresh cream and sugar.
The net nazi wasn't around, so I got on the net for a while. Chatted with so many people! Finally ran into Robin! Even posted a few pissy political messages on EQW. (I must be healing!) Since then we've been upstairs basically watching TV. I listened to music for a while and read a book. At least I still have plenty of those.
I'm happy. I guess that's really it.
I am, however starting to get pretty bored.
What did we do today. Well, for the first time we actually ate outside the room. Actually the first thing we did was the usual breast massage and dilation. It went well enough. It's mundane enough to be boring. But I'm not flexible enough for dilation to be completely painless. Plus I'm starting to live kind of normally at least part of the day and I'm sleeping normally, which is a change from the naked from the waist down legs spread that I spent the first week after surgery.
I called Janna and Kendra called her parents. It was wonderful to hear Janna's voice. Some of it was funny. "You sound tired." "It's 7:30 in the morning Janna, I just woke up, I'm still in bed." Everyone forgets about the time difference. And honestly, it's very hard to imagine that right now it's the middle of the night at home. The things you talk about when you're this far away are just so stupid. Utterly meaningless, just the pleasure of hearing each other's voice and connecting.
Ok back to food. The hotel has a breakfast buffet for 135baht, which is a little under $3.50 in US. So we headed down. It was a wonderful fest of protein. There are two things so far that Thai food seems to miss. The first is oddly vegetables. Fruit and rice is plentiful, finely chopped green onions are virtually ubiquitous, but big helpings of pure veggies don't seem to be nearly as common. The second is more obvious. Large hunks of meat. It's one of the few times I'm truly reminded of how American I am despite my general contempt for the current stupidity of our nation. I absolutely love meat. Well, there were no large hunks of meat at the buffet, but there were plenty of small ones in the form of bacon, ham, and "sausage" (they're little hot dogs in all honesty--kind of weird for breakfast but who cares) and I ate a ludicrous amount of them. Also a huge glass of juice. And a reasonable helping of fruit. Melon, pineapple, and something absolutely wonderful that I didn't recognize.
And then I found the machinery of joy, the coffee machine. It's one of these insane automated devices. Put the cup under the spout, press a button, and it grinds beans from a hopper and instantly brews them into a cupful of pure joy. It's not just that I love coffee, but it's also that for the most part coffee here is Nescafe (instant) and not fresh brewed and certainly not fresh ground, which is what I'm used to waking up to in the morning. And the coffee was delicious. I'm not sure how it was produced, possibly French press, but it came out sort of halfway between an espresso and regular brewed. And I could have as much as I'd like. And I did until I started to vibrate. Even had fresh cream and sugar.
The net nazi wasn't around, so I got on the net for a while. Chatted with so many people! Finally ran into Robin! Even posted a few pissy political messages on EQW. (I must be healing!) Since then we've been upstairs basically watching TV. I listened to music for a while and read a book. At least I still have plenty of those.
V+11/D-10 (Memorial Day)
May. 30th, 2005 11:40 amWell this morning I just plain feel exhausted. Not sure why. I slept forever last night. Might be a cold, I coughed a few times. It might just be too long on a dubious diet and very irregular living.
Of course there is also the possibility that I'm healing. Honestly, it's hard to imagine much that would be more intrusive than what I've had done. And by that I mainly mean the breast augmentation. The SRSis just a few cm of skin being rearranged, it would be very minor if it wasn't so nerve rich and loaded with social significance. But the boob job. All sorts of muscles permanently dislodged, foreign objects permanently inserted in my chest, invasion through a lymph rich area. There's a lot to heal there. In any case, I'm tired tired tired.
Not that I had anything much to do today. Even if I was fully healed it's not looking good today and last night had to be one of the worst downpours I've ever seenl. A real taste of Thailand I guess. It was just insane. Lost satellite. Not that this was a tragedy. We watched Shrek 2, which I've never seen before. Nor Shrek for that matter either. Yes, victim of my own snobbery here. Why see Shrek, if it's popular it must be shit. (What, you didn't know I was aware that I'm a horrible horrible snob? Of course. My God, I'm descended from Yankee Blue Bloods, we're outright proud of it.) Absolutely loved the movie. I'll probably go buy both of them.
Ooh, and here comes the thunder for another round.
HBO has run out of movies to show us. We don't have cinemax which is a true tragedy. They are advertising a heartwarming film about a girl who learns how to love from a magical reindeer. The advertisement came on while I was dilating. I almost shot the thing out with my convulsions of laughter.
And yes, when you live in a world of bed pads, feminine hygiene, KY, and condoms over candles, this is the type of adolescent humor you tend to descend into.
Of course there is also the possibility that I'm healing. Honestly, it's hard to imagine much that would be more intrusive than what I've had done. And by that I mainly mean the breast augmentation. The SRSis just a few cm of skin being rearranged, it would be very minor if it wasn't so nerve rich and loaded with social significance. But the boob job. All sorts of muscles permanently dislodged, foreign objects permanently inserted in my chest, invasion through a lymph rich area. There's a lot to heal there. In any case, I'm tired tired tired.
Not that I had anything much to do today. Even if I was fully healed it's not looking good today and last night had to be one of the worst downpours I've ever seenl. A real taste of Thailand I guess. It was just insane. Lost satellite. Not that this was a tragedy. We watched Shrek 2, which I've never seen before. Nor Shrek for that matter either. Yes, victim of my own snobbery here. Why see Shrek, if it's popular it must be shit. (What, you didn't know I was aware that I'm a horrible horrible snob? Of course. My God, I'm descended from Yankee Blue Bloods, we're outright proud of it.) Absolutely loved the movie. I'll probably go buy both of them.
Ooh, and here comes the thunder for another round.
HBO has run out of movies to show us. We don't have cinemax which is a true tragedy. They are advertising a heartwarming film about a girl who learns how to love from a magical reindeer. The advertisement came on while I was dilating. I almost shot the thing out with my convulsions of laughter.
And yes, when you live in a world of bed pads, feminine hygiene, KY, and condoms over candles, this is the type of adolescent humor you tend to descend into.
V+11/D-10 (Memorial Day)
May. 30th, 2005 11:40 amWell this morning I just plain feel exhausted. Not sure why. I slept forever last night. Might be a cold, I coughed a few times. It might just be too long on a dubious diet and very irregular living.
Of course there is also the possibility that I'm healing. Honestly, it's hard to imagine much that would be more intrusive than what I've had done. And by that I mainly mean the breast augmentation. The SRSis just a few cm of skin being rearranged, it would be very minor if it wasn't so nerve rich and loaded with social significance. But the boob job. All sorts of muscles permanently dislodged, foreign objects permanently inserted in my chest, invasion through a lymph rich area. There's a lot to heal there. In any case, I'm tired tired tired.
Not that I had anything much to do today. Even if I was fully healed it's not looking good today and last night had to be one of the worst downpours I've ever seenl. A real taste of Thailand I guess. It was just insane. Lost satellite. Not that this was a tragedy. We watched Shrek 2, which I've never seen before. Nor Shrek for that matter either. Yes, victim of my own snobbery here. Why see Shrek, if it's popular it must be shit. (What, you didn't know I was aware that I'm a horrible horrible snob? Of course. My God, I'm descended from Yankee Blue Bloods, we're outright proud of it.) Absolutely loved the movie. I'll probably go buy both of them.
Ooh, and here comes the thunder for another round.
HBO has run out of movies to show us. We don't have cinemax which is a true tragedy. They are advertising a heartwarming film about a girl who learns how to love from a magical reindeer. The advertisement came on while I was dilating. I almost shot the thing out with my convulsions of laughter.
And yes, when you live in a world of bed pads, feminine hygiene, KY, and condoms over candles, this is the type of adolescent humor you tend to descend into.
Of course there is also the possibility that I'm healing. Honestly, it's hard to imagine much that would be more intrusive than what I've had done. And by that I mainly mean the breast augmentation. The SRSis just a few cm of skin being rearranged, it would be very minor if it wasn't so nerve rich and loaded with social significance. But the boob job. All sorts of muscles permanently dislodged, foreign objects permanently inserted in my chest, invasion through a lymph rich area. There's a lot to heal there. In any case, I'm tired tired tired.
Not that I had anything much to do today. Even if I was fully healed it's not looking good today and last night had to be one of the worst downpours I've ever seenl. A real taste of Thailand I guess. It was just insane. Lost satellite. Not that this was a tragedy. We watched Shrek 2, which I've never seen before. Nor Shrek for that matter either. Yes, victim of my own snobbery here. Why see Shrek, if it's popular it must be shit. (What, you didn't know I was aware that I'm a horrible horrible snob? Of course. My God, I'm descended from Yankee Blue Bloods, we're outright proud of it.) Absolutely loved the movie. I'll probably go buy both of them.
Ooh, and here comes the thunder for another round.
HBO has run out of movies to show us. We don't have cinemax which is a true tragedy. They are advertising a heartwarming film about a girl who learns how to love from a magical reindeer. The advertisement came on while I was dilating. I almost shot the thing out with my convulsions of laughter.
And yes, when you live in a world of bed pads, feminine hygiene, KY, and condoms over candles, this is the type of adolescent humor you tend to descend into.
Wow, I'm wearing jeans. Just shocking. I haven't worn pants since I got to the hotel after flying here. It seems so strange. These are very loose so there are no issues or anything don't worry, but it is just so so strange.
Oddly it occurred to me after about the minutes that it's the first time I have worn pants without having a between and twixt my legs thingie.
Judging from how they fit my butt and hips, I have lost between 10 and 20 pounds.
Well we'll see how things go. Kendra is going downstairs to see if the net nazi is on duty.
I had considered trying to really really push it on the surgery in some of my more insane moments and adding a mini-tummy tuck. Looking back now, I really wish I'd done it. I'm so utterly happy with how my body looks right now (how many size 14s say that?) with the one exception of that big blob of skin hanging down on my belly. Putting on jeans, which cover it completely since I buy "mom jeans" with a high waist, is reminding me of that.
Oddly it occurred to me after about the minutes that it's the first time I have worn pants without having a between and twixt my legs thingie.
Judging from how they fit my butt and hips, I have lost between 10 and 20 pounds.
Well we'll see how things go. Kendra is going downstairs to see if the net nazi is on duty.
I had considered trying to really really push it on the surgery in some of my more insane moments and adding a mini-tummy tuck. Looking back now, I really wish I'd done it. I'm so utterly happy with how my body looks right now (how many size 14s say that?) with the one exception of that big blob of skin hanging down on my belly. Putting on jeans, which cover it completely since I buy "mom jeans" with a high waist, is reminding me of that.
Wow, I'm wearing jeans. Just shocking. I haven't worn pants since I got to the hotel after flying here. It seems so strange. These are very loose so there are no issues or anything don't worry, but it is just so so strange.
Oddly it occurred to me after about the minutes that it's the first time I have worn pants without having a between and twixt my legs thingie.
Judging from how they fit my butt and hips, I have lost between 10 and 20 pounds.
Well we'll see how things go. Kendra is going downstairs to see if the net nazi is on duty.
I had considered trying to really really push it on the surgery in some of my more insane moments and adding a mini-tummy tuck. Looking back now, I really wish I'd done it. I'm so utterly happy with how my body looks right now (how many size 14s say that?) with the one exception of that big blob of skin hanging down on my belly. Putting on jeans, which cover it completely since I buy "mom jeans" with a high waist, is reminding me of that.
Oddly it occurred to me after about the minutes that it's the first time I have worn pants without having a between and twixt my legs thingie.
Judging from how they fit my butt and hips, I have lost between 10 and 20 pounds.
Well we'll see how things go. Kendra is going downstairs to see if the net nazi is on duty.
I had considered trying to really really push it on the surgery in some of my more insane moments and adding a mini-tummy tuck. Looking back now, I really wish I'd done it. I'm so utterly happy with how my body looks right now (how many size 14s say that?) with the one exception of that big blob of skin hanging down on my belly. Putting on jeans, which cover it completely since I buy "mom jeans" with a high waist, is reminding me of that.