#surgery talk

(Tips in blue are things I thought of while healing, things in white are said by doctors but expanded on, anything in purple is when I’m adding to the a point after I wrote it, ex, “this happened when I did this”)

- When you cough/sneeze/blow your nose, hold a pillow to your chest, the counter pressure will prevent straining on the surgical site.

- They use a breathing tube so your throat WILL be hurting like a bitch. Swallowing anything hurts but it does get better, just be gentle, no big gulps of water. If you have good cough drops (I have medicated mucinex cough drops with me) that can help with the pain a bit, but sometimes you just have to wait it out. [Okay I can update now, so my throat pain was about half gone in four days and completely gone in seven days. So, yes it does take a while.]

- Also, with the sore throat, if you have some water right *before* taking a pill and then have water *with* the pill, it helps prevent your throat from hurting as much (Thank you to my mom for thinking of this). Oh and try to sit up when taking it, for some reason that also helps?

- I know it says don’t lift over two pounds in the first week and that is TRUE and you NEED TO LISTEN TO IT. Trust me it hurts if you try to do heavy lifting, again, just be gentle with yourself.

- “Let pain be your guide,” if you do something and it hurts, don’t do it. If you do something and it tingles, make note of that so you know where to stop next time.

- Anesthesia affects bowel movements, so for the first day to day and a half you might not be able to go, but peeing is still fine, also, don’t worry, you likely will still be able to go to the bathroom alone.

- Ask for help, you will need it and that’s okay.

- Eat easy-to-digest foods (try the “BRATTY” diet, B- banana, R- rice, A- applesauce, T- tea, T- toast, Y- yogurt).

- Recliner chairs are imo the best to sleep in, but if you have to push/pull a level to get the foot-rest up, ASK FOR HELP, since you will likely be using more than two pounds of force on it, which would strain.

- SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. I cannot stress this enough- your body heals through sleep. If you are even on the edge of considering going to sleep just go to sleep. Trust me.

- SET ALARMS FOR YOUR MEDICINES.

- Get a haircut pre-op, it makes cleaning/staying clean so much easier.

- Pajama tops (button ups) are awesome to wear afterwards, you can clip your drains onto them.

- Speaking of drains, they come off at different times from person to person, my doctor told me they usually come out at day ten but mine are coming out at day fourteen just because of scheduling issues. I will update on how the appointment goes when my drains come out (in purple).

- Follow the pain medicine schedule, it’s easier to stay ahead of the pain than try to catch up to it.

- Keep a barf bag (or whatever they’re called lol) near you, especially if you’re more pain sensitive, if your pain spikes you can get very queasy, so having something nearby can seriously save your carpet.

- Speaking of queasy-ness, I was given an an “Aethereo Stick Essential Oil Inhaler, un-nausea” by a nurse after surgery. It’s an aroma therapy stick and it’s helped me when I’m feeling like I’m about to throw up. You can put it in your pocket too since it’s the size of a chapstick. HOWEVER- this is not a full cure for nausea and if you are feeling like you’re gonna throw up you should still have a barf bag just in case.

- Ok so this one the doctors did talk about but for my fellow neurodivergent peeps in the crowd, when they say “no extreme arm movements,” just keep it at T-Rex arms. So, don’t lift your upper arm but you can move it from your elbow. No reaching high (no stretching 😞) just imagine if it moves your pec muscles you shouldn’t be doing it. Just keep your shoulders relaxed/down, try not to use your biceps.

- DON’T PICK AT YOURSELF! Hopefully you already knew this but if you see scabbing LEAVE IT ALONE. Not only will picking make it take longer to heal, it’ll also make scarring worse.

- Don’t be mad at yourself for not being perfectly healed, this stuff takes time and you’ll get back to your regular strength eventually.

- You can always reach out to friends, don’t worry, you’ll get through this part, you are loved, and you are strong enough.

Feeling a bit better already

It's going to be such a relief once I'm healed up, it hasn't hit yet that I am finally spayed and never have to feel that dysphoria of having a uterus, periods, or the ability to get pregnant again. I didn't realise just how heavy that weighed on me.

Excited to see millie when I get home, she's going to be so happy when I come back.

Grian really started to figure out her identity through clothing and realising how comfortable she was in feminine attire. Pre-transition, she still rocked skirts and fishnets and heels because she could. She enjoys playing around with makeup, with extensions, with nails, with the capacity to change how she looks with just a few good makeup brushes. She doesn’t mind toying around with more revealing looks, she adores the attention and knows she’s hot shit. E didn’t do too much to her chest, just small, pretty and perky. And she adores it. Loves her chest to death - touches, tastes, giving tit-jobs, outfits that accentuate them, anything to show off. I think she’d be quite drawn to vagino for herself, just another part of her she’d love to makeover.

Mumbo was shier to begin with. She indulged herself with long skirts worn in private, the occasional clumsy brush of eyeliner that she’d wipe off before going outside. But gradually, after a while on E, she becomes more comfortable exploring her external presentation. She loves her moustache, even if she shaves her other body hair, and gosh if it isn’t cute to have a soft makeup look accompanying it on her face (makeup courtesy of Grian, who insisted on sitting in her lap the entire time she did it). and of course, when she finally figures out her personal style, it’s something softer, cozier. Modest, but there’s suggestions to it. (I just constantly think about that one pastel girl skin from HC10). E does a lot for fat redistribution in her body. Any weight she gains begins to settle more at her hips and her chest, and she finds herself nearly constantly blushing every time she looks in the mirror. Her boobs are soft, squishy, and more than she ever expected. Grian will be finding any excuse to grind her chest against Mumbo’s because again, she’s a tits girl. (And Mumbo always blushes so sweetly, so sensitive every time Grian pinches her nipples and can you blame her for constantly wanting to saddle up to Mumbo? Mumbo is adorable!) She is content without any bottom surgeries, not minding atrophy as a result of E. She blushes to no end, would never admit it out loud, but she does love the look of her thighs squishing together and leaking out of her clit when her girlfriends tease her.

And Scar my beloved, ough I love women gang. The tits are out any chance she gets. She’s been body confident since day one and while she was probably the happiest with her body out of all of them pre-transition, it was the euphoria that came with presenting femininely that set her on her transition journey, as opposed to predominant dysphoria. She loves an excuse to get dressed up, though skirts and dresses aren’t quite her thing. She’s really big on jewellery though, and I think she would love shaping garments like corsets that let her play around with interesting silhouettes. And while I am partially of a mind to say she has had an interest in bottom surgeries along her transition process, my heart says she’s a gorgeous woman with a gorgeous cock and I stand by that, did the work to avoid atrophy and now gets to fuck her gorgeous girlfriends.

Mumbo is only interested in bottoming (though on occasion having one of her girlfriends suck her clit has her seeing stars), very much a soft sub. Brings her a lot of euphoria to let herself feel smaller and give up that control. Pre-op, Grian only bottoms, but I think post-op she deserves to have a pretty pink glittery strap-on to fuck Mumbo with, as a treat. Very much a brat, loves playing into a snarky, mean girl persona on occasion. Scar is a very top leaning vers, but for practical purpose with her girlfriends she only ever tops. Her main goal is always pleasing those two as much as she possibly can, and Grian fucking her with a strap wouldn’t do as much as Scar simply fucking Grian. She just wants to make her girlfriends feel good!

hope your little family is doing well and you can soak up all the cuddles

I’m very late in replying to this so I hope you’re doing well and if you’ve had your baby already, congratulations! I can’t lie it’s definitely scary but even with mine being an emergency, I was so well informed in everything that was happening! don’t be scared to ask questions! you’re well within your right to and knowing more about what happens will hopefully help prepare you.

there’s zero pain during the surgery but you do feel the pressure of what’s happening! I reacted badly to the meds so I was quite sick during it but if you know your stomach doesn’t handle that kind of thing well you can let them know in advance and they’re ready with anti sickness that’ll kick in quick! I genuinely think everything was done and I was in recovery within an hour - and that was with slight complications with my uterus at the end.