SRS in Montreal with Dr. Brassard | part 2 | Tara's Transgender Resources

SRS in Montreal with Dr. Brassard
part 2

Montreal photo gallery and post-op pics

Thursday, March 22 - day of surgery, 8:30 am. The anesthesiologist came in and asked us questions and if we wanted a sedative before surgery. I did. It was snowing heavily outside and did so for nearly our entire stay. At 9:00 AM they came and got my roommate for her surgery. I was next. At 12:00 noon a nurse came in and gave me a sedative, we walked to the waiting room and I was told to lie down on a gurney. From my position I could see inside the recovery room. One of the girls who'd just been operated on by Dr. Menard was there, she was still out. I alternated between nervousness and anticipation. They wheeled my roommate to the recovery room. I lifted the sheet and looked at my penis - I'm going to be smooth there soon. Then Dr. Brassard came over and asked was I ready. I nodded and said, "Yes" and reached out with my hand. He took my hand in both of his and squeezed it, then the anesthesiologist rolled me into the operating room.

I got off the bed and onto the operating table and the anesthesiologist began the IV. As he hooked up various sensors to my body he said what each one was for. I found this calming. Then he said I would become steadily more relaxed. I looked up at the cluster of operating lights above me and they began to slowly go out of focus . . .

The next thing I remember was hearing, "Your surgery is over." It seemed just a moment ago I was looking up at the operating lights. My mind was hazy. I went in and out of consciousness as they wheeled me back to my room and transferred me to my bed. In a few minutes I was clear-headed. I peeked under the sheet. I had on a mesh panty, there was gauze over my new vagina and I saw the ubiquitous urine catheter running to a bag at the side of the bed. There was also a lot of purple bruising. I was given morphine shots at first and gladly accepted them. Didn't sleep much the first night from excitement.

Friday, March 23 5:30 am. Dr. Brassard gave us our first visit after surgery. Outside everything is under a thick, white blanket of snow. I was given my first breakfast after surgery: Rice Krispies, coffee and toast with strawberry jelly. I slept more until lunch which was a grilled cheese sandwich, chicken noodle soup and Jell-O. I didn't have much of an appetite and didn't eat much. I tried calling Mom, there was no answer. Slept more. At 2:00 PM a nurse took our vitals, looked at my catheter bag and said I needed to drink more water. I tried two more times to call Mom and got her on the third try. It was nice to talk to her and she was relieved I was all right.

The hospital kitchen was closed on the weekends, so we got to order out for our lunches and dinners. My stomach was still upset (I found out later from the antibiotics) and had chicken noodle soup with potatoes and raspberry sherbet, but couldn't get down much except the sherbet. The pain had subsided to the point I didn't need morphine injections anymore and switched to pills. Each day our new genitals were cleaned and dressings changed and ice packs used to reduce swelling.

Saturday, March 24. Still nauseated from the antibiotics, didn't eat breakfast. Nurse helped me get out of bed for the first time since surgery, just over to a chair where I sat on my inflatable donut and watched the snow fall. Stomach finally feeling better and I had enough appetite to eat some of my roommate's BLT sandwich and fries. Another visit from Dr. Brassard. We were told that tomorrow Dr. Menard would be removing some of our stitches, the packing out of our vaginas and would drive us back to the residence. Our catheter bags were removed and we had to pee standing up by releasing the urine from the catheter tubes that were still in our urethras. It felt weird to pee standing up after having SRS, but I knew this would be my last time that I would ever pee like a male. For dinner I ordered a hot chicken sandwich with lots of gravy, fries and white cake with hot caramel topping for dessert. By this time my appetite had returned and I gobbled down the food.

Sunday, March 25.Awakened at 7:30 am by a nurse to check our vitals and give us our morning pills. During the night my roommate's top blanket and a magazine had fallen on the floor. The nurse picked them up admonishing us, "You are ladies now, you must be clean." Breakfast was oatmeal, toast, hot tea and a banana. One of the nurses asked me if I wanted what I thought was, "You go?" I said, "Me go?" After a moment of mutual confusion she asked one of the other nurses for clarification. She was trying to say "yogurt" (Most of the nurses spoke very good English and this was the only incidence of a communication problem). After breakfast we took our first shower after surgery since it would be easier for Dr. Menard to take the packing out when it was wet. The shower felt good, though I did feel a little dizzy, then we packed our bags for our return to the residence.

At 1:30 pm Dr. Menard arrived and removed our packing and more stitches which was a relief. We got our bags and walked out to his van. It was sunny, cold and pretty outside. This was my first time out as a complete woman. It felt liberating. Along the way the girls were asking Dr. Menard questions and one was about orgasms. He said the surgery was designed for orgasm and we could have sex in 6 to 8 weeks. About 25 minutes later we arrived back at the residence. We got out of the van and gingerly walked on the snow-covered walkway to the entrance where we were greeted by some of the other patients and a nurse's aid. Once inside I was shown to my new room which was nice, with a TV and bay window on the third floor. We were given our prescriptions (they had been filled in advance): antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory, two kinds of pain killers and a stool softener. Prune juice was staple on the dinner table. Dr. Brassard came for a check-up, called mom again.

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