Most of the folks I know who've gotten bottom surgery have had one form of complication or another. The vast majority are minor--tissue granulation (delayed healing) because folks need to dilate right after surgery. Granulation is common on any large or complex incision, though, and it's not exactly a big deal. I had granulation on one of my surgical sites, for instance. It corrected itself within a couple of weeks. I don't talk about it because it was such a total non-issue. 🤷♀️
A few have had moderate complications, either posts surgical infections or partial necrosis (that means that some of the tissue they reconstructed died), which sounds horrible but really just means that they either had to do a follow-up surgery or have a smaller clitoris, once the dead tissue was removed. Again, kinda sucks, but not a huge problem.
I know a couple of people who've had major complications, and in both cases it was vaginal stenosis, where the vaginal canal collapsed. That requires major surgery to correct--almost as major as a whole new v'plasty--and it suuuuucks.
Do your dilation, folks!! It sucks, but it's there for a reason.
But again, even in the cases of those major complications, the people I know are very glad they had the surgery they had. I want to be really clear about that.
One thing I feel that's less common in the trans community is that there does need to be some sort of "seriously, listen" before most bottom surgeries. The letter system is bullshit, for clarity--I feel this for the same reason that there are those kinds of meetings before other massive surgeries, like open heart, major organ transplants, or total knee replacements.
People who haven't had major surgery before do not understand how hard these are on a body. For a successful recovery, you need major support, lots of rest, and to follow your recovery orders to the letter.
People who're getting bottom surgery deserve to know in detail what that looks like well in advance--and for a vaginoplasty, that often looks like months out of work--so they can be financially, logistically, and socially ready for what that recovery means.
People have waited that long to get the genitals that are right for them. They deserve the very best shot possible at having an ideal recovery, and I've heard an uncomfortable number of stories of people like, turning up in Thailand for bottom surgery without having started short-term disability, because they didn't understand that three-day dilation for three months sometimes means a 4-5-hour-a-day commitment (for gals who have snugger canals and more inflammation, and therefore take longer to get to depth).
Its for that same reason that I believe our current financing/insurance and disability systems are fucking evil, because it's way too easy for the financial part of that recovery (ignoring the up-front cost of bottom surgery) to cost people their jobs and have major financial knock-on effects.
Getting bottom surgery should never risk financial ruin. Period.
Across the board, regardless of surgery type, the people I know have said that their satisfaction with their bottom surgeries range from "I love it" to "best decision I ever made."
There's a reason I defend bottom surgery so fiercely. I've seen how incredibly transformative it is so many times.
Most of the folks I know who've gotten bottom surgery have had one form of complication or another. The vast majority are minor--tissue granulation (delayed healing) because folks need to dilate right after surgery. Granulation is common on any large or complex incision, though, and it's not exactly a big deal. I had granulation on one of my surgical sites, for instance. It corrected itself within a couple of weeks. I don't talk about it because it was such a total non-issue. 🤷♀️
A few have had moderate complications, either posts surgical infections or partial necrosis (that means that some of the tissue they reconstructed died), which sounds horrible but really just means that they either had to do a follow-up surgery or have a smaller clitoris, once the dead tissue was removed. Again, kinda sucks, but not a huge problem.
I know a couple of people who've had major complications, and in both cases it was vaginal stenosis, where the vaginal canal collapsed. That requires major surgery to correct--almost as major as a whole new v'plasty--and it suuuuucks.
Do your dilation, folks!! It sucks, but it's there for a reason.
But again, even in the cases of those major complications, the people I know are very glad they had the surgery they had. I want to be really clear about that.
Let's talk context. And for clarity, this excludes people I've only met once or twice and anyone who has not been explicitly open about their bottom status. Privacy, yanno?
I'm friends with a whole bunch of people who've gotten one form of bottom surgery or another, but that grouping is skewed.
I know many people of a variety of genders who've gotten one form of vulvaplasty or vaginoplasty or another, ranging from zero-depth to penis-preserving--enough that I've lost count of how many.
Technique-wise, they've run the gamut too, from PIV with Bowers to the Suporn Clinic to PPT. I think the only major type of v'plasty I don't know someone having gotten is sigmoid colon, and that's an approach that's fallen out of favor some since PPT became a thing, which makes sense.
I don't know anyone who's gotten a traditional phallo- or metoidioplasty, unfortunately. I know the numbers say that's typical, but it's a gap in my experience.
I've recently met one person who got a vagina-preserving phalloplasty, and while I'd normally exclude them because I don't know them as well, they're remarkably public with their bottom status, so making an exception feels right here.
I know a loooot of people who've gotten orchiectomies as terminal bottom surgeries, not stepping-stones to a later v'plasty. It's one of the reasons I've said so many times that I think transfeminine bottom surgery ratios are a bit off in the research data, but that could just be a sample skew.
Finally, I don't know anyone who's gotten a nullification or scrotectomy. This isn't really surprising, since according to the data they are BY FAR the least common bottom surgery options, so I've tried to educate myself a little more on them in case someone asks, but nobody ever has. 🤷♀️
Across the board, regardless of surgery type, the people I know have said that their satisfaction with their bottom surgeries range from "I love it" to "best decision I ever made."
There's a reason I defend bottom surgery so fiercely. I've seen how incredibly transformative it is so many times.
So, first thing's first: I do not and will never share or talk about my bottom status. There's nothing I'm ashamed of--its just one piece of privacy that I decided I wanted to keep for myself when I started SGW, and I've never once regretted holding the line on it.
So, in all this, if it seems like I'm implying something about my bottom status, I can promise you I'm not and I just worded something poorly.
Or, put another way: my official bottom status is whatever pisses off the nearest transphobe the most.
Let's talk context. And for clarity, this excludes people I've only met once or twice and anyone who has not been explicitly open about their bottom status. Privacy, yanno?
I'm friends with a whole bunch of people who've gotten one form of bottom surgery or another, but that grouping is skewed.
I know many people of a variety of genders who've gotten one form of vulvaplasty or vaginoplasty or another, ranging from zero-depth to penis-preserving--enough that I've lost count of how many.
Technique-wise, they've run the gamut too, from PIV with Bowers to the Suporn Clinic to PPT. I think the only major type of v'plasty I don't know someone having gotten is sigmoid colon, and that's an approach that's fallen out of favor some since PPT became a thing, which makes sense.
I don't know anyone who's gotten a traditional phallo- or metoidioplasty, unfortunately. I know the numbers say that's typical, but it's a gap in my experience.
I've recently met one person who got a vagina-preserving phalloplasty, and while I'd normally exclude them because I don't know them as well, they're remarkably public with their bottom status, so making an exception feels right here.
I know a loooot of people who've gotten orchiectomies as terminal bottom surgeries, not stepping-stones to a later v'plasty. It's one of the reasons I've said so many times that I think transfeminine bottom surgery ratios are a bit off in the research data, but that could just be a sample skew.
Finally, I don't know anyone who's gotten a nullification or scrotectomy. This isn't really surprising, since according to the data they are BY FAR the least common bottom surgery options, so I've tried to educate myself a little more on them in case someone asks, but nobody ever has. 🤷♀️
Unfortunately, I never got a follow-up to this yesterday, so I'm gonna try to noodle on this today and try to see if I can't hit on what the person was wondering by accident.
A thread on bottom surgery thoughts.
https://hachyderm.io/@Impossible_PhD/114989055312063165
So, first thing's first: I do not and will never share or talk about my bottom status. There's nothing I'm ashamed of--its just one piece of privacy that I decided I wanted to keep for myself when I started SGW, and I've never once regretted holding the line on it.
So, in all this, if it seems like I'm implying something about my bottom status, I can promise you I'm not and I just worded something poorly.
Or, put another way: my official bottom status is whatever pisses off the nearest transphobe the most.
Unfortunately, I never got a follow-up to this yesterday, so I'm gonna try to noodle on this today and try to see if I can't hit on what the person was wondering by accident.
A thread on bottom surgery thoughts.
https://hachyderm.io/@Impossible_PhD/114989055312063165
I don't--and I don't because the guy that the FFS doctors at Henry Ford Hospitals sends people to is in Grand Rapids. He's just plain better.
Hop in the car and drive on over to Holt Hair Restoration. He did mine, and he's a big ol' hair nerd. Fantastic work!
Because of how your selfie camera works! (Also, it's a 15 degree angle)
So here's the thing: your selfie camera is a short-focal-length scanner, not a true camera, and in effect has a fisheye effect on any images it takes. That'll make parts of your body look really weirdly disproportionate in subtle ways that make some parts of your body seem larger or smaller than they really are. Doing a 15 degree angle above your eye level makes that effect hit mostly on your hair, where it's least apparent, and leaves your other body features in more realistic proportion.
So here's an angle of me you don't often see: I have an apron belly. I'm not wild about it.
But here's the other thing: *that's super common in cis women, especially mothers*. It's not an AMAB thing.
Empire and midi dresses and skirts do A LOT, as does tummy control undies and garments.
I don't--and I don't because the guy that the FFS doctors at Henry Ford Hospitals sends people to is in Grand Rapids. He's just plain better.
Hop in the car and drive on over to Holt Hair Restoration. He did mine, and he's a big ol' hair nerd. Fantastic work!
Oooooh! Depends on what you personally enjoy and struggle with, but:
Goodbye to Halos (incomplete)
A short history of trans misogyny (THE CONCLUSION 💜
😭
💜)
O Human Star (seeing it hurt someone else, as they overcome it, helps, I think)
Shameless plug of my own writing:
https://stainedglasswoman.substack.com/p/slivers
So here's an angle of me you don't often see: I have an apron belly. I'm not wild about it.
But here's the other thing: *that's super common in cis women, especially mothers*. It's not an AMAB thing.
Empire and midi dresses and skirts do A LOT, as does tummy control undies and garments.
B does roller Derby
So
Roller Derby. 😅
Honestly, not really anything else. I've never cared much for the various sportsballs. I enjoy some Olympic events, but just because I love celebrating what the human body can do. I don't care who wins.
Oooooh! Depends on what you personally enjoy and struggle with, but:
Goodbye to Halos (incomplete)
A short history of trans misogyny (THE CONCLUSION 💜😭💜)
O Human Star (seeing it hurt someone else, as they overcome it, helps, I think)
Shameless plug of my own writing:
https://stainedglasswoman.substack.com/p/slivers
Doc Impossible