Pre-op Assessment

On Thursday I had my pre-op assessment. Fortunately I didn't have to go to Brighton as it could be done over the phone.
It wasn't very exciting. Lots of questions about my medical history based on the forms that I'd completed when I was in Brighton.

Liz then preceded to go over some points I needed to be aware of.

In no particular order, just the way the piece of paper I wrote my notes on is facing me right now, visiting on the day of my operation is not until late afternoon and on pack removal day there is no visiting at all. Neither of these are going to be a problem as I'm not expecting any visitors. My wife and son aren't going to travel the 3 hours there and 3 hours back to visit me, my Dad isn't able to travel by train from South Wales to Brighton in order to visit, it really would be too much for him, and my sister lives in Northampton and has the twins to look after, and I can't see any friends making the round trip to Brighton to visit either.

I need to go through the list that I was given and make sure that I have everything. I've used the list to do get everything so its just a case of going through it again to make sure I have everything packed ready to take with me, at least those things I don't need up until Sunday.

I did think that I would just need an outfit to wear back from Brighton but it seems I need something to wear if I want to go down to the Costa or to sit outside once I'm back on my feet. Its a bit more respectable that just wandering around in a nightdress and dressing gown since there is no restriction on who can come in to use the Costa there.

For the first 2 weeks after my return I'm going to be housebound so that my neo-vagina gets a chance to stick in place. After that I can go for short walks or trips out to a pub or somewhere.

For the first couple of days after the operation I will have some back pain and also trapped wind but these will ease. I can expect some bleeding but this will not be a problem as they can deal with this, especially if it is very bad.

And finally, at some point after I get back from Brighton I need to try penicillin under medical supervision. When I was a child I had an allergic reaction to penicillin and as a result I've avoided taking it. I have no idea if that was a one of reaction or whether it was something that will stop me from ever having penicillin based antibiotics. I suppose its time I found out.

And that was that. I've picked up some packs of paracetamol and ibuprofen as pain relief for when I come home. I've also got some stuff to make going to the toilet a bit easier for a while.

Nails have been trimmed and I'll have to make sure that I have nail clippers with me so that I can keep the nails on the fingers I need to use to guide the dilators into my neo-vagina short and easy to keep clean so that I don't end up transferring germs where I don't want them to go.

The countdown continues and as I sit here writing this, in one weeks time I'll have just dropped my son off at college and be driving to the train station to catch the train that will be taking me to the next stage of this journey of mine.