Stage 3 of my Phalloplasty is now complete!

On March 12, I had Coloplast Torosa saline-filled testicular implants put in by Dr. Jens Berli, assisted by Dr. Sara Danker. The size of my scrotum accommodated one medium and one large implant. I hadn’t heard of others going for different sizes but it seemed like it would create a natural look so I went for it. My left ball (large) is nicely positioned; the right one (medium) has nice hang to it but it’s a bit between my legs. Hopefully this won’t cause any issues with cycling; I may have to experiment with different bike saddles to get comfortable.

For the first few days post-op, I stayed off my feet as much as possible, and since then, limited walking. I won’t be able to go for my daily walk until 6 weeks post-op. Naturally, there was quite a bit of swelling and redness for the first week or so, but pain was minimal. I alternated Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen, and didn’t get the Oxy Rx filled. The worst part of the implant recovery was the glue! Dr. Berli uses glue on the incisions and it comes off on its own slowly. I just got rid of the last of it today, at 3 weeks post-op. It did its job but caused skin irritation in rather sensitive areas.

At 8 days post-op, I had a length reduction procedure done by Drs. Berli and Danker. I devised the length reduction as a 3-in-1 solution to a fistula, flattened glans and what I perceived as too much length. I thought about this a lot in the weeks leading up to surgery and gave myself right up to the last minute to cancel if I felt I needed to. After all, there would be no going back! Dr. Berli was concerned about the aesthetics of going from 5″ in length to 4″ without girth reduction, and how to incorporate the flattened glans into the new glans. The procedure was done in the clinic OR with just topical lidocaine and lasted about 1h:20m. As soon as I saw the results I felt confident that this was the right decision and at almost 2 weeks out, I’m very happy with my choice. Dr. Berli did a great job!

Wound management for the length reduction consists of putting silver sulfadiazine cream on the incision and wrapping the wound with Xeroform and gauze. For the first few days, I was “in the Cloud” to reduce swelling, and I’m still “in the Cloud” at night but probably not for much longer. In a week or so, I’ll have to remove the sutures.

Now, because of where the incision wound up from the length reduction, Dr. Berli thought it wise to delay doing the second glansplasty, so I will go back to Portland for this in the fall—Stage 4. While Stage 3 didn’t end up being my final stage as I’d hoped, it still feels like the end of an era, or at least the end of the major Phalloplasty surgeries, provided of course that I don’t develop a stricture. (There’s no indication of a stricture but developing one remains a risk.) …and that’s definitely worth celebrating!