#no urethral lengthening phalloplasty

[answersfromzestual]

Another person out there! Answered a different way as well. And a similar but different procedure. It gives you options and I like how he mentioned his previous bladder conditions to help clarify more and show that maybe if you have the same issues they should consider the risks as he has.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind a follow?

The options are great, and I would say, actually, numerous.

I like to see other trans men post op posting and letting others know it's not scary, but definitely has some risks depending on your health.

Thanks @twinfools for your post!

I would love if you wanted to submit more about your journey choosing not to lengthen your urethra and why you chose phalloplasty? And anything else you feel like sharing would also be great!

Stay Golden Everyone ✌️ 💙 💜

I’m 3 years post phalloplasty and I realized I’ve never really made a post about how things are going. Phalloplasty is a hard surgery to talk about because, bottom line, it’s not part of common conversation to talk about yo dick. That being said I think it’s really important for me to talk about this procedure to help break stigma and misinformation— both inside and outside of trans and non-binary communities.

I had ALT phalloplasty, glansplasty, scrotoplasty, no urethral lengthening (UL) with vaginectomy. This means that tissue from my thigh was used to create my penis, my urethra was not extended or moved (so I don’t stand to pee) and my vagina was closed. I feel like this detail is important because this is one of many variations for this procedure and what I opted for/out of were decisions made according to trade-offs between personal benefit and risk.

I opted out of UL because I do not tolerate catheters well and, due to my very active lifestyle, was not willing to risk longer term catheterization or bladder spasms which would impede my quality of life. This risk, for me, outweighed the benefit of standing to pee.

I opted for ALT knowing that I would likely need debulking (which I didn’t end up needing but opted for anyway out of preference). Debulking is a procedure to make the penis less girthy as ALT phalloplasty is more girthy because of the nature of tissue on the thigh. I chose ALT because, first and foremost, I did not want scarring on my forearm. My ALT scar is covered by clothing most of the time which I appreciate. I also chose ALT because I have skinny forearms, which wasn’t ideal for forearm phalloplasty (RFF).

Vaginectomy, for me, was a no brainer. I have never used or connected with that part of my body so I wanted it gone.

Glansplasty is a procedure to make the glans (head) of the penis and was a short procedure done after my initial stage of surgery. I may get it redone but I’m still undecided on that. Scrotoplasty creates a scrotum, I was ambivalent about this procedure but have grown to more appreciate it over time.

I am considering further surgeries: erectile implant (which creates the ability for the penis to “get hard”) and testicular implants (fills to scrotum with testicle implants). But I’m undecided and want a break from surgery while I finish my degree and focus on work. I’m also considering phalloplasty tattooing to help enhance the contour and coloring to make it appear more like a cis penis.

Whew! Lots of info, right? These are big procedures completed over multiple stages and are very unlike chest surgery, hysterectomy and other surgeries I had completed prior. When I was first considering this surgery I didn’t know there was flexibility in terms of tissue donor site and UL. I waited to have this surgery and am so happy I did because the information I gained from research and consulting with professionals and folks with lived experience was so valuable.

Was surgery hard? Yes. This surgery was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. I’ve never been so uncomfortable for the first 2 weeks after recovering. I had to re-learn how to walk. I couldn’t sleep. Peeing hurt… but would I do it again? Yes. It was worth it for me but I can’t underscore enough that that doesn’t mean I didn’t have moments where I felt regret while recovering because post op depression is a thing and I was in pain while adjusting to a new body part that was also a healing surgical site… LOTS going on there!

3 years on I feel really at home in my body. Just having a penis is such a comfort to me in ways I didn’t anticipate. I’ve had a feeling my entire life that I was missing a body part and this was it. The quiet gender euphoria of just sitting and feeling my body and for once feeling complete in that is something that’s hard to articulate.

I’m thankfully back to full mobility and got back to full mobility about 3 months post op. I was grateful for this since a long term recovery wasn’t what I wanted. There are still weird twitches, pains and feelings, especially around my donor site (thigh) from time to time but nothing that inhibits me. Just interesting when it happens (usually when weather gets colder?).

What is one thing I would want to go back and tell myself before surgery? Well:

Your penis will feel HEAVY. Like it will fall off. It won’t fall off and your body will adjust to the weight in an area you didn’t have it before. Until then it will feel like you need to hold it at all times.

Hopefully this helps someone as an overview of what an experience with this procedure may look like. Again, my goal is to put information out there and have frank conversations— because it’s these same things that greatly benefitted me in my surgery journey.

Finally— my inbox is open for anyone that has questions. I am in a privileged position to feel safe talking about these things and I feel comfortable doing so. Not everyone does, so please don’t assume that this invitation applies to other folks who have accessed surgery unless they say so.

Thank you for reading :)

[genderkoolaid]

re: “i tried the whole "i can either be a man OR a woman OR neither" thing before and it forced me to stay in gender limbo for way longer than necessary”

this is incredibly true. i didnt feel like JUST a man or a woman, so i tried neither for a while but that ALSO didnt feel right. i started testosterone because i assumed i felt dysphoric bc i was “too feminine” and since starting testosterone i’ve been more comfortable expressing femininity.

i am both man and woman, i am transmasc and transfem, i am queer as fuck. just because you make new boxes in rainbow colors doesnt mean people will want to fit into them any more.

side note: can you give me some resources for bottom surgeries available? ideally i could have both vagina and penis, but im unsure of my options for something like that

First place I'd recommend is phallo.net and metoidioplasty.net's pages on nonbinary options for bottom surgery. Both can provide you with a penis and a vagina. Bottom growth is a requirement for meta, but not for phallo. For both surgeries, not getting a vaginectomy reduces the risk of complications unless you get urethral lengthening (what allows you to stand to pee), in which causes it increases the risk even more and many surgeons won't offer it. Some do, still, and people have gotten no vaginectomy + UL and dealt with the increased risk.

Personally, my ideal surgeon is Dr. Blair Peters; they are queer themself and he has done a lot of trans advocacy & research into nerve regrowth in phalloplasty. But both sides linked above list a few surgeons who do salmacian bottom surgery. Reddit communities like r/phallo are also a good place to check out for info on different surgeons.

[wajjs]

Cock AND pussy? So the GL Ring just made Hal the first omega?

There are trans people irl who actually opt to have both a penis and a vagina, and it is oftentimes an option offered to non-binary individuals:

Penile-Preserving Vaginoplasty

For some individuals, preservation of the penis is desired, while also creating a fully functional vagina. With Penile-Preserving Vaginoplasty, the vagina can be created using a scrotal or other skin graft, or peritoneal tissue.

( x )

There is also what could be considered the 'opposite', so to speak:

Vaginal-Preserving Phalloplasty:

There are many possible genital configurations, and which ones are chosen can change the complexity and risk of gender affirming surgery. With VPP, an individual may:

retain labia

remove labia

use labia for scrotoplasty and/or urethral lengthening

have a hysterectomy (removing the uterus) and keep their cervix, or remove the cervix

if a hysterectomy is chosen, oomphorectomy may be included (removal of the ovaries)

egg harvesting may be done at the same time

not have a hysterectomy and retain potential fertility

choose between different phalloplasty techniques (...)

can choose to modify the clitoris or place the penis (and scrotum, if desired) in front of the clitoris, allowing for direct physical stimulation

opt for urethral lengthening (UL) to be able to pee from the tip of the penis

evidence indicates that UL without vaginectomy has higher complication rates

retain the position of urethra

move urethra along the perineum

have scrotoplasty, with or without implants

have penile implants for erectile function

( x )

In fandom trans representation is very black or white at times, and I wanted to bring attention to the different ways trans people approach the relationship with their bodies and gender by giving Hal a Vaginal-Preserving Phalloplasty.

[dinosaursock]

You know what? Fuck it. I’m a transgender man, I had abdominal phalloplasty with Dr Curtis Cetrulo in Boston. He sold dozens of trans people on a new method of abdominal with all these promises of good sensation, good aesthetics, minimal scarring, and urethral lengthening without an arm graft (which is typically needed in abdo phallo for people who want urethral lengthening). I started having surgery with him in 2021 and had my SIXTH surgery with him early last year. For reference, phallo is often done in 3-4 surgeries, give or take with repairs/revisions and different surgical plans. When I consulted, he told me four surgeries, which then turned to five. And somehow turned to six and I still wasn’t done! I had thick knots of scar tissue and no sensation at all, not to mention I never even had a neourethra constructed. The plan was constantly changing and I made the mistake of trusting him and trusting the process.

In August last year he left Boston and moved to California to continue operating. It doesn’t seem he works on trans people anymore and is no longer offering phalloplasty, and I desperately hope he’s not. It was clear he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing, and the urologist was complacent and didn’t have proper training either. Cetrulo was allowed to experiment on us, under the guise that it was a successful and fully developed method of phalloplasty. He was not honest about its completion. And when it started to catch up with him, he abandoned his remaining patients and moved across the country. With NO repercussions for the way he treated us.

Now I’m waiting for a complete redo using a different graft site with a new doctor, who has taken on many of Cetrulo’s former patients.

See this article? It talks about all accomplishments and his innovations for people with skin burns and other injuries requiring microsurgical work. No mention of the transgender people he treated. The dozens of people he lied to and disfigured. What about us? Why does he get to pretended he didn’t ruin the lives of so many people. I am permanently disfigured because of the work he did on me. I have to live with that medical trauma from a man who didn’t really care about me, who dodged questions, and was inconsistent and unreliable.

And why is he getting away with it? This Harvard grad with a superiority complex. Because 1, we’re transgender, and the medical system has a history of failing us. Cetrulo is comparable to Kathy Rumer and Butcher Brown. Bailey Sarian has a video on Dr Butcher Brown, I recommend giving it a watch if you have an interest in true crime. And number 2, the medical boards and medical systems are fucked up.

I want my trans and nonbinary (etc) friends to know what he did to our community. The damage he’s done. And the lack of consequences for his actions. Word of mouth is so so important in LGBT spaces when it comes to medical care, ESPECIALLY in bottom surgery spaces.

🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

[answersfromzestual]

Vaginal-Perservering Phalloplasty

Vaginal-Perservering Phalloplasty is a procedure that is done so you may keep your vagina but still have the ability to have a phallis that gets erect.

Unlike the typical either radial forearm free flap (RFFF)/latissimus dorsi (using your back skin), or the "bird wing" abdominal flap procedure (this is the "surgical construction of a neophallus using a pedicled abdominal flap for patients transitioning female to male"- source ) this surgery does not need any procedures of removing ovaries, uterus, and the vagina.

This can be performed by both types of phalloplasty free flap and abdominal flap. Surgerons clinics can vary, though, as it is not the most common procedure performed. The ability to have urethral lengthening with this procedure is limited to a very small number of doctors and clinics.

At this time I am waiting for a response from another clinic I have not messaged/dealt with before. Stay tuned.

Sources:

https://alignsurgical.com/vagina-preserving-phalloplasty/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29178488/#:~:text=Abdominal%20flap%20phalloplasty%20is%20surgical,absent%2C%20or%20lost%20from%20trauma.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3687145/

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/phalloplasty-for-gender-affirmation#:~:text=There%20are%20three%20approaches%20the,and%20cons%20to%20each%20approach.

https://academic.oup.com/jscr/article/2021/12/rjab553/6485017

Stay Golden Everyone ✌️ 💙 💜

I love you, and I am glad you are here today. ❤️

[sweatermuppet]

oh wow i had never heard of metoidioplasty before, id only heard people talk about phalloplasty which never really interested me/was never something i desired. i don't experience a lot of bottom dysphoria so never really thought much about bottom surgery but metoidioplasty actually seems like something i might want eventually, so thank you for introducing me to that ♥️

meta is unfortunately highly under discussed in bottom surgery circles, especially compared to phallo. hoping more people learn abt the many many surgeries out there & what's possible!

i know too many people who think there's only one or two things they can have done & kind of give up on bottom surgery because they feel limited—bottom surgery isn't just phallo! there's meta, meta with scroto, urethral lengthening (similar to meta, allows you to stand to urinate), labia reduction, & even nullification, & some of these are compatible with vaginal preservation

[tornprince]

Hey, so not to leap into your ask box as a total stranger, but you mentioned in the tags that you were willing to answer questions about phalloplasty. I’m still figuring out if I want it, and if it’s not an inconvenience, I’d like to hear about what it’s like, or any common misconceptions or things you’d be ok with sharing. You don’t have to answer it publicly if you don’t want to, or answer at all. No pressure!

Howdy, I’d be happy to! This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would so sorry for the little essay lol

Since there are a lot of little variations on phalloplasty both in the type you get and the “stages” I’ll explain that first.

I got RFF/forearm flap phalloplasty with urethral lengthening, clitoral burial and a full vaginectomy. My first surgery was a hysterectomy and partial vaginectomy, about 6 months after that I got the phallo itself, urethra lengthening and the rest of the vaginectomy, and then a couple weeks after that I got glansplasty. I’m scheduled to get the erectile and testicular implants later this month. All of this was covered by insurance.

I am overall extremely happy with my phallo, it’s really been everything I could have wanted. I’ll just give a kind of random run down of some things:

Healing: If you count the time for all of the above surgeries I took roughly 2 and a half months off work. 2 weeks for the hysto/vaginectomy, 6 weeks for the phallo and another 2 for the glansplasty. I’ll be taking a week off for the next one.

I spent 5 days in the hospital after the phallo, those were by far the roughest days. Like the first day after surgery the big thing they had me do was just sit up in bed, and even that made me feel very dizzy and sick.

By far the most painful parts of healing were the vaginectomy and the thigh graft. I had a catheter for 6 weeks which was a pain in the ass, and the forearm graft needs daily dressing changes for several weeks. Once you get past those first few days though, it’s kind of surprising how not terrible it is. I was walking my dog after like 3 weeks.

The part that has the highest complication rate is the urethral lengthening, I was told by my urologist that the percentage of urethral complications after surgery was somewhere between 60-70%, I was basically told to go into surgery kind of just expecting there would be some sort of urethral complication.

This did happen to me and I got a stricture (urethra healing tight enough you can’t pee through it) twice. The first time they fixed it while I was getting the glansplasty, the second time I had to go in for an extra minor surgery to fix it. Since then I have had no issues.

Here is what my urologist had to say about the urethral complications when I asked for details: in quite a few cases they just heal on their own with a little additional time using a catheter and they never need surgical intervention. He said if it ever became necessary, they could just “disconnect” the new urethra and have you go back to peeing the way you did before surgery.

He also stated that they had never had that happen and had always been able to get the new plumbing working, even if in some cases it took longer.

Sensation: I did not lose any clitoral sensation, it’s just buried in the base of the phallus so you have to kind of rub/squeeze harder to get there. I was able to orgasm as soon as I was cleared for sexual stimulation after surgery, which I believe was 2 months?

My surgeon said that although the degree of sexual sensation a person has after surgery can vary, they had never had anybody completely lose sensation or be unable to orgasm after surgery.

I won’t get too detailed on this public post but it has been less than a year since my phallo and I have enough sexual sensation on my penis to orgasm just from it being touched, the buried clitoris doesn’t have to be stimulated (though it does help!)

Visual: I don’t have too much to say here but I’ve often seen people say that phallo dicks “look weird” or whatever. Mine looks….like a normal penis. It has been seen by many people of all genders and sexualities and nobody has ever said anything was off about it.

Really there is enough natural variation in native penises that I don’t think you’d end up with anything that wouldn’t be possible on someone born with a penis.

Hope this was helpful! If you have follow up questions feel free to bug me

[concretepuppy]

☆ you can call me Otter or Concrete

☆ 28, bigender, bisexual. my gender is whatever you’re most attracted to.

☆ he/him/she/her

☆ i don’t have nipples!

☆ I’ve had RFF phalloplasty (no urethral lengthening) and scrotoplasty. I have an AMS Ambicor erectile device and a testicular implant.

☆ yes, I still have my pussy

☆ polyam butch verse

☆ bottom for my beautiful femme @sapphosinew!

☆ asks open!! mutuals feel free to be horny at me in the DMs

☆ main kinks: petplay, somno, CNC, breeding, free use, monsterfucking

☆ this is a sideblog!!

[bearballing]

hey, saw ur reblog about meta surgery, just wondered if you could tell me anything about your experience? as im considering getting the same surgery as u someday (: thanks!

sure, did you want to know anything specific? i'll list some stuff here too though:

i just had simple release and opted to not have urethral lengthening

recovery time and pain level was more than top surgery. i was given a bunch of strong pain killers so it was like manageable, but it was maybe 4-5 weeks before i could do stuff "normally" again

i had a total hysto at the same time so that probably made it a little harder to recover from but it wasn't like agonising or anything.

i had a catheter in for 6 weeks after even though i didn't get UL because my surgeon wanted to make sure i didn't get pee or anything on any sutures lol. having it taken out was by far the single weirdest physical sensation i have ever felt (it only lasted like 2 seconds tho), weirder than having top drains out

i could have had testicle implants and a monsplasty 6 months later but i was moving country that year so i didn't plan anything. i would assume i could have also gotten a vaginectomy if i wanted.

my surgeon sort of did a scrotoplasty already and put some belly fat in it (lol), i haven't heard of any other surgeon doing this but it does look like a regular ballsack even though it's "empty".

he also asked me if i wanted the head of the dick to be left smooth and round or if i wanted to have it shaped like how a natal dick's head is. i got it shaped. the whole thing also looks like it's uncircumcised which is cool?

i got sensation back Very quickly after surgery.

sitting down wasn't that much of an ordeal but being sat down/being in bed for such long periods was so i had to get one of those doughnut cushions so my butt wouldn't get (more) sore. i also got a little rolling desk that you can extend over bed so i wouldn't have my laptop right on top of me. lifesaver

because i had a hysto at the same time, i had to wear pads for a while. my balls got pretty sore from this but after i stopped wearing the pads it didn't take long for them to go back to normal

someone suggested i get a pocket mirror to be able to look at everything better while i was recovering and it was a good idea.

for stuff like well beyond surgery:

it's small but looking at it, it's unmistakenly a dick n balls.

it acts like a natal dick. you can see it get hard and soft and twitch and everything.

it feels like one as well, just smaller. like as in using your hand to touch it.

trimming the hair around it makes it look bigger. monsplasty will also definitely make it look bigger

i'm getting phalloplasty in a few years, and i've heard that having meta first (with or without UL) can make the stage 1 surgery a little easier on you.

[emotivehardcore]

you don't have to answer if this is too personal, but what type of phallo do you want to get? like what are your ideal dick specs. sorry if this is a weird ask

Don’t worry about it being too personal, I like to talk about this! I plan on getting RFF since I tend to like the way it looks the best + it’s also generally considered the best graft site in terms of sensation. I’m probably going to go with the full package (lol) of urethral lengthening + vaginectomy + scrotoplasty. I was kind of on the fence about vaginectomy for a while bc the way the surgery works kind of scares me but the clinic that I’m most likely going to get it done at doesn’t do UL without vnectomy and UL is important to me so that helped make the decision. In terms of erectile device I definitely want the pump because the rod sounds super inconvenient and also having full control over when and for how long you get erections is pretty awesome. Like I said in the tags of that poll it’s probably going to end up being 5-ish inches (maybe more like 4.8 or something but close enough to 5) since penis length with RFF phalloplasty is dictated by how long your forearm is (they take about half of the forearm). I would also ideally like to get the tattooing that makes it look more realistic but I haven’t actually looked into if anyone does that anywhere near me so depending on travel costs idk how viable that is. Hopefully that answers your question!

[genderkoolaid]

I follow a trans confessions blog and recently saw an anon who was worried about the mortality rate preventing them from getting bottom surgery. I wasn’t aware there WAS a mortality rate, but you’re much more of an expert on this - what actually are the rates?

Gonna be honest idk either? I've never heard anything about high mortality rates.

There is generally a high rate of complications in general w phalloplasty (largely due to urethral lengthening as far as I've been told), and infection is naturally a risk to both the penis and the graft side (here's a list of risks + complications w phallo). But dying (aside from necrosis) isn't even mentioned. There are a lot of reasons someone might decide to not get phallo, but mortality rate is not one I've heard before.

[probably-dissociating-again]

Attention trans guys, nonbinary people, or anyone else interested in or curious about phalloplasty!

My name’s Milo and I’m a trans guy (he/they) who is starting the process of getting phalloplasty. I’m planning to document my process on here and will be posting photos through the recovery process.

Any graphic images will be kept under a readmore with warnings. It’s incredibly hard to find post-op photos of phalloplasties, so I want to do what I can to contribute my experience for anyone else looking into it. I’ll be using the tag #phallojourney so it should be easy to search! Feel free to also send me questions about my experience as things go on!

So far, I’ve only had an initial consult with a urologist about starting the process. We talked about the type of surgery I wanted, some options for additional procedures, and a little about the timeframe I’ll be looking at. I debated between phalloplasty (phallo) or metoidioplasty (meta), but I ultimately decided that I wanted to go with phallo. One of my big goals is being able to stand to pee, which wasn’t a guarantee with meta, due to length. I also decided that I wanted a vaginectomy (closing of the vagina) but wasn’t interested in scrotoplasty (creating a scrotum). My doctor was great about showing me the different options and talking to me about what I might want. I also decided that I would want glansplasty (this creates the mushroom head look that people think of when they think of a penis) and will be getting urethral lengthening.

There are always risks of complications with surgery, but the two big things my doctor warned me are regarding the urethra. Essentially, it can get blocked or a hole can form and cause leakage. Both of these are fixable though, so if you’re interested in phallo, don’t let these possibilities dissuade you.

The form of phalloplasty I’ll be getting is called Radial Forearm Flap, or RFF. RFF uses the skin on your forearm to create the new phallus and extended urethra. One of my next steps is going to be undergoing hair removal on my arm to prepare it.

As you can see, the hair I have is relatively light, but we still want to remove whatever we can.

I also will be scheduling with a plastic surgeon that my urologist is referring me to in order to go over more of the details. I’ll make sure to update once I have that appointment.

For now, thanks for joining me on this journey as I prepare for my phallo!

[okay-sky]

whoa how cool that you’ve had phallo!!! is that something you’d be more open to talking about on here, for other curious transmascs? no pressure!

hello hello! yes i had phallo last may (may 2023) and my husband had phallo in november (november 2023), and i would be plenty happy to talk about it here! feel free to send me asks (or a dm if you want to get more personal questions answered) and i will answer them to the best of my ability and comfort level :3 i will share the broad strokes of my husband's experience too, but not the more personal details, just for comparison's sake.

details about the general overture of my phallo operation and experience below the cut. there is some semi-graphic discussion of surgery and genitalia just as a warning.

we both had delayed ALT (anterolateral thigh) phalloplasty with dr crane in austin TX, so we used a skin graft from our thigh instead of forearm for it. delayed ALT allowed us to get ALT despite having a good deal of fat on our thighs, and it was a relatively new technique our surgeon was offering when we first had our consultations but now it's his preferred way to do ALT.

with delayed ALT, they basically did one operation before starting any of the actual bottom surgery stuff where they cut out 3 of the 4 sides of the graft, and completely separated the full thickness of the graft from the muscle underneath. the flap was only tethered to our body still by the side at the top (up by our groin), the 2 vertical sides and lowest side (right above the knee) were fully severed. then they laid that baby back down and stitched the edges back on. they also performed liposuction to remove a lot of the excess fat from the flap, so until it was relocated to my groin, i had a large dip in my thigh where there was just less fat than before. after that operation was done, i had to wait 6 months before i could have Actual phallo, which gave the flap time to slowly grow its own blood supply without being disconnected entirely from my body. when it finally did get moved to my groin in my 2nd surgery, the blood supply was so well-developed that it pulsed visibly with my heartbeat! the chance of tissue death due to poor blood flow is vastly reduced this way, so it's a win-win: allows heavier guys to get ALT, and improves the odds that your new dick will heal without tissue death.

another thing that was pretty unique about our surgery (not like, "we were the only ones that did this" but more like "a lot of surgeons won't do this bc they aren't comfortable with it, and a lot of guys that are eligible don't do it anyways for personal reasons") is that we had urethral lengthening (which connects our original, natal urethra to the new neo-urethra inside the penis so that we can pee standing up) without a vaginectomy (which is the removal of the vagina). so i basically have a full dick and balls, plus my original hole hiding in the back. this is partly why i had such shit healing issues. unbeknownst to me at the time, i have ehlers-danlos syndrome, which is a connective tissue disorder that means i don't heal very well from injuries and especially from tears in my skin. by the time my sutures had dissolved, my body still hadn't even partly closed up my incisions, so i had a lot of just open wounds that should have already been healed if my body wasn't healing so slowly due to EDS. my husband, meanwhile, had the exact same operations as i did, but does not have healing issues and had no complications at all. lucky bastard. the chance of the connection between new urethra and natal urethra not healing right on the first go-around is higher if you do not have a vaginectomy, since the natal urethra is so close to the edge of the vaginal opening. they also like to use the tissue of the labia minora to help strengthen the urethral connection, which is obviously not an option if you still have your labia minora and vag.

i still haven't had glansplasty, but i'm planning to have that sometime next year when any lingering swelling has gone down and my dick has settled into the shape and flaccidity that i can expect to have forever. neither of us currently has any intentions to get an internal erectile device either, just because they do add future maintenance like replacements and the possibility of pump failure (not to mention my body would probably freak the fuck out if i tried to have another major surgery lol)

i have talked a bit more extensively about my phallo journey on reddit, the phallo community at r/phallo is an ENORMOUSLY helpful resource and are all-around just a bunch of great guys. you can find photos of post-op guys, some of which are many years post-op, and some guys even post videos of the pump inflating and deflating, urination, the movement of their dick, etc. if this is something you are interested in pursuing and want to get a better idea of what a phallo dick ACTUALLY looks like (without the terf-y fear mongering that you usually see around phallo), i would highly recommend checking out r/phallo and sorting by top of all time. usually pics and vids of fully healed dicks get the most upvotes so they float to the top.

again feel free to ask me any specific questions you might have, or dm me!

[answersfromzestual]

***Educational Purposes Only***

Normal questions for phallo (my personal experience, and facts)

"Do you feel anything?" - yes, I feel everything from touch, stroking, temperature, pain, pressure, pleasure, gusts of cold air. They do disconnect and reconnect nerves, so it does take time (years) depending on how you heal to have complete sensation. But you always have sensation there even beforr you are fully healed. I found the Urethral Lengthening Procedure and the Implants (erectile device and prothetic testicle). It took probably 3 years after all of the procedures for me to have what is called "complete tactile function".

"How do you get erect?" - it's a pump, after they create the scrotum (they use the labia for this), you get your pump installed into your main hand side (ex. My pump is on the right testie), and the other testie is just an implant. I squeeze my pump (or my partner), and then saline water is pumped from the testicle into two tubes (one on each side on my penis). Creating a natural looking erection besides having to pump. It only takes about six pumps for me. Doesn't take much effort. I have a three part inflatable device.

"How do you "deflate"/ go down after an erection" -on the testie that is the pump, there is a small button above it, it is actually kind of a small box with a button on it. I hold the button for about 15 seconds and just let my erection naturally go down.

"How many surgeries does it take?" - well, I guess four in total. You have your hysterectomy (which included for me a complete oophorectomy as well, recent advancements in this procedure have made it so an oophorectomy is now optional), then your phalloplasty the building and attaching of the phallis and vaginectomy only at this part. The next surgery was to connect my urethral, called urethra lengthening. The last surgery was to install the penile pump and testicular implant.

"What are the chances it will fall off?" - less than 1% in the hands of a skilled surgeon. (My surgeon told me this information as the source) - note post operative care is the most important part of healing properly.

"Where did they take the skin?" - they took the skin for my phallis from my forearm and used a thin layer of the skin on my upper thigh to cover the tissue left exposed on my arm.

"Do you have any issues today?" - No issues, I've been finished for quite a bit now. I enjoy sex, it feels good. It looks good. I've never been clocked even naked in a locker room. I do dribble sometimes if I hurry while urinating, and I have to use a special technique to ensure 100% emptiness, but I can pee just fine. I found the installation of the pump helps me urinate easier than without.

"Can you ejaculate?" - Yup! I can, at least. I also have pre-ejaculate. I ejaculate almost everytime I orgasm. (With this said, the ability to ejaculate, amount of, and frequency of are all variable factors that can depend on person to person)

"Is the orgasm different?" -yes! It feels better to me. It could be comfort, but ejaculating does feel good when you orgasm. Ejaculating can vary from person to person. This ejacuate is not like cis men's, it is a clear fluid from the Skenes Glands.

"Did you have any major issues?" - not really, I did have to see a wound clinic for my implant surgery. I had wounds that needed care. I got a bladder infection with the catheter during the healing stage of urethral lengthening and had it removed after just over two weeks (it was supposed to be in for six weeks), as a reference though one of my urine bags broke and I had a plastic baggie to try to repair it until I could get a replacement (i had to wait hours), I also have a compromised immune system. For my arm, I wore my compression sleeve 100% of the time, and my arm healed extremely well and flat. You just need to listen to the rules and be sure not to break them.

"Do you have to do anything (e.g weekly)?" - sorta, I have to make sure I pump fully once a week.

"Any issues urinating?" - nope, takes some getting used to, though (standing). I find that I dribble, but it's only when I'm rushing when I shake. I still sit most of the time, it's even very common in cis men as an FYI. (I asked a large group of cismen)

"Does it look real?" -Yes, my wife said she never would have known I was trans until I told her. All penises look different. Even getting an erection looks natural.

"Did you have any corrective surgeries?" -No, I got pretty great results the first time. I do plan on going to closer, regular plastic surgeon to put in a larger implant as my left testicle (non-pumping side).

Have any of your own questions? Send me an ask, I'll be happy to answer!

Stay Golden Everyone ✌️💙💜

[our-transmasculine-experience]

Do you mind talking about your bottom surgery experience? Someone said that theirs hurt very very badly and caused infections...

oh i totally phrased that weird. i haven’t actually had bottom surgery but i plan on it. i’m pre-t and pre-op but i plan on all of it.

but i have done a ton of research and i will tell you what i’ve learned from other people’s experiences and several studies. if you need me to cite my sources i can but i won’t do that right now to save myself some time. the statistics are not exact, but i have taken a general consensus from a large number of studies.

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phalloplasty (skip to bottom for statistics) is the more invasive surgery and the one that typically causes the most complications. when done correctly, it creates a more realistic, larger penis that may be able to be used for penetration. basically, surgeons take a nerve, a blood vessel, and a graft of skin from another area of the body (typically forearm or thigh) and it is used to create a neophallus (the penis that is created). issues often arise with the donor site getting infected. something that is also typically (but not always) done with this surgery is urethral lengthening and rerouting. it takes the existing urethra, and by using a thin strap of skin from the donor site, is extended and rerouted to the tip of the neophallus to urinate out of. sometimes the body will reject the created urethra which will also cause complications typically fixed with another surgery. those are some of the most major complications but i recommend you look into it.

tl;dr: about a 32% urethral complication rate, about a 7% donor site complication rate.

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metoidioplasty is a simpler, less invasive surgery but creates a much smaller neophallus that cannot be used for penetration and may not give the owner the ability to urinate while standing, even with a urethroplasty (urethral lengthening). surgeons cut out one’s clitoris that is enlarged from testosterone (bottom growth) and move it higher to an area that resembles where a cis man’s penis is. again, urethroplasty is common but not required for this surgery, but it looks a little different in this surgery. instead, the urethra is just rerouted to the tip of the neophallus, which leaves a lot less complications.

tl;dr: about a 10% urethral complication rate, about a 8% wound rate.

[concretepuppy]

I'm interested in the idea of getting phaloplasty but I also want to keep my pussy. How do you to talk to your doctor about that? Do you still have sensation in your dick the way a tdick would? That's my biggest fear is loosing the ability to feel

vaginectomy (removal and closure of the vagina) is not required for phalloplasty. some surgeons will not do urethral lengthening (rerouting your urethra from its natal position to the new penis, so you stand to pee from your penis) without vaginectomy as doing UL without it exponentially increases risk of significant complications. but many surgeons will do UL without vaginectomy. i still have my vagina. there’s nothing to discuss really, keeping your vagina is very common, so you just say “i dont want vaginectomy” and that’s that.

i dont have the same sensation in my penis as i did in my clit. most people dont. but natal penises also typically do not have as much sensation as a clit. i can orgasm from penile stimulation and have good sensation overall; i have some small “dead zones” around the right side of the base but i only notice them if i’m actively trying to find them, and overall the right side of my dick is less sensitive than the left bc my nerve hookups are on the left, but again i can still orgasm just from a handjob or blowjob so it’s not a big deal. total loss of sensation is not common, i’m pretty active in the OHSU post-op support group and have been for years and cant remember anyone reporting total loss of sensation.

loss of sensation is a possibility with erectile implant, because during the implantation process they may nick a nerve accidentally. my implant surgeon, Dr. Geolani Dy, has done implants for around 65 phallo patients and only one has reported total loss of sensation after erectile implant, and they had pre-existing sensation/nerve issues. but like of the dozen or so people i know personally who have had phallo, we all have pretty good sensation.