It's one week later, and almost all the swelling has gone. There's only some mild edema persisting, but it's fading. I've been able to do everything necessary the last few days, so I'd say I'm fully recovered. At this point, I'm just waiting for the Steri-Strips and sutures to come off/out.

I flew up to Buffalo Wednesday morning. I'm seeing an electrologist who is very, very fast and thorough, to get the whiskers on my cheeks and throat cleared for the first time. I'm about 90% complete right now, and both sides of my face have swelled out so I look like a Don Martin cartoon character from MAD magazine, or Glenn Quagmire from Family Guy.

Super Caith...How does it feel to be wonderfully empty...? You sound all bubbly.

smooches dragonfly

The electrologist finished clearing my face Friday morning, and the swelling persists on the left side, but is receding on the right side, cleared Wednesday afternoon. It should be cleared up before I return to work on Monday. If the swelling is still too bad, I'll just work from home online.

This afternoon, the top and bottom steri-strips started coming loose, so I carefully removed them. It's definitely healed well beneath them, but the sutures still have not completely finished dissolving. The cut and cauterized ends of the spermatic cords are still swollen and tender, but they're located in the inguinal cavities, so they're really no bother.

Wow..I love listening to your journey...smooches drag n fly

Caith721 (imported) wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2011 2:04 pm The cut and cauterized ends of the spermatic cords are still swollen and tender, but they're located in the inguinal cavities, so they're really no bother.

It's not quite two weeks yet and Monday evening there was increased tenderness in both cord ends but I look at this as a sign their swelling is going away and they're healing. It seems it can require as many as three weeks or more for everything to completely settle down. The last of four steri-strips came off after a shower last night, and everything has healed very nicely. There are still three sutures remaining, and I expect these will let go sometime this week. But all of the external swelling and discoloration is gone so things are almost completely back to normal.

Orchy and facial hair clearing? Possibly nature's perfect combo. Congrats.

The final three sutures came out after my shower Thursday evening.

Traveling to Miami for orchiectomy and to Buffalo for electrolysis over a two-week period seriously dented my checking account, but this was a major opportunity I could not let slip away. I only wish I could afford flying back to visit this electrologist every six-to-eight weeks to maintain his work. Unfortunately, the time required for recovery (three-to-five days for the reactive swelling to resolve) makes that prohibitive. Finally, if you've ever endured ten hours of electrolysis in two days' time, you'll know it's not entirely pleasant.

Am I happy I did it? Yes. Would I do it again? Definitely.

Glad to read that the last of your sutures are gone and you are fully recovered. You've reached your goal with flying colors.

Electrolysis is very painful, especially in the early stages. The swelling and redness tend to be more of a problem in the beginning stages, too. After my first session, with two electrologists zapping my face for three hours, I thought I looked like a chimpanzee. :-\

Caith721,

I'm so glad things have turned out well for you, we all know how difficult your journey has been. Thanks also for all the updates and knowledge that you've supplied to us. On behalf of the eunuch community, I thank you. Do you know what your planning next? Are you seeking a full surgery, MtF? Also, please excuse my curiosity, have you notice any shrinkage of your penis or discoloration? After my castration my penis shrank dramatically at first and also the glans tip darkened, it didn't stay dark long, a few days. I'm just wondering if this happens to others.

Hash (imported) wrote: Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:42 pm I'm so glad things have turned out well for you, we all know how difficult your journey has been. Thanks also for all the updates and knowledge that you've supplied to us. On behalf of the eunuch community, I thank you. Do you know what your planning next? Are you seeking a full surgery, MtF? Also, please excuse my curiosity, have you notice any shrinkage of your penis or discoloration? After my castration my penis shrank dramatically at first and also the glans tip darkened, it didn't stay dark long, a few days. I'm just wondering if this happens to others.

You're very welcome, Hash.

I'm still undergoing electrolysis, which as everyone knows is a long, slow, and expensive process. My car payments end next spring, at which time more of my monthly income will go towards electrolysis, while also saving for hair transplant surgery to overcome male pattern baldness, another horrid side-effect of T and DHT. I really wish I could go the whole nine yards and have SRS, but my spouse wouldn't approve or appreciate it.

The only discoloration I experienced was edema (blood pooling beneath the skin, not truly bruising) resulting from the large amounts of local anesthesia Dr. Reed used. He's not bashful about using it, and despite the large amounts used, I still required a bit more during the surgery in certain areas. It certainly appears as if my penis is smaller, but that's just the result of all the swelling finally clearing. The skin was stretched quite a bit by the swelling and now sometimes, it's almost as if I have a foreskin again.