As of 11am today, my scrotum is finally GONE. Pain is very minimal, though I’m having a bit of bleeding and I have some swelling started. Lying down with frozen corn packages on the groin!

InkedFutureNullo (imported) wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2023 3:38 pm As of 11am today, my scrotum is finally GONE. Pain is very minimal, though I’m having a bit of bleeding and I have some swelling started. Lying down with frozen corn packages on the groin!

Congrats! Onward to healing, then working on the last part.

P.S. I think you put the wrong year in your signature line for your Scrotectomy.

Losethem (imported) wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2023 4:40 pm Congrats! Onward to healing, then working on the last part.

P.S. I think you put the wrong year in your signature line for your Scrotectomy.

Thank you! And whoops! Blame pain meds. Fixed now!

InkedFutureNullo (imported) wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2023 3:38 pm As of 11am today, my scrotum is finally GONE. Pain is very minimal, though I’m having a bit of bleeding and I have some swelling started. Lying down with frozen corn packages on the groin!

Congratulations!

I wish you a quick and complete recovery!

:balsmilie

Congratulations hope all heals well and quickly.

WheelyCurious

Almost zero pain this morning—a bit of discomfort at the edges. Bleeding seems to have stopped. Swelling has gone down, but I look like I have a “pig in a blanket” sticking out from me.

If I stand in front of a mirror at a bit of an angle, I can see the entirely empty space between my legs, and that’s a great thing. I read the operation report this morning. They took a 5” X 7” swath of skin away. The surgeon knew the goal was to remove the scrotum as completely as possible, so things look pretty positive right now!

Wow…posted too soon today? I sat up on the edge of my bed for a bit to do some things on my computer, and was then sore. A little over an hour later, considerably more swelling and the area is turning purple. That’s what I initially expected to happen, but I thought it would be right away. Apparently it’s not rare to develop bruising up to 48 hours after the procedure.

Hanging in there! Happy to have a big lump of useless, uncomfortable tissue gone!

Good to get it out of the way, now you can enjoy your new look. You should be able to get some gel later on that will reduce the scarring. When I was healing I went bottomless to keep air circulation and after the stitches were out used aloe vera that I had in the fridge to keep things cool down there. There was plenty of bruising initially but gone after about 10 days.

Justine xx

Thanks Justine, I'll look into anti-scarring gels. I'm up and around some today, and even went up and down the stairs a couple times in our house. Between stitches, surgical adhesive, and swelling, I've joked that I feel like I'm holding one of our dog's "indestructible" big rubber toys between my legs. There's definitely some bruising as well.

So....at the risk of hearing a loud chorus of "WE TOLD YOU SO....."

I have learned that scrotum removal is a great deal more vulnerable than castration. I was up and about, as my surgeon directed, but perhaps more than I should have. A few days later, I went with my husband to the local pub and sat fully upright on one of their cushioned hard chairs for maybe an hour and a half. Afterward, I noticed that my surgical wound had released a substantial amount of clear fluid. This was the beginning of a WHOLE LOT of what I learned was serous discharge. I went to my surgical follow-up, and was assured that this was entirely normal. The NP told me to wear extra-absorbent gauze pads in the area to absorb the fluid, and watch out for infection. The discharge continued, with a little blood, but again, I was told this was normal. With the NP's approval, I went on my planned trip to a conference in Texas, halfway across the country. I was careful to use wheelchair assistance at the airports, etc. My best friend drove from his home in Arkansas to help me in case I needed anything while there (and also to visit, of course). I noticed after arriving that I had more bleeding, but again, it was not a huge amount, so I didn't worry.

The first night of the conference, I ended up sitting on hard chairs that had a rise on the front edge. I noticed after a while how uncomfortable it was, and shifted myself to basically sit diagonally to avoid the issue--or so I thought. I went to the restroom later, and found I had bled quite a bit more. This was about 9:30 at night. My friend took me back to the hotel room, and by 11:00pm, I noticed my fresh gauze pad again had a great deal of blood. I decided it was significant enough that I should visit the local ER to have it looked at. I sat in another hard chair, in the ER waiting area, for a couple hours. Mind you, Texas now has a total ban on gender related care for minors, and some there are pushing for a total ban. This means doctors are being overly cautious, lest they run afoul of shifting laws. I ended up in a semi-rural hospital ER. Fortunately, I had a very gracious male nurse and a very professional doctor. The doctor pressed a bit about why I had my scrotum removed, and after I had to fully explain he said "Oh, okay, that makes sense then." Unfortunately, it turned out that my surgical wound had partially reopened, and I had a hematoma. He directed that I absolutely NOT fly (I was supposed to fly home in three days), and said I should have two weeks of bedrest before even considering doing so. Basically, he said that I was at risk of a life-threatening rupture, but nothing could be done aside from bed rest, as trying to resuture the opening would risk infection. We got back to our hotel room at 4:00am.

As I mentioned, my best friend was with me. He basically napped for two hours, and then packed us up and drove me (reclined in the passenger seat) 10 hours to his home in Arkansas, where he and his husband took care of me on bed rest for the next 10 days. The major bleeding stopped within a day or so, but minor bleeding continues even now. The serous discharge stopped after a few days. I had booked a flight home for after the two weeks had expired, but since I was still bleeding a small amount, my friend worried about me flying. Instead, he spent three days, driving me 2000 miles across the country, to get me safely home. I've been home for 4 days now, and I am still bleeding just a very small, but persistent, amount. Again, my surgeon's team assures me that this is entirely normal (nearly a month now after surgery), and that it will eventually stop. My swelling has reduced a great deal, though I notice that my urges to urinate are quite strong compared to before the surgery--I hope that calms down.

The moral of the story: Scrotal removal is no "minor" surgery, and requires a good deal of extra-gentle treatment. Don't make the mistakes that I made. Am I glad I had it done? Absolutely, but I would handle my aftercare much better if I had to do it over again.