Lots of good things happening in my life lately I’ve started working out of a clinic, I’m beginning to start re-equipping for such a purpose, over christmas and January I went though the process to be approved for funding for Genital Reassignment surgery. It’s a long process and took me 3 years to get to the point of even being evaluated.The actual evaluation process by Center for Addictions and Mental Health ( CAMH) wasnt all that horrible, but the wait to get there sure was. Good thing they are changing the process in Ontario.
Two weeks ago, I received a call from the therapist at CAMH with some good news: I am approved for Gender Reassignment funding.I just need to wait a couple more weeks, and I will receive a letter from the Ontario Ministry of Health and can book my surgery with Dr Brossards clinic in Montreal at that time. We’re on the short stretch now!
So, like a LOT of transwomen I have some hair down there. Now first, I’d like to point out what Dr Brossard has to say about pre-surgery electrolysis :
ELECTROLYSIS
Hair removal on external genitals before male to female reassignment surgery is debatable.
Hair bearing skin on the penis shaft base with the one step technique stays outside on the neo vulva.
The skin that will become the internal living of the new female genital is the rest of the penis skin,
scrotal skin and a small « perineal flap » ( a one square inch of skin that is located one side above the
anal margin on the midline ) If you want a perfect hair free vagina you need to be sure that no
regrowth of hair has occurred on the area for at least one year after you have finished electrolysis on
laser. Even then this does not guaranty that no hair will ever grow. -4-
The hair roots are either killed or weakened by electrolysis or laser. Those only weakened regrow.
During surgery hair roots are killed with the cautery on the scrotal skin that is used as a graft (not on
the « perineal flap » ) During surgery the hair roots that were weakened are less visible because they
are much smaller than those found untreated areas and could be missed by the surgeon and regrow
later. For this reason, in our experience expedited laser or electrolysis treatments are worse than not
having hair removal at all. In fact, we can get most hair roots during surgery if they were not
weakened. Regrowth after our surgery is possible but very sparse.
If you want no regrowth at all you will have to face hours of painstaking hair removal and a one year
none growth period.
At this time we do not feel that hair removal is indicated.
Those of you who take part in Electrology International, will note a thread posted recently by a TG electrologist in Nevada recently talking about this issue. I cant repost here what she wrote, but I will say her experience is warrranted and I have heard of/seen similar problems with hair growing out of the neo-vagina because electrolysis is not done. I have some considerable hair ont he bottom shaft, andso in other parts that are used during the surgery, and I do NOT have faith “the scrape” or caustery during surgery will relieve me of such.
My funding letter is good for 2 years. This means if I dont get rid of the hair, now, immediately, and permanently, I could lose my funding for SRS waiting. My first thought, was that the best modality for this would be blend. This is because of kill rate. I’m seeking that 85-95% kill rate I have come to expect from blend proceedures. I do not have time to spend 18 months plus a year after that, to book surgery.
I had some tests prior, and determined that blend was likely to be extremely painful and thermolysis the proceedure more likely to be tolerable. Today , I wrapped up in 5% lidocaine with saran wrap, waited 30 minutes and tried a few hairs.
OH MY FREAKING GODDESS THAT HURTS! No freaking way i will be able to do this. I am currently sitting here witha second coat of lidocaine and saran wrap, hoping to try a few more insertions a little later. I am completely out of sorts, I …am not sure at the moment I can actually do this.