POSTED UNDER Labiaplasty REVIEWS
Know The Risks. California, CA
ORIGINAL POST
After years of severe discomfort from excess...
cabchblndJanuary 24, 2016
After years of severe discomfort from excess labia, I finally worked up the courage to discuss my concerns with my Ob/Gyn. He said he would use a wedge technique, and generally speaking, it's a very straight forward procedure. We scheduled for Friday, 1/22 in the outpatient surgery center under twilight sedation. All went as planned during the procedure and immediately after. It wasn't until I got home that things went terribly down hill. I began bleeding heavily within the first hour of being home, saturating a heavy pad every ten minutes or so. My Gyn wanted me to stay put, so he came to the house to check things out. By the time he arrived, I had a spray of blood coming from my right vulvar area. He said he believed my arterial vessel spasmed from swelling and tore. He had us rush to his office to put a stitch in. Unfortunately, he was unable to control the bleeding. Plans rapidly changed and we ended up back in the OR after having 2 units of blood transfused under forced pressure. Fortunately, in surgery he was able to reopen and control bleeding in less than a minute. I spent the night in ICU due to the volume of blood lost. I'm feeling better today, but extremely tired and weak. I feel as if I've been run over by a truck, but I'm alive. I have extreme anxiety about bleeding again. So far, I'm not sure I can say this was worth it. I'm hoping my opinion changes with time. I will continue to update.
UPDATED FROM cabchblnd
3 days post
Day 3 Post-Op
cabchblndJanuary 25, 2016
I'm feeling ok. I'm still not entirely convinced that this was worthwhile. I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for making a decision based partially on vanity that affected everyone's lives around me so significantly. I'm tired and still feel weak, but it seems to improve each day. Swelling is pretty minimal. I have lots of bruising from bleeding out though. My sutures are to be removed on Thursday. Those are the most uncomfortable part of this all. I feel constant poking, but my surgeon feels healing is much better with removable sutures. I'm hopeful that I feel better about things in the end. I'm uploading pre-op pics and day 2 post-op pics.
Replies (13)
1) He was knowledgeable and experienced enough to identify what was happening quickly. As a result, he was able to save my life before hemorrhaging to death. A plastic surgeon several hours away would not have been able to do the same.
2) He was very familiar with my case, extensively knew my medical history off the top of his head (drug allergies included) without needing to look at my chart, and he delivered my baby after carrying me through a very complicated pregnancy. All of these things, again, could not have been done by a plastic surgeon.
3) My OB/Gyn focused on functionality and preserving nerves in sensitive areas rather than amputating my labia or making incisions that result in loss of sensitivity, simply for aesthetics.
4) We have a strong patient/provider relationship based on years of trust and experience, not the typical one time consult and $5,000 cost, as would occur with a plastic surgeon.
To be clear, every individual has different needs and priorities. For MY case and needs, I wouldn't ever think twice about going to my OB/Gyn if I had to make the decision all over again. Please educate yourself before making unsupportive, judgemental, and presumptuous comments to others on this site. This site is used for support, not criticism.