No, no, this is a GREAT question, Anon! It brings up something that I hadn’t really gone into in any previous posts, and that is the weird place you can find yourself in if you haven’t had top surgery before you have phalloplasty.
The week I was in the hospital resting up from the phalloplasty itself, I want to say 90% of the staff there were terrific. No slipped pronouns, direct eye contact, no complaints here.
But there were definitely a handful of folks on the staff who just Did Not Get It, when they saw my lack of any facial hair and the breast lumps under my hospital gown. A couple times, I’d have a nurse or an orderly pop in, look at me, look at my chart, and say, “Oh. Wrong room. Sorry, miss,” only to head back in again after some clarification from other staff. One orderly wrote, in all caps, STILL HAS BREASTS! on the top edge of my hospital chart, like a warning from a horror movie, which I was personally more amused by than anything. Your mileage may vary.
But to answer your question directly, I was only in a hospital gown for the first week after phallo, then I settled into an extended stay hotel for the following month. There, even though I’d brought one along, I didn’t use my stronger Underworks binder due to my left arm being so raw at the time, but stuck with a simpler front-zip binder from GC2B, whenever I felt like venturing outside– which, I’ll be honest, the first week or two after surgery? My body was so raw and painful that the thought of going outside just to walk around seemed needlessly risky.
It’s important to rest up right after major surgery, and phalloplasty’s no exception. The upside is, I could wear whatever I felt like, or not, with the hotel shutters closed, so for at least the first week, all I wore were my bandages and the occasional blanket, with only cleaning staff coming by once a day to turn down the bedsheets. (They eyed all the ooze I left on the sheets sometimes, but trust me, cleaning folks have seen everything. They don’t judge.)
Then again, I spent my month after phalloplasty alone, which thankfully I’ve heard seems to be a rare occurrence. Pausing to point out, if any readers here find themselves stuck alone during this time, I want to let y’all know, you can message me when the nights get long! It’s rough like few other things you’ll ever have to go through, and if I can make that journey a little less lonely, I’m all for lending an ear. :3
Chinchilla Meat 