How to prepare yourself for Transsexual surgery
Author: Dr. Tanongsak Panyawirunroj
Sex reversal is a process of treating patients with gender-related physical and mental disorders, namely gender identity disorder. Such patient has a body structure as a male, but his mind and sexual perception are female. Sex reassignment surgery is the last step of sexual disorder treatment. Prior to the surgery, it is mandatory that all patients pass at least two psychological tests and get a thorough understanding of their own needs. Here are necessary steps for SRS patients prior to undergo transgender surgery:
- Consult with your parents, any patients who are under the age of 18 have to reach an agreement with their parents about their own mental and physical needs for sexual reassignment surgery.
- Evaluate your own feelings for this need and consult a psychiatrist to find out the true needs by evaluating your mental state. You may encounter questions such as “How long did you express yourself as the opposite sex?” “Who was your mental counselor?” “What is your sexual orientation?” “How do you feel about your sexual organs?” “Do you have any health conditions?” “How do you plan to live the rest of your life?”
- Get yourself ready before for the transformation. Try to express yourself and live in the way that your mind requires before transgender surgery to confirm your true needs. Generally, it is recommended that the patient expresses themselves the way their mental needs and receives a proper hormone therapy for a physical change about 1 or 2 years prior to the surgery. This is to ensure that the patient would be able to adjust himself to the community after the intervention. Then, the last step of physical change is Transsexual surgery that allows the patient to transform his/her body to be aligned with his/her mental condition.
Transgender surgery includes male-to-female transplant and female-to-male transplant. Of all transgender surgical techniques, Colon-Vaginoplasty is the most complicated of its kind and requires a high level of expertise of the operating surgeons in order to deliver satisfied results. All scrub nurses and relevant medical professionals have to be well trained. It is required that anesthesia induction is performed by an anesthesiologist who will monitor the patient’s vital sign during the operation. Physical examination such as blood test, chest x-ray etc is a mandatory for our SRS patients prior to the surgery. Here at our hospital, the test results will be re-evaluated by our cardiologist to reduce any perioperative complications.
In the process of hospital selection which is a very critical process, it is recommended that patients choose a reputable hospital with a high standard to ensure their safety, privacy and positive outcomes. Hospitals with the American Joint Commission International accreditation are highly recommended as they have passed the international standards for hospitals before getting accredited. This can be ensured that the particular hospitals maintain good hygiene and all their processes are aligned the international patient safety goal.
