Jessica

I'm a British-born, married, girl living in NYC. I'm transgender and I like to blog about trans issues, geeky things and me.

[missjessicabrewer]

I'm alive! Haven't kept up with much content producing or consuming on Tumblr since the site went 👎🏼 on adult material. I pretty much only get on to look at one or two special blogs lately. One of them followed me back recently which made me a happy little fangirl though 💖

Have some gratuitous cleavage selfies taken in my absence 😊

[missjessicabrewer]

I scrubbed up pretty well today!

[missjessicabrewer]

My original surgeon was Heidi Wittenberg who was at Brownstein Crane in San Francisco at the time (2017). Since then I understand she left to set up her own office to continue doing the same surgeries.

The surgeon for my revision was Rachel Bluebond-Langner at NYU Langone.

My first recovery was plagued by a side effect known as granulation tissue. It is relatively common but for me it was so extensive that it ruined a lot of the work done in the surgery. I was essentially left being only able to dilate with tiny dilators (2 sizes thinner than size 1).

I liked my original surgeon and she was a sweetheart as far as bedside manner goes. In retrospect there were aspects that weren't so great. It was a shorter stay in hospital and they send you home with your catheter which suuucks. I had to return home to NY after a few weeks and the rest of my care was handled via photos and phone calls. Unfortunately the surgeon began showing signs of forgetting about the specifics of my issues and giving me redundant/repeat advice.

My original surgeon/facility also didn't as much support for you postoperatively. I now have a patient liaison (a RN) who checks on me by text and who I can contact if I have questions. NYU also enrolls you immediately in pelvic floor PT to help dilation go more smoothly. They are just super on the ball and seem a lot more modern in the way that they are really zeroing in on all the little things that make the experience better.

Rachel herself is just a rockstar. She has a brilliant memory of every little aspect of your care, and she's just awesome. I feel super well cared for by her and her team.

Lastly, as far as cost goes it varies tremendously depending on your insurance coverage. Both procedures were covered by insurance for me, with various amounts of coinsured/copays due depending on the amount of out of pocket maximums I had left for the year.

[missjessicabrewer]

Duvet only or sheet and blanket / duvet?

Oh Lord, I hate unnecessary sheets in a bed. If they're tucked in, that drives me even more insane. First thing I do in a hotel bed is pull out the entire set of sheets. Duvet only 👌🏼

I'm a rebel, I know.

[missjessicabrewer]

Ahhhhh dilation suuuuuuucks.

Recovery is actually going SO much better this time. It's really validated just how I reacted to the disaster that was my first surgery. I've been able to walk around, sit without pain and have been able to cut a lot of the pain meds out quickly. All in all, at 9 days post op, I feel like I did at 5-6 months post op last time. I can't recommend more my NYU Langone surgeon, Rachel Bluebond-Langner, any more strongly. She's a rockstar.

That said, dilation still sucks 😂 I took the above pic while trying not to focus on the pain caused by that.

[missjessicabrewer]

Q1: “Toe-may-toe” or “toe-ma-toe”?

Toe-may-toe. I've definitely switched over a lot of my pronunciations to the American way, including this one. It's just easier to avoid confusion I guess. I had a hard time ordering a glass of water (wah-der vs war-tuh) when I first moved to the country.

[missjessicabrewer]

So I had my GRS revision yesterday with Dr Rachel Bluebond Langner at NYU Langone. It seemed to go well. I'm still in a fair amount of pain but I feel good compared to last time.

My room is beautiful though. I have a view of the Empire State Building out of my window and the selfie lighting is incredible.

Surgery questions are welcome :)

[missjessicabrewer]

Shoutout to those transgender people that made it through thanksgiving dinner while being misgendered and dead named. I’m right there with you today.

[missjessicabrewer]

I went to a wedding for the first time since I transitioned and I got to wear the dress of my dreams. Happy Jessica ❤️💃🏽

[missjessicabrewer]

Your lipstick always looks amazing, do you use any other brands aside from Kat Von D? I don’t buy her stuff because of her anti-Semitic past but wanna know if I can get your look?

Thank you! I've actually never bought any Kat Von D myself. A friend bought me a little sampler pack of hers that I used but like you I won't ever buy her stuff. The anti vax stuff really put me off her too.

In 99% of the pics you see me in I'm actually wearing the Sephora brand cream lipstain. Over half the time I'm wearing the #1 Always Red shade. It works super well. Aside from that I also used Burt's Bees tinted lipbalm for moisturizing.

My recent makeover was done using NARS lipstain and I really liked that too. I plan to get one of theirs next time I go shopping.

[missjessicabrewer]

Han shot first.

[missjessicabrewer]

Mood.

[missjessicabrewer]

Took the day off for an appointment with my new surgeon. Wish me luck!

[missjessicabrewer]

Hormones are M A G I C.

[missjessicabrewer]

Is there ever a possibility of us hearing that adorable voice while you still have your British accent?

Haha perhaps! My voice is one thing I've always hated, even setting aside gender considerations. I did do a couple of radio interviews at one point so I may see if I can dig them up. (And check whether I said anything monumentally stupid back then too heh 😅)

[missjessicabrewer]

Your self confidence and love is amazing. You are such an icon for the trans community to show that you can over come you dysphoria. I really adore you and I love you lots 💜💜🌈🌈🌈

Ahhhh this is so sweet!There are definitely things about myself I don't love but I guess one of those things about being trans is that you have some pretty dark days to look back on and realize that you're always doing better than you were! Having an awesome supportive LGBTQ community is also huge as well.Thank you 💖

[missjessicabrewer]

You look really good I’m proud of you!

Thank you! 💖