If you are googling vestibulectomy recovery at 2am, this one is for you.
Bonnie Gross has had the surgery twice, ten years apart, and she is unusually good at describing it - she wrote and executive produced Lady Parts, the award-winning comedy based on the first one. We recorded this four weeks after her second.
Most of this conversation is the practical side she could not fit in the film: the pre-surgery shopping list, the recovery timeline week by week, the insurance denial, the graft taken from inside her cheek, and what dilator work is really like afterwards.
Sponsors:
Pelva - pelva.com, code TWTC10 for 10% off
Origin - theoriginway.com/TWTC, code TWTC for a free month of OnTrack
Connect with Bonnie:
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Chapters:
00:00:00 Cold Open: Lady Parts Trailer
00:01:29 Welcome, Episode Overview
00:02:58 Bonnie Gross, Four Weeks Post Op
00:04:06 Lady Parts, Comedy Drama, True Story
00:06:31 College, Penetration, Clothes, Sitting
00:07:17 Three Years Searching; Gaslighting at 19
00:10:43 Dr. Amy Stein, Referral to Dr. Goldstein
00:11:14 Cost, Q-Tip Test, Being Believed
00:12:05 Ruling Out Hormonal Vestibulodynia
00:13:33 Surgery on the Table; Capsaicin
00:17:06 Vestibule Clock, 12 O'Clock, Urethra
00:17:46 Nerve Endings Left, Buccal Graft
00:18:49 Endometriosis, Hypermobility Overlap
00:20:09 Denied as Cosmetic, $10,000, No Code
00:21:12 Eighty Percent Relief, Ten to Four
00:22:28 Sponsor: Pelva
00:23:54 Sponsor: Origin
00:25:29 Practical Prep; Sitz Baths
00:27:35 Peri Bottle, Pee Pads With Adhesive
00:28:38 Nightgowns, Robes, Going Commando
00:29:12 Ice Packs, Liquid Meds, Soft Foods
00:30:41 Outpatient Surgery, Going Home
00:32:14 Legs Together, No Sitting, No Shower
00:33:13 Six Weeks in Bed, Needing Full Care
00:34:14 Pain by Phase, 24 Hours to Two Weeks
00:36:47 Mouth Pain, Graft Site, Fast Healing
00:38:12 Walking by Day Two, Itchy Stitches
00:38:52 Tool: Take the Pain Meds
00:39:24 Stitches, Donut Pillow, Back to Work
00:41:41 Clitoral Adhesions, Hood Retraction
00:43:17 Physiotherapy, Scar Tissue, Dilators
00:46:54 Tool: A Chair at the Edge of the Bath
00:48:10 Time Off Work, Desk Jobs, Commuting
00:51:03 Mesh Undies, Ice Packs, Baby Food
00:53:52 Periods in Recovery, Free Bleeding
00:55:19 IUD, No Period Through Surgery
00:56:33 Making Lady Parts, Ten Years
01:00:53 Life Savings, Making the Film, On Set
01:02:01 Festivals, Distribution, Screenings
01:04:57 Where to Watch: Prime, Tubi, Kinema
01:06:12 GoFundMe, Where to Find Bonnie
01:07:20 Outro, Reviews, Supporting the Show
