Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Day 5 - The Day After....Surgery

8:25am - When Linda from Dr. Meltzer’s office called yesterday morning around 8:30am, I really wasn’t expecting them to ask me to get to the hospital as soon as possible. The person who was supposed to go before me needed a special type of anesthesia that they could only get set up in the main hospital yesterday afternoon. That meant that they wanted me as soon as I could get there.

I was really hoping I had a little time between waking up at 8am and heading to the hospital. I guess I just wanted to ponder things one last time and also take things at a nice leisurely pace.

So, I rushed through a shower just to wash the hair and clean the surgical area. I patted myself dry, placed a little conditioner and gel in my hair, brushed the teeth…then we were off.

They rushed me through check-in, had me in my gown, took vitals, and had me on the gurney in no time.

I could hear them at the desk saying they had to run double-time on Bay 12 – where I was. The lady doing the IV missed on the first attempt, but got it on the second try as Dr. Campbell, the anesthesiologist, went through some items to keep me distracted.

Previously, one of the other nurses asked me if I was having vaginoplasty and a breast augmentation. I told her it was just supposed to be a vaginoplasty. She ran back to the station and checked the order which said just the vaginoplasty. When she came back, I said I wouldn’t mind waking up with a free pair of boobs. I told them that the other person had a similar name and things might have been confused.

I got a shot to thin my blood, I think, and they also gave me something through the IV. Then they gave me a pill that they said would relax me. Mom and Amber came back once I was ready. I was afraid that I would be very emotional when they let them back to see me off, but we weren’t together that long before they wheeled me off that I didn’t even have time to cry. I think I made it past the swinging doors and down the hall before I was asleep...all before the time I was supposed to have even checked in at 10am.

As I was coming out of unconsciousness last night, I remember having this urge to pee (even though I was hooked up to the catheter). I was also very tired. So tired I could barely keep my eyes open. Claire called, but I can barely remember talking to her. Amber helped me place my earrings back in my ears...which turned out to be quite a chore since my holes had already started closing....and of course, I was basically wasted.

I also seemed to have phantom sensation – as though my penis was still attached. I didn’t really have any pain all night long, though, except if I moved a lot. From the time I was wheeled in to the hospital room, I found it hard to stay awake until last night. I was able to converse more around late evening. My sleep came in spurts of about 1 hour since the nurses came in about that often. My throat didn’t feel sore, but it was definitely dry. My voice seemed lower than usual and it seemed like I couldn’t muster anything close to my normal voice. I’ve also had weird pains whenever they empty out of the foley bag.

When I woke up this morning, I saw Amber just to my left...sleeping on the fold out chair. She'd spent the night with me. Thanks, Amber.

My breakfast today was yogurt, a banana, and juice. Lunch was soup, salad, fruit, and ice cream. Mmmmmm….ice cream.

2:20pm - Janet just stopped by. She was checking up on things and making sure I was breathing into the spirometer, drinking plenty of water, and ensuring I was keeping enough ice on the site.

Allison, the only other Dr. Meltzer patient on the floor, stopped by to say hi. She said it’s been very quiet and lonely for her. Karista, the other patient the day of my surgery, is supposed to be transferred to Greenbaum this afternoon.

It’s been nice having Amber and my mom here. I’ve also had phone calls from Claire, Rachel, JoanB, Courtney (who called by chance), and Stephanie Anne. Flowers have come in from Mom and Amber, Dad and the rest of the family, Lauren, Lisa, and Joe & Susan.

7:40pm - The nurse’s assistant just stopped by. Her name is Kara, and she was born the same year as me. She’s the first Kara I’ve ever met in person.

Dr. Meltzer stopped by about 7pm. He asked how I was doing and looked at the surgical site. He said things looked fine.

So, what does the surgical site look like? Well, I have a large ice bag over the it. There is a net-like pair of underwear holding everything else that is dangling out of my body. There are two drain bags with lines running down to the vaginal area…similar to what I had leading out of my mouth for last year’s FFS with Dr. O. The line to the catheter is also running through there. I have a pad that is down on the underside. It’s all fairly swollen. Also, I can’t even see where it is sutured together, but I can feel around a bit. I can see just the top of the site and all of the tubes running out. Right at the top where the new labia is sewn together I can see the area that used to be the base area just above the shaft of my penis…which I know because that’s where the line of electrolysis is located.

Oh, yeah, dinner was soup, salad, fruit, and ice cream. Mom got me a little more ice cream for a snack

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