Day 6 of My Recovery

Kris it's a boy 1

Still feeling fine.

 

I notice that, first thing in the morning after being in one position all night (prone on my back because I have drainage tubes coming out both of my sides), when I get up the first time, there is a feeling of “ouch-ie”/extreme soreness while my chest interior (where the surgery took place) shifts and rearranges itself due to the change in the location of gravity (from my back to my feet as I rise from the bed).

 

It’s just momentary, and far from agony, but it is a change because the rest of the time I feel no pain at all.

 

Oh, there are brief, sporadic moments when something inside (a nerve ending, perhaps?) will fire off and make it feel like someone is pinching one of my tits or something else inside my chest. But that, too, is of such short duration that by the time it happens I know it’s mere seconds from ending and I just wait it out for a breath or so.

 

My left side (my actual side, not my chest) is more bruised than the other and the fluid from the drain on that side is redder/bloodier and more voluminous than the fluid from the right side.

 

Both fluids smell fine (yes, I have to sniff them to make sure they don’t smell; smelly fluid indicates infection), I feel fine, and I have no fever at all. And the volume of fluid on both sides has subsided a lot.  So, I’m pretty sure both drains will come out tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to that because I want to be able to shower again real soon.

 

The interesting thing is that the surgical team did such a good job of sterilizing/disinfecting me before surgery that I’m still not stinky at all, six days after surgery. That’s amazing to me because, at my age, a shower at least every two days is mandatory if I want to be able to live with myself.

 

I have a bidet, thankfully, so that’s keeping my undercarriage pristine, and I’ve scrubbed off the “autopsy” lines (actually, the incision map) where they appeared above and below my chest, wherever I can reach them without having to peel off bandages. (I’m not allowed to peel off any bandages that were glued to me during surgery. I have to let them fall off of their own accord over the course of the next few weeks. What’s underneath them are the areas that are healing.) But other than that and washing off the iodine (or whatever it was)  that they slathered onto my torso, I haven’t washed much except my hands.

 

In Other News…

 

My new (to me) 20-gallon aquarium is full of water (tested to be sure it’s safe for freshwater fish) and the under-gravel filter is sitting on the bottom. Today, tomorrow and the next day I will be getting the gravel/sand for atop the filter and the pump. When those are in, I’ll visit a fish store and buy some live aquarium plants to add to the two small ones I already have in the betta tank and then I can transfer the bettas, the ghost shrimp and the snails and shells over to the big tank.

 

The critters are going to think they’ve died and gone to heaven in a tank that’s literally ten times larger than the one they’ve been living in. I can’t wait to witness their reactions.

 

I’ll get some more community fish, too, and a few more ghost shrimp. Probably some tetras and maybe a couple of aquatic frogs, plus a plecostomas, of course!!!  They’re prehistoric-looking algae eaters and help keep the tank clean.

 

I’m excited!

 

What else?

 

I’ve already helped a regular client twice this week, post surgery, and both times she says I hit it out of the ballpark.

 

So, I guess my brain is back online again. That’s a good thing!

 

My spirit and attitude since my surgery are soooooo much better. I don’t remember feeling this up, positive and borderline giddy since I hung with DeForest and Carolyn Kelley more than twenty years ago.

 

It’s amazing what “proclaiming my gender from the chest up” has done to my spirit. I knew I would be happy and relieved, but I really had no idea just how much better and alive and vibrant I would feel. It’s very much a rebirth!!! I need to write an additional chapter for Womb Man and tell this part of my transgender journey, too…

 

It makes me wonder if I could feel even better if I started taking testosterone… but I’m already giddy just where I am, so additional steps certainly aren’t necessary for me. (Everybody is different. If you have a transgender loved one, embrace them right where they are and however far they want to take their transition. Just love and support and encourage them to embrace their true essence. They will appreciate you so much for being there for them in that way!)

 

Guess that’s all the news that’s fit to print for this time. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend.

 

 

 

 

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Kris Smith

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