| Help Me Mr. Wizard I can safely say that I had no idea what was in store for me after I got back home from Montr�al and tried to settle into some kind of routine. There were far more questions than answers on my road to recovery. Amazingly, Jodie not only survived her roundtrip to Thailand, she seemed to really benefit from the entire adventure. Her SRS went smoothly, albeit she would eventually have to cope with the outcome of her hastily planned trip to a Thai surgeon. Her sojourn in Thailand awoke in her a deeper sense of her spirit, and seemed to kindle her former zest for having the SRS in the first place. I remember reading one of her e-mails from Thailand and thinking who in the hell wrote it. She�s always been challenged when it comes to grammar, spelling and punctuation. I have learned over the years to decipher her e-mails rather well. I was shocked how crystal clear this particular e-mail was. I thought the transformation she endured surely went beyond the physical changes. It was obvious to me that my concerns for Jodie before she left were unfounded. She needed to make that journey overseas in order to see that her life was more than she had previously envisioned. I was eager to meet up with Jodie for the first time since our surgeries. I left work that Monday afternoon, two weeks after my surgery, thinking about a great many concerns in my new life. I hoped seeing and talking with Jodie would help me contend with my worries. At the top of my worry list was the continued deterioration of my labia tissue. I was plagued by the thought of going through all of the hardship of SRS only to have part of it fail. True to his word, Dr. M�nard called me on my cell phone on my way to Jodie�s house. I frantically explained to him the situation concerning my labia tissue. I can�t imagine how many times he has heard someone converse with such distress in their voice, I was definitely no different. I felt like I was losing a part of myself, pure and simple. I looked to him to put on his wizard�s hat and tell me how to overcome my deepest fears. Without hesitation, Dr. M�nard did his best to alleviate my angst. He believed the problem was a hematoma (a localized swelling filled with blood resulting from a break in a blood vessel) in the newly formed tissue. Hematomas were not uncommon he told me, nonetheless only happening in a small percentage of post-ops. Yes, there are risks involved in any surgery, and this particular one carries its own share of liabilities. The first thing that went through my mind was �why me�, though, Dr. M�nard didn�t seem too worried about the outcome. The tissue degradation consumed about 25 percent on my right side. He told me to do nothing about it, just continue to bathe and apply the necessary ointments. He told me to just let it heal on its own, then we could determine if it needed future attention. As a matter of fact, he went so far as to say that in the end I would still be pleased with the result. I wasn�t so convinced, but I had no choice but to accept his determination. This would not be the last time I would have to take his word for granted concerning my recovery. I was impressed that he took the time to address my concerns, and most importantly make me understand that this incident was not the end of the world. He was the wizard I looked to in order to change my body in the first place and the one whose judgement I would learn to trust implicitly. Once you leave Montr�al you realize everything is up to you to discern whether the healing process is progressing aptly or not. I hung up with Dr. M�nard feeling that my trepidation had been somewhat relieved, though, not entirely. I had no choice but to see how things would turn out. I was also bound and determined to do everything I could to help promote the healing process. <<BACK<< >>NEXT>> |