Saturday 2 December 2006

Keeping Busy

After a short examination, Dr Suporn told me he'd do an Internal exam on Wednesday. That should clear me for the 54mm diameter stent, rather than just the 31mm I've been using so far.

He also told me to start using a few more pain killers, that's what they're there for!

I still can't believe how normal it all feels. The simple act of urination always gave me a peculiar feeling before. You'd relax, open a sphincter, then instead of things happening, it felt like all sorts of tubes and plumbing were opening up, quite hydraulic and most un-natural. There were bodily bits where no bodily bits should be.

Now - no longer.

OK, I'm a Geeky Scientist, but it is after all a re-plumbed body I have now, nerves are waking up, and it's just really interesting. What's most unexpected is that I'm not having to learn how the new stuff works. I already know - I was pre-fitted at the factory so to speak. At the risk of being tediously repetitious, I've always had male peripherals and female device drivers. But even I didn't recognise the extent of that. At one stage, while using the stent to maximum depth, I triggered what appeared to have been Braxton-Hicks contractions for a few seconds.

Now the neovagina is still not vaginal tissue, and won't be for at least a year. The nerves are nowhere near healed. So the reflex must be to do with abdominal nerves. There's so much about the human body we could find out from, er, unusual people like me. If I'm right, Braxton-Hicks contractions must be caused by pressures from the placenta on other structures, which means various neoplasms could cause them too, with symptoms of false labour.

It would be interesting to see if natal women who have had surgical reconstruction of the same area had a similar experience.

Back on my current medical condition.... given that I've retained the depth I originally had despite the swelling going down - within a centimeter anyway - it looks like I'll be able to dilate only 1 rather than 2 hours per session from an early stage. But I'll wait to see how I go with the larger stent first.

Besides which - I've now set up the laptop so I can blog while dilating. Yes, I've written this whole post while having a..... post-operative maintenance procedure.

Sorry, the whole thing is so incredibly, bizarrely undignified in the worst possible way that hilarity is the only sensible reaction. But don't laugh while doing it unless things are tightly secured. Otherwise something can get launched across the room at high velocity.

Not only screamingly funny if it happens, but it can break stuff, and of course there's the mess to clean up.

You know... if someone had predicted just 2 years ago that I'd be doing this.... ah dear. What a weird and wonderful Universe we live in!

2 comments:

Zoe Brain said...

Didn't think you did.

Sorry, must stop laughing, accidents can happen that way. "Caution : Low Flying Dilators!

Anonymous said...

G'day Zoe,

I've been reading your thoughts on the world since you were known as 'Alan'.

I thought it was time I delurked and welcomed a new woman to the world.

You've been on a remarkable journey; thank you for letting us come along for the ride.

Thanks, also, for your response to irritants like Leunig. As an ex-serviceman, I'm glad that someone is articulate enough to effectively challenge the cliches.