Okay, well, so,...
Today is my first day at the office as Jude. And I'm about 19 days post FFS. Things have gone very smoothly so far, pretty quietly actually. Got a new photo ID badge first thing, it now says "Jude" instead of my old guy name, and has a new picture of course. The name/pic will be updated on the internal corporate website soon.
Folks are saying I look great, one guy didn't recognize me (but he's only been here a couple of months so that's excusable). I'm being told that it's likely more folks won't recognize me -- I find that hard to believe, but the evidence seems to point that way. Odd.
Have not had a horde of folks dropping by to visit - more like one or two. I think we're all just busy, which is fine. I couldn't take more days at the house, with needy little doggies (who are very lovable, but... ;-)
Rather interesting, I must say. So, this is what post-transition is like.... ;-)
Later gators
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Post FFS #1
Hey,
So, I had facial surgery last Wednesday. Or, should I say, we had it, as it does impact the whole extended family. So, here’s the updates, divided into sections:
What the Doctor did
How It Feels, What It Looks Like
Impacts on Loved Ones & Family.
What the Doctor did
Basically, an enhanced face lift. Starting at the top and working down…
Two small incisions along the hairline, either side of center, to do a brow lift.
Upper eyelids – incisions along the length of each upper eyelid to remove excess, leaves a cleaner look
Lower eyelids – pretty much the same. Lowers are still covered in tape that runs across the upper cheeks.
Facelift: incisions in the sideburn area and behind the ears, pulled the skin back along the entire cheek area. I have staples and incisions in the hair.
Nose: Incisions in the nostrils – to reduce the “bulb” look I had at the end of my nose, make it not so prominent.
Upper lip: Incision along the bottom edge of the nose, to pull the center upper lip upwards – women have a smaller space tween nose and upper lip. Incisions along the outer edge of the upper lip – about ½”, ¾” on each side, pull the upper edge of the lip up, balances the center pull.
Neck: lipo and reduction of the second chin and lots of extra stuff under there. Incision is right behind my chin.
The surgery was 8 am Wednesday morning, and lasted for 6 hours. Sweety took me home at some point that afternoon after they released me from recovery. The swelling set in at some point the next day, and got worse through Friday. It seemed to be a bit better Saturday morning, and is reduced more today (Sunday), which is pretty much the schedule the docs projected.
How It Feels, What It Looks Like
The first day or so, it pretty much sucked. Things are tight, sore, parts don’t move that well. I don’t particularly like how the serious painkiller (Percocet) makes me feel, so I’ve been relying more on Motrin, which seems to actually work pretty well. I seem to be alert for a bit, like an hour, then suddenly I conk out for an hour or so. That’s improving day to day, I seem to be much better on stamina today (Sunday).
I’m putting a bunch of pictures down below. If you don’t like looking at pictures like this, skip, I won’t be offended. Really. I’ve had Sweety taking pictures every day.
Impacts on Loved Ones & Family.
Well, Sweety has had to look at me all day every day. She’s stayed right by my side till Saturday morning, when she went to clinic for a few hours – and she arranged for our friend (and acupuncturist) Beth to come and sit with me for the morning. The kids (my son Tom – 17, and daughter Kate, 21) both came by on Thursday (I think it was Thursday), but didn’t stay long. Kate headed back to college town Saturday and I saw her for a bit before she left, and Tom is back over for a few days. They don’t seem particularly bothered – but I can’t help wondering what it’s like to see one's parent’s face get changed like this. Or one’s partner’s face. I worry about how this will affect family relationships, long term, it’s the kind of thing I wonder about. Worry about too, I guess. On the one hand, they’re all incredible people, and if anyone can handle it, it’s them. On the other hand, I feel like I’m imposing a lot of stuff on them…. They’ve been completely supportive, and I owe them so much. I will care for them the rest of my life, a new life that they’ve helped me achieve.
So, I had facial surgery last Wednesday. Or, should I say, we had it, as it does impact the whole extended family. So, here’s the updates, divided into sections:
What the Doctor did
How It Feels, What It Looks Like
Impacts on Loved Ones & Family.
What the Doctor did
Basically, an enhanced face lift. Starting at the top and working down…
Two small incisions along the hairline, either side of center, to do a brow lift.
Upper eyelids – incisions along the length of each upper eyelid to remove excess, leaves a cleaner look
Lower eyelids – pretty much the same. Lowers are still covered in tape that runs across the upper cheeks.
Facelift: incisions in the sideburn area and behind the ears, pulled the skin back along the entire cheek area. I have staples and incisions in the hair.
Nose: Incisions in the nostrils – to reduce the “bulb” look I had at the end of my nose, make it not so prominent.
Upper lip: Incision along the bottom edge of the nose, to pull the center upper lip upwards – women have a smaller space tween nose and upper lip. Incisions along the outer edge of the upper lip – about ½”, ¾” on each side, pull the upper edge of the lip up, balances the center pull.
Neck: lipo and reduction of the second chin and lots of extra stuff under there. Incision is right behind my chin.
The surgery was 8 am Wednesday morning, and lasted for 6 hours. Sweety took me home at some point that afternoon after they released me from recovery. The swelling set in at some point the next day, and got worse through Friday. It seemed to be a bit better Saturday morning, and is reduced more today (Sunday), which is pretty much the schedule the docs projected.
How It Feels, What It Looks Like
The first day or so, it pretty much sucked. Things are tight, sore, parts don’t move that well. I don’t particularly like how the serious painkiller (Percocet) makes me feel, so I’ve been relying more on Motrin, which seems to actually work pretty well. I seem to be alert for a bit, like an hour, then suddenly I conk out for an hour or so. That’s improving day to day, I seem to be much better on stamina today (Sunday).
I’m putting a bunch of pictures down below. If you don’t like looking at pictures like this, skip, I won’t be offended. Really. I’ve had Sweety taking pictures every day.
Impacts on Loved Ones & Family.
Well, Sweety has had to look at me all day every day. She’s stayed right by my side till Saturday morning, when she went to clinic for a few hours – and she arranged for our friend (and acupuncturist) Beth to come and sit with me for the morning. The kids (my son Tom – 17, and daughter Kate, 21) both came by on Thursday (I think it was Thursday), but didn’t stay long. Kate headed back to college town Saturday and I saw her for a bit before she left, and Tom is back over for a few days. They don’t seem particularly bothered – but I can’t help wondering what it’s like to see one's parent’s face get changed like this. Or one’s partner’s face. I worry about how this will affect family relationships, long term, it’s the kind of thing I wonder about. Worry about too, I guess. On the one hand, they’re all incredible people, and if anyone can handle it, it’s them. On the other hand, I feel like I’m imposing a lot of stuff on them…. They’ve been completely supportive, and I owe them so much. I will care for them the rest of my life, a new life that they’ve helped me achieve.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Help Pass ENDA!
Hi folks,
This is about the Employee Non Discrimination Act - ENDA for short.
Jillian Wiess, Trangender Workplace Diversity is working to get us to pressure legislators to vote in favor
"Please repost this message: S 1584, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, needs 16 more votes. Here's the math and the contact info you need to pass ENDA: http://bit.ly/r7qrO "
the link will let you see where your local legislators stand. Please tell your folks to help pass this.
Thanks
-Jude
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)