English
Nederlands
2007-12-21
Ouch!
Today Friday, December 21st., I had to go back to the VU-hospital in Amsterdam for a "small correction". We were expected there at 9:30 AM, so we had to get up at six to be there on time. I am not a morning person. So I started the day with a head that felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool.
We arrived exactly on time and I did not have to wait for long. So we headed for the operating theatre... Doctor Bouwman and doctor Hamburg have worked on me for more than two hours. They almost did my operation all over again, but this time I was conscious and I could enjoy everything that was happening. "Isn't it amazing", doctor Bouwman said cheerfully: "The things we can do under local anaesthetic. Fortunately Mrs. Snel is remaining very calm, we do not see that in all our patients!"
Yes, fortunately I am very good at relaxing in a situation like this. The anesthetic worked very well and although I could see and feel they were cutting and sewing on me, it did not really hurt. They were also sort-of burning away the excess tissue, but there they ran into a problem. And it hurt like hell!
"Yes", said the doctor: "The operation area is numb, but now the heat is radiating outside of the area under anaesthetic."
Well, it is nice to understand why it hurts, but that does not take the pain away. So they could not proceed with this, even though they would have liked to burn some more tissue away. We may save that for a later date.
Fortunately they had a mirror I could use to inspect the result of all this work. It looked great! A real improvement!
Meanwhile Julia was in the waiting-room. She had brought a fat book, so she did not have to get bored, but she started to get more and more worried. Neither of us had been expecting such a heavy, long lasting procedure.
She was not alone in the waiting-room. More and more people entered and had to wait, even though their appointments were long overdue. I think that is clear evidence that the operation was taking a lot more time than even the doctors had been expecting.
I was very glad there is a bus service between the hospital and the parking lot, because I would not have been able to walk that distance.
When we wanted to pay for the parking, it turned out the machine did not accept bank notes, but it would accept only coins, so Julia was forced to change some money into coins to be able to pay the full amount of 8 Euros.
And when we finally reached the exit of the parking lot with our expensive ticket, the exit gate was wide open: The technicians had switched it of because of the problems with the payment machine. If we had known that, we would not have had to pay at all!
The drive back home was a real torture. The traffic information on the radio said it was a very quiet day, with hardly any traffic jam, but apparently that did not go for the A2 from Amsterdam to Eindhoven. We were in the traffic jam all the way. And I could not find an acceptable way to sit. Every position hurt. After the big operation I had gotten a lot of morphine and I had to stay in bed, but now they had just sent me off, without even giving me a paracetamol for the road.
We arrived exactly on time and I did not have to wait for long. So we headed for the operating theatre... Doctor Bouwman and doctor Hamburg have worked on me for more than two hours. They almost did my operation all over again, but this time I was conscious and I could enjoy everything that was happening. "Isn't it amazing", doctor Bouwman said cheerfully: "The things we can do under local anaesthetic. Fortunately Mrs. Snel is remaining very calm, we do not see that in all our patients!"
Yes, fortunately I am very good at relaxing in a situation like this. The anesthetic worked very well and although I could see and feel they were cutting and sewing on me, it did not really hurt. They were also sort-of burning away the excess tissue, but there they ran into a problem. And it hurt like hell!
"Yes", said the doctor: "The operation area is numb, but now the heat is radiating outside of the area under anaesthetic."
Well, it is nice to understand why it hurts, but that does not take the pain away. So they could not proceed with this, even though they would have liked to burn some more tissue away. We may save that for a later date.
Fortunately they had a mirror I could use to inspect the result of all this work. It looked great! A real improvement!
Meanwhile Julia was in the waiting-room. She had brought a fat book, so she did not have to get bored, but she started to get more and more worried. Neither of us had been expecting such a heavy, long lasting procedure.
She was not alone in the waiting-room. More and more people entered and had to wait, even though their appointments were long overdue. I think that is clear evidence that the operation was taking a lot more time than even the doctors had been expecting.
I was very glad there is a bus service between the hospital and the parking lot, because I would not have been able to walk that distance.
When we wanted to pay for the parking, it turned out the machine did not accept bank notes, but it would accept only coins, so Julia was forced to change some money into coins to be able to pay the full amount of 8 Euros.
And when we finally reached the exit of the parking lot with our expensive ticket, the exit gate was wide open: The technicians had switched it of because of the problems with the payment machine. If we had known that, we would not have had to pay at all!
The drive back home was a real torture. The traffic information on the radio said it was a very quiet day, with hardly any traffic jam, but apparently that did not go for the A2 from Amsterdam to Eindhoven. We were in the traffic jam all the way. And I could not find an acceptable way to sit. Every position hurt. After the big operation I had gotten a lot of morphine and I had to stay in bed, but now they had just sent me off, without even giving me a paracetamol for the road.
Labels: medical
2007-12-01
Another TS marriage bites the dust
Today Julia had to work at the cash register on the T&T-evening. And for me, after skipping last month's T&T, it was high time to go have a look again too.
It was a pleasant surprise to see the ex-wife of one of our members again. When her spouse had come to the final conclusion to transition completely to life as a woman, she wanted a divorce. And I was expecting we would never see her on a T&T-meeting again. But it turns out she still wants to come. She was there together with her ex-partner and her new friend. Clearly she is not angry with everything that has to do with transsexualism, even though she lost her husband.
I also met a friend from Rotterdam with whom I have often worked behind the bar. She will get her operation soon too, in Thailand. But why in Thailand? Is it taking too long to wait for your turn at the VU? Yes, that too. But she does not like the VU at all. She gets her psychological help from Tanja van Hengel and she likes that much better than the help we get at the VU.
She may be right. I has become clear to me that the psychologists at the VU do nothing else than guard the access to the medical treatment. After my operation I have not heard a single word from my psychologist, even though a little help in finding your way in your new life would not be a bad idea at all...
We saw a young lady who was enjoying herself very much. She was dancing great and was involved in conversations all the time. We were wondering what she was doing at a T&T-evening. Surely she was not a transsexual? If she was, we could not detect it, there was no sign of it at all. So we asked her. And guess what? She really was a transsexual. 32 years old now and had her operation done 10 years ago. We were really impressed. She has no problem at all to function as a normal woman in out society, nobody ever doubts about her past. Always great to see such a succesfull transition!
Previous T&T-evenings: October 2007, October 2006, September 2006, August 2006, July 2006, June 2006, May, April, March, February, January, December, November, October, September, July 2005, June 2005, May 2005, April 2005, March 2005, February 2005, January 2005, December 2004, November 2004, October 2004, September 2004, August 2004, July 2004, June 2004, May 2004 and April 2004.
It was a pleasant surprise to see the ex-wife of one of our members again. When her spouse had come to the final conclusion to transition completely to life as a woman, she wanted a divorce. And I was expecting we would never see her on a T&T-meeting again. But it turns out she still wants to come. She was there together with her ex-partner and her new friend. Clearly she is not angry with everything that has to do with transsexualism, even though she lost her husband.
I also met a friend from Rotterdam with whom I have often worked behind the bar. She will get her operation soon too, in Thailand. But why in Thailand? Is it taking too long to wait for your turn at the VU? Yes, that too. But she does not like the VU at all. She gets her psychological help from Tanja van Hengel and she likes that much better than the help we get at the VU.
She may be right. I has become clear to me that the psychologists at the VU do nothing else than guard the access to the medical treatment. After my operation I have not heard a single word from my psychologist, even though a little help in finding your way in your new life would not be a bad idea at all...
We saw a young lady who was enjoying herself very much. She was dancing great and was involved in conversations all the time. We were wondering what she was doing at a T&T-evening. Surely she was not a transsexual? If she was, we could not detect it, there was no sign of it at all. So we asked her. And guess what? She really was a transsexual. 32 years old now and had her operation done 10 years ago. We were really impressed. She has no problem at all to function as a normal woman in out society, nobody ever doubts about her past. Always great to see such a succesfull transition!
Previous T&T-evenings: October 2007, October 2006, September 2006, August 2006, July 2006, June 2006, May, April, March, February, January, December, November, October, September, July 2005, June 2005, May 2005, April 2005, March 2005, February 2005, January 2005, December 2004, November 2004, October 2004, September 2004, August 2004, July 2004, June 2004, May 2004 and April 2004.
Labels: TandT
© 1985-2006 E.G. Snel
