Part 2: More "That happens."

Dear Reader,

As I wrote last time, “I’m back on line” in more ways than one, after some time off to heal. I promised to post the events of March 21st – March 30th in three parts. This part is part 2 and it contains some graphic descriptions that those with weak tummies might find a bit graphic for a place that takes pains to chart the psychological seas of transformation. I tried in as many case as I could to soften the blows, but then again, I made a pact with you waaaaay back at the beginning of our journey together to tell you all to the best of my abilities as a writer and a human. So, I do this with some… adherence to a growing sense of graciousness that I hoping comes with the territory, and so, without further ado… I present Raised by Wolves 21 pt 2

Scottie Jeanette Christine Madden ,Spring, 2017,

PREVIOUSLY ON… Scottie Jeanette has just come through “day zero” the first day of spring of the rest of her life and is surprising everyone, including her surgeon with her blooming radiance…in fact, she’s what some would call “that girl.” (and not in a flattering way) and she’s getting frankly, little annoying…

OPENING TITLES IN, READ: “Part 2 More That happens.”
I am starting to levitate in my very bed. The smell of fresh flowers and bouquet of balloons have taken hold of each cheek and stretch mouth into a pepsodent smile… Mylove has just deftly origami’d her fold-out bed from what is supposed to be a chair and stands over me to kiss me good night.  She brushes the hair from my eyes… God, she is beautiful… She kisses me deepy and settles into her… nest, as I turn out the light.
The chime of my cellphone lets me know that I’ve received a text,… I look to my cell and see that My big Sister Alexandra Billings has checked in on me, and I read aloud for us both to hear:

“So much stardust and history rain on to you today. You move into a newness that is alive and glorious. Although it is filled with the unknown, there are discernible and recognizable parts to it. The fact that you are living in the center of what's possible has been with us since Time breathed in its first space. And so the courage of who have always been rests in the knowledge of where you're absolutely headed. That is close to you. Your courage to run into the fire; to blaze across the sun and to leave a trail of compassion and brilliance in your wake. When you do this, and when you do it out loud, others receive it and are reminded. No matter what the transition, they are saved by you.

 I love you Angel.

GO!” 

Okay… so, it’s one thing when you feel these things in your head and heart… quite another when someone says them about you. It seems so much more, I dunno, tangible?  I know, I know, we’re supposed to be self-reliant strong women, who do not require outside validation… still, her descriptions are waaaaay better than I would ever allow myself to use for myself. They carry substance. They have… an effect.
I drift off to sleep, with day zero in the books…

But my status as the star blazing across the sun is short-lived.
The next day comes and I'm even more radiant as the effects of the anesthesia are wearing off. Today's task is to take me off of the intravenous pump for pain meds. Not sure how I feel about this. I've actually grown fond of the fact that I can push a button and feel pain-free instantly. In fact, I will confess that I have actually figured out (by counting beats of the pump) the minimum wait time that allows me to push it again and get another dose. My goal is to get maximum doses in the two hours I have left, before they're going to take it away.

I said I was blissed out I did not say that I was not in pain.

I make a note to look at this aspect of my character later...

The first couple of doses of oral hydrocodone seem to be OK and so is my appetite. The hospital food isn't really all that bad - a nice fillet of salmon, some green beans and green salad what's not to love? And they are getting me as many Italian ices as I can eat, which brings me back to my grandmother's stoop in Brooklyn one summer when I was a child...which is actually happening a lot today. I'm tapping into a lot of childhood and teenage and young adult memories. With each one, I connect the dots from then to now, from there to here, and realize... OH MY GOD. Oh. My. God. Oh, my God,  yes it's true...

I've made it. I'm here! Amazing.

And I feel great - which feels like bragging as I hear how the other girls on the floor are doing. And you know me, I'm not one to flaunt what I got…

But that night. It's dark, after midnight, Mylove is asleep in her itsachairitsacouchitsaloungeitsatorturedevice, and she's actually sleeping for the first time in hours… And something is happening...

I can feel that feeling. My nieces call it the "mouth sweats" - that sudden watering of your mouth for a reason that you never wanna even think about. That dreadful feeling that tells you that you're suddenly too far away from any bathroom… Now I have never, ever in my life liked the idea of barfing. I resisted it to the very last possible moment.  I think I would rather be hit by a bus than throw up.

But suddenly I realize I've lost the ability to have a vote in this and I hit the nurses call button…
FREEZE FRAME. I have to back up.  Of the nurses and assistants who have been tending to my every need here, 98% are women.  There have been only two dudes. One, a nurse named Shane and the other an assistant named David. For some reason, David and I must have some karma because I'm relating to him like every dude on every team I've ever played. I still have the muscle memory of how to speak “dude." And for every shot across my bow, I return fire in kind. In other words, we have a lot of snappy banter (I said snappy, not witty). Mylove is the first to notice this give-and-take, and she asks me what (the heck) I’m doing. Like I said, it’s my muscle memory and I thought I was just reacting to things he said, but the fact that I use words like "return fire" to describe this needs to be looked at.

I don't know why David's firing at me in the first place. Actually, if I think about it, I do know why he's doing it. It's how dudes relate to the world, and this world “in partic,” which is one of the top places for GCS in the world is all about women.  It's so all about women that that's all there is in the surgical ward. My surgical team was 100% women. Many of Dr. Ley’s office staff visited me every day. The office staff is 99% women with the exception of the man whose name and reputation is the head of the practice, Dr.Toby Meltzer. Yes, David and Shane are outnumbered and are involved in a world of all women, all the time. So, as professional as they both are, Shane cloaks himself in crisp professional confidence, while David chooses instead a benign “trash talk” as his idea of bedside manner.

But I have no idea why I am relating to him in the way that I am. It's as if I sense his “fishoutofwateryness" (what? It’s a term, look it up), and I'm trying to put him at ease by returning fire. I'm not cutting him any slack. And he's not cutting me any either. Our banter has an edge like a pick up street basketball game. it's competitive, it's fast and you're never gonna let your opponent see you sweat...

But it's just about to backfire on me as my mouth sweats and my stomach churns and I stab the nurse call button and...

it rings and rings and rings and finally David answers but instead of asking what I need, or even why I called, David uses this opportunity to get a couple of jabs in, because that's what we do…
And as I try to squeak out the words, "David. Nauseous," for fear of what will happen when I keep my mouth open too long… but It happens anyway.

And I cover the call button, and I cover my bed, and I cover the floor…

... and it keeps on coming, and coming, and coming.  Mylove is up instantly from a sound sleep, but I've created a moat that she can't cross. She fumbles to get the lights on, and finally David comes into the room with Shane the nurse (it’s dude night) and they see what I was trying to say over the intercomm -- a tsunami of my day's worth of food and drink.

I stare at David. He reassures me - he's got this, I can go back to sleep… He does smile sheepishly as he disinfects... well, everything. Our banter has no place here...

It’s a rough night, and the next day, I’m down a few pegs, both emotionally and physically, my comet streak may have gotten eclipsed by the dark side of the moon… but not for long.
Because for the next few days I've got a job to do, and I need to get serious. it's all about healing doncha know, come day six, my life will change dramatically… again. The packing will come out, the bandages will come off, and I begin "physical therapy."

So Mylove and I get up every morning and walk through the town of Scottsdale now Scotties-
Dale. It is for all intents and purposes almost like a vacation, except that I have to be back every three hours to the hospital (rules), but it's a sweet time for Mylove and me. And we really have nothing to do except get some fresh air and then go back to the hospital to find a new bouquet of flowers waiting for us.

A quick note on that: it seems many of our friends have been waiting and planning for this time as well - our room is filled with bouquets of flowers and the balloons and a teddy bear and cards and well wishes all celebrating "it's a girl!" It makes me smile, and it makes all of the nurses and assistants on the floor stop by our room just for a whiff of the amazingly beautiful fragrance of love, acceptance, and support. So much so, that one of the assistants, Amy, comes in after five days of this with yet another bouquet and says, "you are killing me with these flowers!"
Everyone on the floor agrees, they have never seen so much love in one room.

I'm not the first girl to go thru this experience with this team. I am Dr. Ley's 44th since January. And Dr. Meltzer has been doing this for over 20 years. To say they got this down is an understatement - it's a 10 day regimen that counts your surgery as day zero. Each morning a nurse comes in and writes on the white board that day's "job."

And they are serious. Days 1-5 have simple tasks of healing and walking but on Day 5, Charlotte, my day nurse, gave me the pep talk for day 6 (I guess i needed a day to process it?), drawing on the whiteboard a crude drawing that would make every 7^th grade boy titter with glee, of me with my legs spread like a porn star. In the newly created sacred area between my legs (which Weezie has dubbed the “Pristine Vagene”), Charlotte drew on the area a wide black oval and looked at me like a Sex Ed teacher, drawing a “black circle” for each as she says, "Scottie... there are four holes: your clitoris, urethra, vagina, and anus. Got it?  Wipe from front to back always! And don't wipe - pat, pat, pat. Any questions?"

As a matter of fact. Um.., yes.

I never thought of it before, but why did God but the ladies’ room in the middle of the playground? (This could be evidence that God is a man - guys never think these things thru, on the other hand, it cold prove that God is a woman, making the restroom centrally located, and never to far from anywhere…) I mused aloud this essential question as Charlotte left the room. Mylove stared at me blankly. She had nothing, smiling with amused dismissal, a certain "they're so cute when they're little," kinda thingy.

But whatever. Right now all I know is that I'm the mummy down there, but tomorrow's the big day... the big reveal and it starts early!  

I don't sleep a wink - It’s like Christmas and blessedly it’s finally morning. Meg, Dr. Ley's head nurse, has given word she's thirty minutes out. That's Meg, my big sister, efficient, together and "on it."
I stare at the yellow-brown rubber tube that flops out of the square of surgical tape that hides my... me. The me I've only dreamed, prayed, screamed and cried for, for over fifty FREAKING YEARS...
And then Meg is in my room - without a sound, she's standing over me with huge smile and my bed starts rising up like Young Frankenstein toward the sky, so Meg doesn't have to stoop to get to work. She winks at me, "you ready for this, Miss Scottie?" I realize I'm not breathing.
Meg tells me to use my "lady blow" - which, I learned is the magical connection between putting my lips together and blowing and the moving of muscles that open my vjay-jay,… (I know, right?) I follow her instructions...  and she gently yanks the square of tape off from my abdomen and, as I wince from the warm sting of the tape's protest, Meg starts to pull the packing that has held my new vagina open and in shape - and it's just like a magician pulling endless scarves from a top hat... Then she says, "blow out your birthday candles, Honey." And as I blow, she pulls the last of the packing and I feel like I'm turning inside out with her last tug... I'm blinded by a sensation that seems to light up my entire body with white hot electricity...

As I return to my body (timidly) and open my eyes, Meg smiles and says the last bit is always... interesting.

So is that what the kids are calling it these days?
Interesting.'

Meg hands me a mirror… It’s time. As I reach for it a lifetime of inevitable rises on my horizon, brilliant rays spear the lingering mists of dysphoria. The last clouds of a storm that passed forever just six days ago. The spring breeze of the bloom of my life left fills my heart, my mind… and now, miraculously, even my own body. My fingers wrap like new shoots around the handle as I look to Mylove. She nods, “it’s time.”

Time.

Time to see just what inevitable looks like.

Next time: The Conclusion of "Well, that happened."