:: Two cool ::

:: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 ::

17th March Sunday

Appointment with Dr.Sukit (the plastic surgeon) is at 10am. We arrived at the hospital at approximately 10am itself. The hospital looks better and bigger than i expected.. Jay told me it's a new building (the old building is still around but some distance away) The staff are mostly young ladies... It's more like a large beauty centre coz they have all kinds of services! basically u can fix any part of ur body! LOL. I registered myself at de ground floor.. then was directed to the 4th floor, where the Plastic Surgery Division is. There, the nurses took my weight and blood pressure. and then they asked me what surgery do i want to do. They can speak very little english.. so at first i didn't know what they were asking. they pointed to the face, thinkin i wanna fix my face?! anyway, i pointed back to my chest.. and they said 'oh, sex change?' i was like..er..ya ya. next she gave me the confuse look and ask 'woman to man? man to woman?' i answered it's de first one she said. she was even more confuse coz she thought i was a mtf!? geez. LOL. in de end, she got the message after another nurse cleared it up. Then i was told that Dr.Sukit is in the middle of an operation. While we wait for him, we toured around de hospital. :) About an hour plus later, Dr.Sukit is back. He's kinda young, maybe in mid 30s.. Skinny guy with glasses. He speaks rather good English for a thai. We showed me some pictures of top and lower surgery and then arrange me to consult the gynae, Dr.Visut regarding the hysto. Next we head to the gynae department. Waited again for about 20mins for Dr.Visut. He looks a little older than dr.sukit, bigger build and speaks english with a weird tone. heheheheh. During de consultation he asked me many times is i was sure.. Of coz, i was sure. He then explained what will be done and checked me... (need to measure the depth of de uterus??!!!) the experience was painful. :( hate dat feeling of being poked there! damn. Anyway, after check-up, he made arrangment with Dr.Sukit to perform the surgeries the very afternoon. Surgery is scheduled at 2.30pm. Starting with de top and den the hysterectomy. Next i was directed to my ward 1817 on the 8th floor. I was lucky that the 1st nurse who attended to me (her name is Lot) speaks Cantonese! she worked in Hongkong for a year before.. She gave me de robe to change to immediately and then some other nurses gave me the glucose... while she shaves my chest and abdomen. Shave till it's damn smooth.. like baby skin! hahahahah. Right after that, i kissed my baby and then was wheeled to the operating room. The operating room is damn cold.. i was shivering. The nurses strapped my hand like i was on the cross. And the last thing i remember her telling me is that she's giving me the oxygen. And dat's it.... 6hours after i was wheeled in, i was brought back to my ward. I can vaguely remember what i happened. I only remember having a glance at Amy and her poor little worried tears.. and someone shoved a plastic bag filled with what i believed was my ovaries in front of me. I couldn't see properly... vision still very blur. According to Amy, i was screamin in pain. and the nurses then gave me injections which she thinks are painkillers. I went back to sleep right after that. Had slight fever but it was off later. The nurses walk in and out of the ward every hour to check on me until the next day. Poor Amy didn't get to sleep properlie as the sofa is placed near to the door.

18th March Monday
I didn't feel any pain at my abdomen. but my top ache a little. There was a slight swelling at my chest. But the pain was caused by the pressure of the bandage. Dr.sukit then loosen it and i felt better. I got to take a little peek of my chest. Looks good.. :) I was not allowed to eat or drink still. Was feeling damn thirsty and my lips were damn dry already. Good thing the nurses let me gargle and refresh myself. I'm still on the bed, with bedsore.. my back was aching more than anywhere else. i have drains on my chest and a urine catherer which limits my movement. Besides, both my chest and abdomen feel stiff and numb... However, amazingly i didn't vomit nor did i feel nausea at all. Amy watched over me de whole day... I've been sleeping most of the time and can't remember what else i did! Just felt weak and didn't want to move a wee bit.. of coz, didn't have the strength to talk much. Jay came over to visit me at night after his work. He was kind to buy snacks for Amy.. and spent the night chatting with Amy.. .

19th March Tuesday
I got to see my chest for the first time! It looks gooood! The nurses also commented dat de doctor did a very good job this time. ehhehehehehe But tis day is one of the most painful one.. Coz the drains were removed. and damn.. de feeling was sharppppp! Dr.Sukit tell me to move my arms more. I also had my first step to the washroom today.. Finally brush my teeth after so many days! hahahahahah. Spend de day watching tv.. and yeap, got to take solid food today. The hospital food didn't look nor taste like hospital food. Almost every meal, there's an appetizer(most of de time mushroom or corn soup), main course(from pork chop to spaghetti), salad, fruits and orange juice. Occasionally there'll be additional sandwiches. Seems like good food eh? yea, kinda of. And most of de time, de food were enough for the both of us to share! Tho i've long to eat after fasting for so long... i didn't have much appetite. and de worst thing is dat i've got gastric pains.. Dr.Sukit thought i was fasting for too long. but Dr.Visut said it could be one of de medicine and will monitor till tomorrow.. They started giving me gastric medicine. Amy didn't have good sleep still. Nurses come in every morning at 5.30am to check blood pressure and temperature. Then at about 6.00am the assistant head nurse will come with two nurses accompanying her, asking me 'Mr.Chin, how are you feeling today?', then i'll say 'Good. But a little bit stomach pain'. Then she'll say 'Okay, rest well, see you tomorrow'. hahahaha. this went on every other morning! The cleaner will come at 6.30am. Breakfast comes in at 7.30am. Dr.Sukit usually comes around 8-9am. Lunch is at 11am! At 2pm, tea-time is served. Dinner served at 4.30pm! Dr. Visut comes in at about 8pm. Jay came again.. tomorrow will be his turn on de hospital bed at Preecha's. I tried to introduce a nurse to him. hahahahah her name's Yom. he was too shy to say sumthin. LOL.

20th March Wednesday
de urine catherer was removed by de nurse. still feel a little awkward having de nurse 'LOOk' carefully at my lower part. peeing and shitting was not a prb after taking out de catherer. i thought it's gonna be damn painful after being warned by a friend. phewww! good thing it's not as bad as i imagined it to be. i remember asking Amy to stand next to me while i pee and held her hands. but geez, there was no pain at all! hehehehe. however, i started bleeding a little later dat day (like menses).. and de nurse put on de stoopid old fashion pad for me. eeeekkkk! Spent the day watching StarMovies on Tv. and reading my book 'As Nature Made Him'. a lot about Money's research on intersex. he and his stoopid theories. Nurse thought us how to say 'Thank you' and 'You're Welcome' in thai - KoPunKap(thank you) and Popenyang(you're welcome-more like 'don't mention it') hehehehe. ohyea, Dr.SUkit sent the psychiatrist here today to review me. her english wasn't very good. so we both had a pretty hard time communicating. i didn't understand some of her questions. She wanted me to tell her about my life story. gawd, i have no idea where to start coz once i start talking more, she'll be even more confused! anyway, de 'session' was rather short. only about 20 questions and dat's it. i think she just need to see if i'm mentally stable. of coz i am.. just a bit way too happy!

21th March Thursday
The nurses still clean me up and it's quite weird to have someone to wipe my WHOLE body for me.. and it got weirder as i felt better each day. They do it twice a day. I've been wearing a sarong for the past few days. Today they changed my 'uniform' to pants! hehehe. I'm still having the gastric and it was killing me man... Told Dr.Visut about it and he changed my medicine. Right away i felt better. Nurses commented that i look 'MAN'. huh???? hahaha anyway, due to de communication prb, i think wat they actuallie meant was i do look like a boy?! And yeap, the nurse also commented my hairy legs! dat's unavoidable. hahahahaha. Amy had some infection or something on her lips today. Seems kinda bad.. painful and swollen. Since we're already in de hospital, we head downstairs for the doctor. The pharmarcist then gave her medicine. As he explained that the lozenges will dissolved in de mouth, he said 'Dissolved in de mount'! hehehehe. note dat it's not a typo error. they reallie think mouth is pronounced and spelled as 'mount'. As i felt better that day, i decided to go to de dermatologist for a face wash! It's called Iontophoresis(i think dat's how it's spelled). The nurse massage my face with some electro tube.. It's quite painful, prickly kinda feeling esp. at where there are pimples! She uses Vitamin A and C to clear de toxic. hhmm.. anyway, de dermatologist did mention dat this is suppose to be a repeat treatment. One time is not enough... i just wanted to try.. it cost only 400baht (about S$20). In de evening, we went to the park which is located on de 5th floor. Meet up with Lot, the first nurse who spoke Cantonese (she's actually from Ward 5B- de public ward). Took some pictures at the so-called park. It's windy there.. good place to read our books. But it was kinda late already.. Time for dinner. The top bandage kept getting loose and coming off! Kinda sick of rolling it on and off. Doc say i'll hafta wear it till Monday. danggg.. .

22nd March Friday
Wahhh... can't wait to be discharge tomorrow! I feel like going shopping already! kekekekeke. I'm reallie getting sick of sleeping. But angie just yearrnnnn to have a good sleep. We both can't wait to check in to de hotel tomorrow..to de soft and comfy bed! hahahahaha. The nurse took out de stitches on my nipples. No pain at all. My chest felt numb... certain parts, it felt like it had a bruise (blue-black) but no major pain. My lower.. still no feel. I feel damn energetic today. Feel like going to de dentist! hahaha. but didn't wanna overspent my money in de hospitaL! ohyea, the international division representative visits me everyday at my ward.. for what? i don't know! lol.

23rd March Saturday
yeahoooo! de day we've been waiting for! i dressed up and waited for the doctors to come! took picture with Dr.Visut. but didn't get to see Dr.Sukit. too bad. Nurse changed de dressing for my abdomen. No stitches so de next dressing will last me another week and it can be removed after dat. Dr.Visut did a good job on de scarring part. THe scar is thin and fine.. When my pub hair grow, de scar will definitely be camouflage! He used de dissolving stitches and according to him, he stitched from de inside! err.. how is dat possible? i don't know! Anyway, we took some pictures, say our goodbyes.. and left the hospital at about 3pm! Lot, de Cantonese nurse again.. She went to de hotel with us... coz she's gonna bring us shopping! hehehehehe. very nice of her. Later, we meet up with jay in de hotel.. he checked in as well.. As he rest in de hotel, we went to YaoWarat, the chinatown of bangkok.

24th March Sunday
Another shopping day. Slight pain. Still cannot bathe yet. Feel damn dirty. I'm not wearing de top bandage already btw. Getting ready to leave tomorrow morning. hhmmm..

25th March Monday
Back to Spore finally feeling happy and broke! hahahahaha.

That's about all on my trip, focus mainly on my hospitalisation days. Overall, my stay in de hospital was pleasant and i'm very happy with the results so far. except that i think i might go back to the hospital again to resize my nipples. hhhmm... i knoe it seem a bit weird for some of you. but dat's life. no worries, i'm still de same person as i was before de surgeries.. just much happier now. i've told my boss about me and he's got de most positive response i ever expected. i've yet to tell my parents. so dat's one challenge dat i'll hafta face now. i told boss dat i don't expect ppl to accept me. but he said, 'if they don't accept, they're not worth knowing'. hhhmmm... okie, now here's a step ahead. i'm prepared to continue my journey. :) i'm thankful dat i had someone as loving and caring as Amy next to me thorough all these. thanks baby! i'm also sorry dat angie actually lost a damn good job opportunity while on de trip with me. it was her dream job and bcoz of me, she lost it. i still feel bad and there's no way i can make dat up for her.




for medical information, the surgeries i had was peri-aeroelar incision mastectomy and total-hysterectomy-bilateral-salpingo-oopherectomy (THBSO) through abdominal opening (apprx.4inches). the mastectomy cost me USD1500 and de THBSO was USD$1200. hospitalisation fee, medicines, general anesthesia included. my weight before surgery is 42.6kg. after surgery is 41kg. for de guys dat wanna know more in details about my experience, we can meet up and i'll gladly tell u more.


thanks for reading. as u can see, my story gets shorter each day.. coz i'm not de journal kind of person. and my grammar sucks. just wanna get this going. de sad thing is dat i only realised dat i can film everything in my ward on my last day in de hospital. if i had known earlier, i would have got everything on film instead. :(*

and ooops. i had to add this last sentence coz i think many of you doesn't know. i've stopped smoking eversince 1st feb. only 2 months of nicotine-free but it's sorta good beginning, after being on ciggies for the past 6-7years. first reason to quit is for better healing prior to surgery. second reason is dat i just lose an uncle due to lung cancer(he was a smoker all his life). although i'm still very tempted to get a little puff, i hope i can still hold on tight to my will till de day i can stop counting de days i'm smoke-free and save my bloody lungs!

Please note:
Certain names have been changed...
Taken from a friend's personal journal



:: CG 6:18 PM [+] ::
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