A Quick Update

My recovery is going better and better every day. Dilation is getting less uncomfortable. I think I'm ready to move up a size on the dilators today. Yesterday, I had a check-up with my endocrinologist/general practitioner, Dr. Baker, and afterwards I stopped by the office for lunch and to visit with people. I'm getting around pretty well now, and I'm barely taking any painkillers. I should be able to get out for walks now. Big improvements. In three months, I get my first gynecological exam, and a chance for Dr. Baker to check out Dr. McGinn's handiwork. I think he'll be pleased with what he sees.

Starting next week, I think I'll start working on some projects around the house, as allowed within my rigorous dilation schedule (6x per day for the first 2 months). Gardening and painting, mostly. I'm not sure how much of a pain that's going to be, what with being in a near-constant state of preparing for or cleaning up after household chores and dilation. I guess we'll see. I can't wait until I can get out and run again, but that's still a few more weeks away. At least I can walk, almost sort of bend over, and sleep on my side again. Last night, I slept almost 9 hours straight for the first time in weeks. I'd have slept longer, but Alison called me and woke me up at 8:30. She's doing well, too. She's planning to go out shopping tomorrow. She's back here in 4 days. Can't wait to see her.

This is the point in the recovery where it feels like everything I just went through is starting to pay off. Things are going well, and there's no major discomfort or pain. If I hadn't already written extensively about the past two weeks, I'd probably tell people in retrospect that it wasn't all that bad. Memory works funny. In the end, though, it was difficult and painful but worth it. At least I think it's worth it. I'll know for sure in about 30 or 40 years. And even if it wasn't, I guess it was just something I felt like I had to do. So I did it, and here I am, and I'll deal with whatever comes next. So far, so good.

Right now, all I've got to deal with is the drudgery of the aftercare and feeling like I'm cooped up in the house. I was practically a shut-in for years before I transitioned, though, and I've always excelled at tedious, repetitive tasks. I've made a career of it, even. This won't be a problem for me.

I don't feel all that different (I mean except that I feel sore and kind of swollen), but I wasn't expecting to, either. I don't have any regrets, despite the ordeal I just went through, and I'm glad I did it.

There is the finality of the thing, though. Not so much a regret as a realization: there's no going back now. Only forward. Wherever that takes me. Good.

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Side note: I'm glad the new slash polls are such a big hit. Nearly 29 of you voted in the last one, and 50% of those polled said that the slash polls rock (or possibly that you like cats -- it's hard to interpret the results of these polls). I only added a poll to the top of my blog in the first place when I wanted to sort of keep track of how many people had visited (before I figured out how to add a hit counter). This new format allows you to convey twice as much information per click. I think it's going to revolutionize polling as we know it. You keep voting, and I'll keep coming up with useless poll questions and then discarding the data afterwards. That's a promise. I mean, until I get bored with the idea.