Janury 18, 2011
This was the day I was finally allowed to take a shower. Since it had only been a week, I was very nervous about my chest. The xeroform on my right nipple didn't come off with the gauze like it had on my left one, so I decided to just leave it alone. I was instructed by Dr Garramone to keep my back to the water and let it just run over my chest, as facing the shower could destroy my nipple grafts. When he said let the water run, I had assumed that meant that a bit of water here and there wouldn't be the end of the world, but don't get it drenched. Thankfully, Olex had to help me and he had control of the shower head. If I had been alone, I probably wouldn't even let my back get wet. But the water flowed down my chest from my shoulders and all was well. And surprisingly the xeroform stayed on my nipple! All the more reason in my mind not to touch it!
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Having read transition diaries and watched videos online, I have yet to come across anyone who will say the following: it is gross and scary to dry your nipples after the first shower. I patted my chest dry and my nipples were gooey and bloody (I've since called the nipple healing process, "the gooey stage"). I felt terrible for whoever was in charge of laundry at the hotel. After drying my chest, I got another towel to dry my hair and shoulders and everything below the tape on my incisions. Doing it in this order helped keep my chest dry.
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Something I noticed as I was drying off was just how swollen the anasthesia had made my whole body. Not that I'm a twig or in super terrific shape, but it caught me by surprise at how distended everything was. After a couple more days my body settled down.
A while later, Olex and I headed to the airport to go back to Boston. Security getting from Boston to Fort Lauderdale had been surprisingly really quick and easy, but this time I had to be escorted for a manual pat-down. I had a note from Dr Garramone instructing TSA agents not to touch my chest or make me raise my arms above my head and they needed to ask me questions. I was honest about my "situation" and they called over their supervisor to ask what they could do to thoroughly search me without touching my chest. She paused for a second and asked them to ask if I could touch my chest. So yeah, I felt myself up while they watched :-P As Olex helped me get my stuff together, one of the agents shook my hand and said something like, "Keep on being you, man!" which confused me. I had said that I had chest reconstruction surgery but didn't say outwardly that I'm trans. I was very amused and relieved and grateful that my experience was so positive.
Olex's wife met us at the airport when we landed in Boston and she had brought me some homemade food in case I wouldn't be up to cooking for a couple days! We grabbed a cab back to my apartment so Olex could help me get settled, and then we all hugged before they left. I love Olex dearly, but as an introvert I was very happy to be back in my space by myself.
Very soon after I got home, the overly-baggy shirts I had brought with me to Florida were donated to Goodwill.