Quote from: Steph2.0 on December 05, 2018, 03:02:31 AM
Thank you Jaime! I'm all for pleasant, though I hope this particular journey will be short!


Stephanie

I simply meant to good health, may you have a long and pleasant life. Hopefully your recovery is very short. It sounds like you're in good hands.

On to Monday.

The first part of my day was taken up with pre-surgery consultations. Blood draws, injections, chest X-rays, CT scan of my cranium, and meetings with doctors as they they tried to figure out what to do with my ugly mug. They apparently decided I wasn't completely hopeless, and cut me loose for the rest of the day. I met up with @Paula1, who had just finished up some procedures she outlines in her own thread here, and we went back to the hotel for a nice long lunch, good conversation, and a walk around the beach at the hotel.

The view from our table.


The beach.


My room doesn't face the sea, but it is along the left side where I can see it from the balcony.


The view from the pool and sun deck.


Casual Stephanie.


After retiring to the room, both Paula and I ended up taking naps while Kendra was finishing up business at Facialteam. When she showed up in a beautiful dress, I decided that casual just wasn't going to do for the last fling with my old face, so I got gussied up, too. Off to Paula's hotel and Old-Town Marbella. What an awesome place! We started out with pictures in front of a cool fountain in the middle of town.


Then on to dinner at a cool little hideaway that Paula knew about. Dinner was excellent, though Kendra got a little weird with a souvenir she carries from last time she was here.






We walked through the old parts of town with narrow passageways...


...and hidden plazas. This one is a real treasure: Plaza De Los Naranjas. An orange grove hidden in the middle of town. Incredible!




With my feet about worn out from traipsing through Marbellla in pumps, we returned to the hotel. I had to get ready for my big day at FacialTeam on Tuesday.



Stephanie

Quote from: Jaime320 on December 05, 2018, 12:05:52 PM
I simply meant to good health, may you have a long and pleasant life. Hopefully your recovery is very short. It sounds like you're in good hands.

Thank you Jaime! I knew what you meant. And I, too, believe that I couldn't get better care than here!


Stephanie

And so, on to the main reason for this trip. I'll cover the details in the thread I dedicated to the subject, but here's what happened on Tuesday.

@Liz got GCS.

Oh, and I got FFS.

I took a few last pictures of this old mug with no makeup or adornment, and was ready to go.


FacialTeam sent a cab at 8:15 and I met up with my contact, finished some paperwork, and was shown to my room. I put on the infamous paper hospital gown and really cute but really tight tights (to quote @SassyCassie, "they don't want you playing the Thrombone in the operating room.")

The hair transplant specialist came in and drew a bunch of lines on my head. I think it was a treasure map. Dig here...




Kendra snapped one last picture as I was rolled toward the operating theater. The sun was shining outside just before 9am.


They stuck a needle in my hand (ow ow ow), pushed the plunger, and bye-bye.

I heard someone calling my name (after what I'm told was seven hours) and I sort of realized I was sitting up, but I was still very much in LaLa Land. The hair transplant experts were doing their thing. I was in and out of consciousness for what was apparently 3 hours as they stuck follicles in the front that they'd stolen from the back.

Eventually they rolled me back to the room. It was some time around 7pm and dark outside. I got hooked up to a feeder line, and I felt mostly okay. They came in a little later and hooked up a pain killer. That's when the trouble started. I ended up pretty sick because of what was apparently a bad reaction to their pain killer. They disconnected it, looked worried, said some magic incantations, and eventually things calmed down. But no more of that stuff, please.

They brought me dinner, which I was able to eat, despite the unflavored yogurt we've already discussed. The pain wasn't too bad, the worst being the incision in the back of my head where they took out the strip of scalp to harvest the follicles from. It's not just the incision itself, but the fact that my scalp has been stretched to put the edges back together. I used to be able to move my scalp around, but now it's tight tight tight!

And so, for the record, here's the outcome as soon as I was coherent enough to hold a phone.


And with my first cup of coffee in days.


So, I had my head sliced up yesterday. How was your day?


Stephanie

FacialTeam Second Day.

Not too much to report, really. Fitful night trying to get comfortable and having to take many breaks to spray saline solution on the implants. Breakfast was good, with flavored yogurt(!). Kendra visited for a while, then went off on her own adventure. Various doctors dropped by and waved their hands, dropped drops in my eyes, and changed bags on the drippy thing. I had a nice video chat with @SassyCassie, and eventually I was looked over by the hair transplant doctor, given bags of drugs, and told to get the heck out of their bed. (Just kidding, everyone was awesome.) Back at the room I set the timer for 1/2 hour spraying sessions and started Susaning. Kendra got back from her trip and we ordered dinner. And that, friends, catches me up. More as it happens!


Stephanie

Quote from: Steph2.0 on December 05, 2018, 02:14:03 PM



So, I had my head sliced up yesterday. How was your day?


Stephanie

Steph,

I did this about 18 months ago. I feel your pain. 

Take heart. You will be much lovelier in a few months when the swelling goes down. 

Looking pretty darned good girl not like other FFS early results I've had a close up look at. Are you sure the did the job properly. I can't see any of the typically baseball bat applications.

As Laurie said looking well and not a lot of bruising. XXXXXXX

Quote from: Steph2.0 on December 05, 2018, 02:14:03 PM
And with my first cup of coffee in days.

And that coffee has put the smile back on your face.  Garçon!  Another coffee for the lady!

Looking good, Stephanie!

Well, with nothing else to do except heal, and with Kendra on her way home, I guess I have too much time to think.

When Kendra and I were talking, she said something that really made me think:

"I've lost no one who mattered."

Way back when I first came out I'd quoted something from Doctor Seuss: "Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."

I thought I understood it then, but I think it's taken weeks of time and  thousands of miles of distance away from certain people for me to really get it.

You know that some who initially told me they were supportive turned out to be not so much. When Kendra said that and reminded me of that Doctor Seuss quote, I think it finally got through my thick skull that those who don't get it aren't worth worrying about.

You can't lose a friend. If they abandon you, they weren't a friend to begin with.

You got it Steph! True friends will support you no matter what. Those who wander off were just acquaintences passing through your life!

Love always -- Jessica Rose

Quote from: KathyLauren on December 06, 2018, 07:12:41 AM
And that coffee has put the smile back on your face. Garçon!  Another coffee for the lady!

Looking good, Stephanie!

@Steph2.0
Dear Stephanie:
It is wonderful to see your post-op picture... and that big smile on your face!!! ...
..and a nice hot cup of coffee too!!!

Wishing you a speedy and uncomplicated recovery.
Please keep your updates coming.   

Oh, by the way when are you scheduled to come back home?

Hugs and well wishes,
Danielle

Hi Danielle,

Thanks for the good wishes. Despite the bruising and swelling I think I can see the improvements. This might be worth it after all. I also had something nice just happen. Despite being blocked up and hardly able to talk, when I just called to order dinner I was correctly gendered on the phone. Yays!

I'll head out of Marbella on the 14th, spend one more day in Paris (to calm down those who rioted over Kendra and I leaving), and finally get home on the 17th, with just eight days until Christmas. I guess I'd better do my shopping from here via Amazon...


Stephanie

Quote from: Jessica_Rose on December 06, 2018, 11:45:57 AM
You got it Steph! True friends will support you no matter what. Those who wander off were just acquaintences passing through your life!

That's a really good way of putting it. Maybe those people were in your life for a reason at the time but that time has passed. You're moving on with your life and they choose to stay behind in that past. I guess it happens to all of us at some point - even if it's something as simple as having outgrown your high school friends.

Quote from: Jessica_Rose on December 06, 2018, 11:45:57 AM
You got it Steph! True friends will support you no matter what. Those who wander off were just acquaintences passing through your life!

Love always -- Jessica Rose

This was a really painful lesson to learn, but it is quite true.  I was very surprised at who accepted me, and who rejected me when I came out, but at a distance, yes, it was real friends that stayed with me, and those who rejected me were connected to relatively shallow attributes that I had to discard.

Quote from: Steph2.0 on December 06, 2018, 11:37:25 AM
...from Doctor Seuss: "Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."

Mind over matter?? 

This is too deep for me, but I don't mind. It make no matter to me.

I think, therefore I am confused a lot. 

I got some quarks but have taken charge of my density and keep a positron point of reference.

Morning Stephanie,

Trust you are feeling good this Friday.

I assume you are back at the hotel.

Wow been reading your adventures, awesome 😎.

Wishing I was back in sunny Marbella, here it's cloudy, wet and miserable.

Take care and happy healing.

Hugs

Paula xx

I know I matter until I multiply myself by the speed of light squared. Then I energy.


Stephanie

Quote from: Paula1 on December 07, 2018, 02:47:15 AM
Morning Stephanie,

Trust you are feeling good this Friday.

I assume you are back at the hotel.

Wow been reading your adventures, awesome [emoji41].

Wishing I was back in sunny Marbella, here it's cloudy, wet and miserable.

Take care and happy healing.

Hi Paula!

Feeling good? That term may not apply, but I don't feel that bad, either, all things considered. Sleeping is still hard with that neck pillow. If I lean back too far I put pressure on the incision in the back of my head. Ouch. Plus having to spray the implants every hour. Wakey wakey, time for another spray. Sleeping in one-hour increments doesn't allow for much rest.

But other than that, things improve little by little each day. Breathing through my nose is a little easier today. There's no real pain from my nose, surprisingly. It just feels numb and sometimes a little itchy. Having tape and stitches on my eyelids isn't much fun but I guess I'm getting used to it. And of course the shortened upper lip makes my mouth close differently. That'll take some getting used to.

But I guess you know all of this!

I'm glad you enjoyed our adventures, and took part in one. It was a lot to pack into a very short time. I'll have one more on the way home when I have a day in Paris, but until then I need to take it easy.

I wish you were back here, too. It's kind of lonely here now that Kendra has left. I asked Isabel to give my contact information to any other girls who are staying here, and two of them are being discharged from the hospital today. Maybe I'll be able to find them and have someone to hang out with. I've got another week to go.

The weather may be bad where you are, but at least it's home. This is really nice, but I miss my home and my favorite people.

Stay warm and dry!


Stephanie