Will I ever start an entry without the words "It's been an interesting week.."? Perhaps not for a while, I imagine things will continue to be "interesting" for some time to come.
On Tuesday afternoon I had an appointment with Dr Abuzeni, the surgeon who had spoken at the Tri-Ess meeting in February. His office was quiet swish, though I was the only person there at that time. I felt much more relaxed than during the previous consultations because I had met the doctor previously, he knew my situation and he wasn't racing out the door to his next appointment. We talked for a fair while and he examined what little there was to work with specifically mentioning a bump I have on my chest, and the potential effects it may have on symmetry, something no previous doctor had done.
After about an hour I was handed over to the assistant to discuss costs and dates, and this is where I received the minor surprise. The price was listed as $4950, but $300 less if you book during your consultation. This left me anxiously soul-searching for 5 minutes, until I decided that well, it was time to bite the bullet. I liked the doctor, his trans-umbilical method should hopefully leave me scar free, and importantly it was not significantly more expensive than the previous quotes I had received. I put down the deposit and a tentative date of June 28th, but it may well be that I will shift this into July, so that I can be paid at the end of June.
After this I did the logical thing, I went home and panicked.
For several reasons I suppose. I've never put so much money into one purchase before, I felt worried that I had caved in to pressure to commit, and I was scared that one of my dreams was actually now on a timetable. However panicking like that is a defensive reaction I have in a lot of circumstances, a question of "Did I think of every angle and possibility?". As it is, I know that I'm usually a fairly methodical person who tries to cover all her bases, I had four other consultations, I wonder how many other people shopped around to this extent before committing?
By now however I feel much more relaxed, since I've had a chance to sit down and think of what needs to be done and how I'll approach it all.
The weekend is almost over, time to enjoy the last little amount of freedom before what is certain to be another grueling week. The weekend fortunately turned out to be nicer than I expected.
Saturday I went rollerblading to work, then came home and chatted to Allison for two hours. After that it was back to work again, where I was doing some research on my surgeon, I was a little disturbed to find out he's been to court several times, the latest case only being resolved in early March. I printed the pages off and took them to the Tri-Ess meeting to talk to Barbara-Anne about it as she is on the medical malpractice board for Miami, and said not to get too excited, since many surgeons get sued, particularly those in aesthetic surgery. This calmed me down a fair bit which I needed.
The night at Tri-Ess was also interesting. It was a small group with a few lesbians from "Project Yes" an outreach program for queer youth. I cringed somewhat terribly because it was a video night with the movie "Just like a woman" which read like a hetero CD's fantasy, i.e. not something I identify or want to be identified with. However after the meeting, I was talking with one of the girls Nina, and so we went for a drink and chatted away for 2 beers and about 2.5 hours. She was a lot of fun to talk to, and had an interesting background of growing up in North Dakota and going to University in Utah. I got home around 1 am, after having had a really nice time.
Today was rather laid back, I woke up late and read the paper before going into Uni to check email. After getting rather bored there I came home, talked to Allison, had a nap and then went 'blading. After falling over and grazing my elbow I came home for another nap before returning to the lab to check email and get involved in a discussion over stealth vs. being out. This seems to come up every few weeks on the Antijen-Adult list, with my opinion being skewed towards the "give back what you got out" version of how things should be. Rather ironically, in my case having had no real support group except for that of close friends like the two Peta's, I humbly consider myself somewhat more "self-made" than people who had a swathe of resources/support to choose from, such as in Seattle, LA or New York.
I can hardly wait as I look at the calendar, only 12 days to go until I get to escape. :) I'm sure that if I had more holding me here in Miami, I might be a little less excited, but knowing that I'll get to see my friends, family and girlfriend (none of whom are here in Miami), will be a big relief. Also, when I get back again at the start of May, I'll have exactly 6 months left on my contract, with my surgery scheduled not too far along either.
Things will continue to stay interesting I am sure.