THE YEAR OF THE SURGERY (PART I)

                During the last ten years of our relationship, Ashley and I have found ourselves having certain big themes to particular years.  For instance we had “The Year of Europe,” where we planned our two week trip to England, France and Germany, and of course three years ago was “The Year of the Wedding.”  In a few days when it turns October 1^st, it will be the one year anniversary of when my wife had her gender confirmation surgery, also known as sex change operation.  Starting in 2013 and continuing for the first months of 2014, became known as “The Year of the Surgery.” 

                Ashley is a transwoman and for five years she had been trying to raise the money needed for her gender confirmation surgery, which is around twenty thousand dollars.  She tried to raise the funds through various fundraisers such as art show to rummage sales and this objective is one focus of her documentary, Making the Cut, which is now in the editing process.  We were finally able to afford the operation partially due to the donations, but a huge portion came from her mother, Barb, and through a loan we were granted.  Ashley decided to have the surgery in Pennsylvania, performed by Dr. Christine McGinn, who is also a transwoman.  There are small group of surgeons in the U.S. who perform the operation and Ashley had heard good reviews of Dr. McGinn.   

                The months leading up to the operation we had to figure out where we were going to stay for around two weeks, transportation, and many other factors.  Ashley had to get laser hair removal to prepare for her surgery and go off her hormones a few weeks prior to the operation.  I remember about a month or so before the operation she had gone to her primary doctor for a check-up and they had to send her results to Dr. McGinn.  Ashley’s blood work showed that her white blood cell count was low and that she may be coming down with a cold.  If Ash’s blood count did not improve, there was the possibility that we would have to push back the date of the operation.  This made both of us very nervous, because the tickets, hotels, and vacation time off from work were already set.  We really did not want to move the date, but also she was having a major operation and we did not want to risk her health.  Luckily, her next blood-test showed  that her white blood cell count was now normal. 

                On September 29^th, 2013 we woke up very early to head to the airport for a 7am flight that would take us to Pennsylvania.  Our friend, Sean, who is a part of the documentary film crew, joined us on that flight.  He was coming along to help film for the first few days prior and after the actual operation.  We flew into Philadelphia, walking the streets in search of a juice bar, since Ashley was now on a liquid diet.  Later that afternoon, we would be joined by Barb, Ashley’s mom, who would stay with us for the entire trip.  However, for the moment the we decided to visit the Mutter Museum.  Which is filled with medical oddities from tallest skeleton on display in North American to nine-foot long human colon.  Reflecting now, it seems odd we decided to visit a place filled with strange medical specimens, when Ashley was only days away from going under the knife.  Our final stop as tourists was to the Philadelphia Art Museum, here’s a picture of Ashley running up the “Rocky Steps,” this would also be the last time she would be sprinting up anything for months.