Filly's Frolic in the land of Vincenti - with Director's Commentary

During the last Christmas and New Year, I was in hospital with a cavernous hemangioma (a bleed in the brain). It was quite an adventure since it took a while for the doctors to figure out what it was. During that time, I was keeping all my friends informed via SMS and, partly because I was getting bored in hospital and partly because my mind works in weird ways, the messages started getting more and more "creative". I decided that I would keep them for posterity and I would share them for everyone to enjoy. So I now present to you, Filly's Frolics in the land of Vincent. (It's a long epic tale, so find a nice comfy chair to relax in.)


On 17 December, 2010, I went to hospital due to severe dizziness and headache. My doctor has previously thought that I had vertigo and had given me medication but since my symptoms didn't improve the following day, he suggested I go to the hospital emergency centre. After a CT scan, I was admitted to hospital later that night with an unknown cause of bleeding in my brain. Over the next few days, friends came to visit and I promised that I would keep them informed of my progress.


20 Dec 2011, 7:54am
Hi peeps! Nothing is happening. Just eating breaky and waiting for my MRI and another ct scan so I thought id put my SMS list together. Good morning everyone! :)


9:01am
I'm drinking 750ml of contrast solution for the ct scan and it tastes like aniseed. Yeah >p. Why can't they make it taste like strawberries?? Theyll also shave off some hair so they can stick MRI donuts on my head. *sob sob*


11:15am
Just had some bald patches put in in prep for my MRI.  Raq might have a bit of work later. Lol. Just waiting for MRI now... Or lunch.. Whichever comes first....
(Raq was my hairdresser at the time)


8:14pm
As my wheelchair rolled into the elevator, I closed my eyes and imagined the cold hard steel doors closing in front of me and the elevator descending to the hospital basement. I was wheeled through the bowels of the hospital, industrial sounds emanating from every corner. At least there were no screams. Like a specimen about to be wheeled into a secret experiment, we rolled past lonely corridors and old rooms that looked like they once were the scenes of atrocities best forgotten by all involved and were now quaintly labelled as seminar rooms. With my shaved hair and MRI donuts, Im sure I looked the part.
The door to the MRI lab resembled the door to a bomb shelter. Once inside, I was treated to the experience known as an MRI. I was given a quick questionnaire to ensure I wasn't wearing metal, but they forgot about my bra and once I reminded the nurse she helped me remove it without undressing.
I had no soothing music inside the MRI, it sounded more like a bad industrial, grunge, techo, nightclub. I wondered how long it would last before being treated to an all over body vibration. Just what I didn't want.
Finally, my bed slid out and I wad administered some liquid. Unlike the liquid in other clubs, this didn't make the music sound any better, but just like the liquid in other clubs, it made me feel sick. I squeezed the chicken tube I was holding, hoping it wasn't a 50cent bunnings prop. Fortunately it worked, but i wasnt sick. I sneezed as I reentered the machine and was treated to a new soundtrack called nuclear meltdown or battlestations. I'm not sure which. The sirens droned on and it reminded me of those parts in video games when you're walking through a corridor with the lights flashing and sirens sounding and you know that if you take another step, a bunch of huge monsters are going to leap out or some creepy sucker is going to jump on your face and you really don't want to continue but you know you have to coz thats where the game goes. So you continue on reluctantly in total fear. Geez guys do weird things for fun...
The sirens droned on, and I realized that by now I would have saved and replayed that entire stage half a dozen times to get through it the best and all the fear would be gone by now. I must have played the stage well coz I was now being rewarded with another fullbody low frequency make me sick massage. My bed slid out to end the enjoyment and I was knocked back to reality in the realization that that it was still difficult to catch a 'taxi' back from the club to my room. At least my dinner was waiting for me... Mmmm... Creme caramel.. Yes, Annie, that's the one you like...  Dinner beat the doctor who only had inconclusive news anyway, so we'll wait till tomorrow! ...again...


(You can tell I was starting to get bored at this point)


9:04pm
Glad you like my story, it's part of my new subscription service. Only $1/word and $5/ msg. Thank you so so so very very very very much for joining... Really.. 


9:05pm
Really, thank you so so much. 


21 December, 2010 8:05am
Doctors visited again and are still not making a call so it's more waiting. Lunch in 4.5 hrs.. What did I order again??


8:07am
Someone here is trying to get discharged to go to the eagles concert tonight. I can understand that... 


12:34pm
Latest news: I'm munching on vegetarian pasta with peas and mash.. Yum yum yum... I thought she said pizza yesterday,
But I must have been wishing.  On the medical front, an angiogram will be done at some time... Waiting waiting... Eating... 


(I'v been told I'm weird because I actually enjoy hospital food... )


12:55pm
Breaking news: I got a really nice hot chocolate cake in hot choc sauce for dessert. Yummmm!!!


5:22pm
Who will win? Angiogram or dinner? It must be coming down to the wire!


5:30pm
Breaking news: dinner wins with penne and mushroom! Only 1 vote for angiogram, what a waste of 50 million microseconds.  Doctors musnt have bribed them enough.
Opposite patient gets to go to eagles concert but must be back tonight...


6:15pm
Latest news: our gallant team of doctors have retired for the night and the mysteries of flicks brain will remain hidden for another day. Flick would have traded her ice cream for another plate of penne and mushroom coz it was soo yumm... She has been given her meds and is settling in for a long night. Her butt makes rude noises in her sleep... Sorry, it's a slow news day....


22 Dec 2010, 7:48am
Morning news: breakfast beats angiogram as flick rouses from another nights sleep. Thanks to her collection of divas singing Neil Finn, yes, the eagles, soul asylum and a pre dowloaded relaxation podcast,a good 6 hrs sleep was to be had. Flick still wishes she had bought those Katy perry and Taylor swift CDs.  The lady opposite moans and has nightmares. Maybe she sees dead people. The guy diagonally opposite had a good time at his concert but has trouble remembering where he was this morning. Hope he remembers his concert. What was I talking about? These rice bubbles are nice, where'd they come from?


8:07am
Oh no! Doctors interrupted breakfast to make me fast for the angiogram! I didn't get to taste the rice bubbles! I was literally about to put the spoon in my mouth! *sob sob*


(Maybe if I had spent less time texting I might have actually been able to eat some.)


8:14am
As was pointed out to me, guys usually give you a good meal before wheeling you somewhere else for a small uncomfortable prick. However, sometimes they may be afraid of causing nausea and may choose to skip the meal. They better not make me miss lunch!!!!


23 Dec 2010, 8:08am
Breakfast news: our roving reporter fell asleep on the job last night and didn't submit her report. She was sighted this morning cowering over a bowl or rice bubbles and fending off a group of doctors. They had come in peace, however, and with any luck, she will be going home today!! She will have to come back for an MRI in 4 weeks and meanwhile, no asprin or skating. Bleh... Those small pesky asprins get stuck in the skate wheels anyway.... 


9:18am
Scientific theory: our roving reoorter has formulated a new theorem known as the drip dilemma. In summary, a newly or re- connected drip causes a significant amount of initial pain and discomfort that subsides eventually. However, the bladders fill and at some point the need to pee outweighs the promise of the pain involved in reconnecting the drip. This point is the drip equilibrium. The position of this point changes depending on where the drip is placed since feet hurt more than hands that hurt more than inner elbow. 


1:27pm
Home time!


2:47pm
Our intrepid reporter was fired and is now at home. ( samm was such a cold hearted b). She is playing with her new camera that she was going to claim the gst on when she went to Thailand, but that's all been pushed back now. She'll have to buy something else instead... Skates??


(After my earlier message about falling asleep on the job, my friend Samm sent me a message saying that the roving reporter should be sacked. Lol! The reference to skates was a joke since at this point in time I had pretty awful balance and was having trouble walking let alone skating...)


24 Dec 2010, 1:46pm
Breaking news: our napping newscaster was caught with a noose around her neck and is being towed back to hospital for another scan. She was supposed to fast, but the naughty ninny ate lunch anyway and may be having an operation on monday. Annoyed she'll be missing Karens pig spit. 


(Yep, the docs called me back into hospital on Christmas Eve... My friend Karen was doing roast pork for Christmas and I was so looking forward to that.)


4:46pm
Afternoon news: forlorn filly floundered along the corridors of medical imaging, afraid of receiving yet another iv drip for her ct scan. However, she found she could forgive her mothers missives as even the hospital sometimes says the wrong thing. It was only to be an ultrasound, a play with some cold jelly and a probe that might even be fun under different circumstances. They were looking for a liver cyst, but the needle was not found in this haystack and filly is now back in the same ward but has a window view! Yay!! She also is sporting the dotty look again and is missing more hair and is awaiting another MRI. 


9:41pm
Nightly news: our reporter hunkers down for a long night. The patient next door is in severe pain and was on methodone and doesn't sound like he'll be sleeping tonight. My MRI team has gone home for christmas, so I won't get my scan till sun or mon. Merry Christmas to everyone from the field!! :)


10:51pm
So I gave the guy next door some water and he seems happier now...


11:37pm
Lol, how silly am I? I thought could hear carols by candle light through the window on my left, so I hobbled closer for a better listen and look. Turns out it was the guys tv on my right. Ha! Merry Christmas everyone!


25 Dec 2010, 3:49am
Dawn news: our intrepid reporter rouses with hopefully enough sleep for the day. She sees a fat man walking down the corridor with a bag and would have chased the burglar, except she can't run. She needs to pee and lies in bed listening for the nearest bush to be free. It turns out her hearing can't be trusted again and she limps in in desperation. A friendly nurse gives her a fresh roll of leaves to clean herself and she hobbles back to bed where the patient next to her is high on morphine and sounds like marge simpson. The patient that sees dead ppl in her sleep is also back and at one point sounds like she karate chops a dead person in half. Our reporter sees the shell of a pringles animal on a ledge and sneaks up behind it only to find it is only a shell and someone had eaten the tasty insides and left the shell behind. How rude! Our reporter picks some fruit from the plate tree and munches on it while hoping that a lost, wounded breakfast tray will limp past later this morning for her to pounce on. The other patients are now making plenty of noise and she considers singing a million bottles of beer on the wall, but decides against it. Merry Christmas everyone, hope you have plenty of presses under your tree and sorry to wake you for such a silly story! Lol!


7:53am
Breakfast news: a breakfast tray pushes itself into our hungry heroines hands. It wasn't lost, it had come here to die! No matter, still tastes the same thinks our heroine as she tucks into its innards and is thankful that animals are so crunchy, tasty and milky on the inside... And so well packed! This one even tastes like corn.  Merry Christmas everyone!! xo


(Yes... that was cornflakes for breakfast.)


9:21am
Morning news: the animals scampered out of the forest showering the non indigenous fauna with Christmas chocolates, mince tart and a Christmas fanta. Merry Christmas everyone!! xoxo 


(Doctors and nurses came around giving all the patients Christmas treats. That was so nice of them.)


12:08am
Lunch news:
1. The magic fountain chair isn't really that magical although it beats a jump in the cold river any day and I could sit under the warm fountain all day although id prob fall over first in my condition
2. I'm glad my cane isn't like my candy cane coz I'd have fallen over a dozen times by now and id still be unwrapping it
3 christmAs fanta turns into Christmas pee very quickly
4. It's a very very slow news day
Merry Christmas everyone!!
xoxo


(The magic fountain chair is the chair I had to sit on while having a shower. At this point in time, my balance was awful, so standing in the shower was not a good idea.)


2:22pm
There is a guy outside that sounds like James earl jones.
Luke, I am your father....


7:56pm
Hey everyone, it's Christmas night!!! Roast some pork pork pork on your fork fork fork and dance the night awaaayyy!!! Have some ham ham ham with some lamb lamb lamb and have a drink drink drink and don't think think think about yesterdaaaayyy!!! Wooooooh!!!! Merry Christmas everyone!!


(What can I say? I was bored...)


26 December 6:37am
Breakfast news: our intrepid explorers rouses from her cave to the sounds of Dora! She has a few hours sleep which won't be enough for the day but is better than nothing.  Our simple scribe didn't sip any christmas spirit so has no hangover to put away. Happy Boxing Day!!!  Boxing day was traditionally the time for donations to public hospitals, so give it up people!!!! Or you can watch Dora with me.. Say it again.. Mountain, river, north pole! Mountain, river, north pole!! One more time, mountain, river, north pole!!


7:31am
A bubble rice animal sacrifices itself on flicks altar and she immediately accepts the sacrifice while keeping one eye open (very literally) for the pack of scavenging doctors who seem to be running late this morning. Maybe they had too much Christmas spirit. 


7:55am
While doing her rounds and checking misc bodily health, the friendly nurse pointed out that I had a visit from mr hanky! I did a Christmas poo yesterday!! Hidey ho!!!! :)


12:48pm
A lamb sacrifices itself on flicks altar. She indulges immediately and is glad that the lamb stuffed itself with a roast potato and gravy before making the sacrifice. Two doctors spoke to her this morning and they still want an MRI after which they will prob schedule surgery. Likely date for both is Mon but noone really knows. 


7:13pm
A brave young doctor approaches our suspicious sissy as she sups on sacrificial rice. He is not here to steal, but instead takes her away to discuss tomorrows cutting procedure. She is shown a picture of her brain with a 2.5cm  divot that looks like a golf ball has landed in the sand trap that is the middle of filly's brain.  The doctor points out some shadow in the divot that may indicate the presence of a tumor hiding in the invisible blood currently occupying that area. I think the starship enterprise once discovered a cloaked Klingon ship using a similar method... The plan is to go through the back of the head, spine and remove a bit of skull and drain the area and do a biopsy. The surgeon started talking about risks and dangers, but our reporter isn't worried.. It's not like it's brain surgery... Oh, wait a sec....


27 December 6:52am
Morning news: our relieved reporter returns from the nearest bush and stumbles back into bed to try and have more sleep. She managed a half decent amount last night despite surrounding residents antics. Hoewever, she has learnt that,
1 threatening to get out of bed and walk to the carpark and discharge yourself prob won't work, especially if you can't normally sit yourself up at meal times
2. Pressing every button in succession on a beeping iv machine prob won't shut it up. From memory, the nurses always press a big button on the lower right that had a big picture of a speaker with an x through it.
3 some ppl have an aversion to the nurse button and feel they'll get better results by shouting "miss!" and their demands every 5 or 10 mins... I still don't understand this one....


8:19am
breakfast news: filly tucks into another bubbly rice animal that leapt upon her altar in the morning. She should prob be fasting but the snap, crackling and popping bleating of the animal was too much temptation. A juicy orangy animal lay near by asking her to rip the skin from it's bones and drink it's juices which it had conveniently collected into a single location. Our hungry hussy obliges and lays back in bed to rest and wait for the passing doctor pack. 


28 December 4:04am
Breaking news: our little lass Is out of surgery with a pain in the neck.


(Late the previous day, I was rounded up for my brain surgery...)


6:07am
Bad joke time: our roving reporter is awake with a rather sore neck and head and is feeling very bored. She needed that about as much as a hole in the head.... Haha!!


9:44am
Our sleepy soapstar rouses to the docs news. The op went well and the blood was drained and some tissues sent for biopsy. She'll be spending a few more days in the wild while we wait for the results. The op was done in officeworks coz she has a row of staples down her neck. Now she knows what an exercise book feels like. 


9:56am
Oh, docs believe that some damage may have been done by the bleed so it'll be some effort to regain previous coordination. That's fine, cause I was always unco!! Just means that mooey Mel will have to join rollerderby first... hahaha!


(My friend Mel and I were talking about joining roller derby... )


1:53pm
As out prostrate pip is being fed lunch (an advantage of having a stapled neck) she is whisked away for another CT scan. Ironically, the expensive CT scan machine isn't operating properly due to a relatively cheap strap that isn't falling into place. After spending 20 mins fixing the strap, flick is given her 1 minute scan. Results may be available tonight or tomorrow.
Other things learnt today:
A catheter down your wiener is uncomfortable.
The people that wheel me around are called porters. That would make me an old bag. 


3:51pm
Our reclining reporter is visited by a nurse who needs to put new socks around her legs. These socks inflate and gently massage her legs to prevent blood clots. "I could get used to this", thinks our relaxing reporter, "except for the stupid catheter..."


10:19pm
And so pride comes before a fall. Where our once gracious gazelle used to totter in her high heels, it will now be flats for filly for a while. Her locks have been lacerated (ok, that's an exaggeration) and her poise is stunted by a pain in the neck. But she remembers the words of her friend mooey who says "it is what it is" and so she goes to sleep with a smile ready for tomorrow. Her life, her choice, happy with herself. 


29 December 7:44am
Breakfast news: our weary wench lies in her bed without a single winks sleep. It was a long night. She rises to rearrange her grapevine on the suggestion that certain people hearing news on it shouldn't need to. She hopes she doesnt cut a wrong vine by accident in her delirious state. She is careful of what she says because she is sure she hallucinated during the night... Oops said too much.
Her peacefulness ran away during the night and there was no fanciful sacrificial animal at her altar today... Only a bowl of porridge. 


8:32am
Flick doesn't feel so bad. The patient diagonally opposite is going for a lumbar puncture... The poor thing. Flick remembers the last time she had lumbar puncture and after a dozen attempts, the doctors gave up on drawing any fluid from her spine.  Still a cringeworthy memory and flick has a sympathy cringe for the patient opposite. 


10:36am
Dear genie, when I said I wanted to be 18, I meant 18 years old and partying, not 18 months and learning to walk!


12:49pm
Eat, drink, pee into catheter, try and sleep, wait for dinner...


30 December 7:45am
Our bleary eyed boob wakes from her sleep with a sore wrist where she successfully defended herself against an evil enemy that morphed into her dinner table after she hit him. As she rubs her eyes she sees an optus exec waving and thanking her for sending his kids to high school. He turns around to reveal his bad wig with bald spots and poor coverage in key areas. Rest is further delayed when a nurse arrives to remove the catheter. It turns out not to be a big deal and just a lot of dribble. Two bubbly rice animals jump on the altar of Flick.., oh wait... She still has double vision. 


8:52pm
Our dizzy ditz finds herself summoned back to the temple of MRI. It appears that the temple masters like to watch her even though she doesn't like the music and she isn't even graced with the donut dots of beauty for this trip.  Her veins are tapped again for the elixir of contrast but despite the continuously lousy music, she cannot help but fall asleep and she catches herself twitching which is sure to displease the temple masters.  Finally, the masters have seen enough and wheel her back to her cave. She wonders if she had displeased them because they did not visit that night and so she will have no idea of her destiny until at least tomorrow...


31 December 8:25am
The temple masters visit Filly in her cave to her know how much they like watching her. They find her interesting since they do not understand her head and want to keep her there until they do. Filly nods and smiles since it would be hard for her to leave without their permission. It will be many more days yet. 


1 January 2011, 12:25am
Happy new year from the roving reporter!


(Late on news years eve, I was lying in bed unable to sleep. I didn't know how the other patients managed to sleep so soundly on New Year's Eve. My balance and ability to walk was pretty bad but I did ok with my little stroller to lean on, so I decided I would go for a walk around the ward. As I slowly shuffled up the corridor, I came across some nurses with glow stick necklaces getting ready to celebrate the new year. They were drinking apple juice and offered me some and invited me into the nurses staff room which had a window looking towards the river where the fireworks would be. I was up on the tenth floor but unfortunately there was another building partially obscuring the view, but I did manage to see the fireworks and saw the new year in with a bunch of friendly nurses. Yay!)


8:57am
The temple masters visited Filly and blew her a raspberry which made her laugh. She liked raspberries, especially with blueberries and Cointreau. They told her they had removed a raspberry from her brain that had been making her sick (a cavernoma) and that she should be ok in the long term. She hoped that they hadn't removed her like for raspberries.


2 January 2011, 1:34pm
Napping news: Our napping newscaster was caught slacking in the woods by her surgeon. He's happy with the progress and is glad they decided to remove the cavernoma. He said they cavernomas normally don't cause a bleed that big but, hey, Filly isn't normal and whenever she does something, she makes sure she does it properly!!
 
3 January 2011, 8:02am
Newscast
========
Todays roving report is cancelled due to a loss of communication with our reporter. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to restore the problem.

In unrelated news, a large number of bubbly rice animals have been reported missing in the lands of Vincenti. Local authorities are investigating. 


4 January 2011, 8:27am
A bubbly rice animal brought a picken friend with it to Filly's altar. As the picken split itself into neat halves with a piggy smelly meat on one side and a scrambled yellowy substance on the other, Filly remembered the incidents of last night. A war had occurred in the nearby caves but by morning, the local residents had been replaced by others.
The local leaders visited Filly and told her that they would be sending her to officeworks with a staple remover. They would also help her be rehabilitated. She didn't know she was a criminal but she smiled and nodded. She liked the bubbly rice animals. 


3:16pm
Afternoon news: There was a queue at officeworks and so Filly has dibs on the stapler remover on Thursday. 


5 January 2011, 12:10pm
Her makeshift chariot rattled noisily along the cobblestones as the dour matron chieftess pushed her down the ancient pathway. Filly huddled into her blanket and clutched at her freedom stick, careful to hold her feet up so that they wouldn't catch on the ground. Clatters of a trolley followed behind carrying accumulations that were not actually hers but that materialized from the protective orb that had chosen to accompany her each day.

As the party crossed a bridge, filly counted herself three levels up. She was to be rehabilitated. Someone had found her behaviour offensive and she was to be rehabilitated. Soon enough, the matron stopped outside a door marked with a parchment and dark carbon dust. Room 8, Bolte wing. This was to be her home for a while. 


6 January 2011, 2:47pm
Internal memo:
The admin department has been issued with 26 staples. Please use them wisely.

Our roving reporter says she feels like a thunderbird puppet but without the luxury of strings to hold her up. 


7 January 2011, 11:07am
Guards discovered filly scavenging some food in the middle of the night that had been smuggled in by some kind souls. She was turned over to some special guards called FeeSeeOhs who put her on a machine so that she could generate power for their new electric light bulbs. They told her that if she fulfilled her quota, they would let her go home on the 11th. Filly pedaled harder. 


11 January 2011, 11:11am
The FeeSeeOhs escorted Filly to the edge of the forest. Sunlight streamed through an opening in the canopy and she could see the paths in the cleared lands ahead. Filly turned and saw a herd of bubble rice animals that had gathered to bid her farewell. As she knelt down, one crawled forward and hopped into her arms, nuzzling her cheek. It crept to her ear and told her where she would always be able to find their friends. Filly smiled and carefully put the bubbly rice animal down. Standing up, she turned back and began hobbling towards the sunlight, her freedom stick supporting each step. It was time to go home.




That was the last of my updates. I spent many weeks as an outpatient in the local rehab centre afterwards learning to balance and walk properly again. Even now, if I turn my head to quickly from side to side while walking, I might lose my balance and stumble off to the side. For the most part however, everything is pretty good and I have enough balance to ride a bicycle and go ice skating. 


The really scary part is that I don't remember half that stuff. My memory is a little shot and there are little chunks of things that I don't remember in my past. Given that I'm studying and have to sit exams again, it is a little worrying....
But, I hope you enjoyed the story!

Filly's Frolic #21

I'm not sure how long it's been since I'd taken my car to this particular workshop for a service, but it had obviously been a while. I had made a booking the previous night and dutifully drove there the next morning to drop the car off. Walking into the workshop office, I thought to myself that it looked different. I pressed the bell and waited for someone to come out. Looking around I remembered that there had been a picture of Brocky's Torana hanging on the wall which didn't appear to be there any more. I looked around wondering if it had been moved and sure enough there was a picture on the wall behind me.Yet, something still seemed odd about it.

Some time, several presses of the bell and a gentle shout of "Hello?" later, someone came out of the workshop.

"How can I help you darl?", he asked.

"I'm here to drop my car off for a service", I replied dangling my key in the air.

"That'd be next door", he replied gesturing to his right.

"Oops, sorry!" I suddenly realised my mistake as the service workshop and this workshop both had the same name and were part of the same building but had different office entrances. I smiled and backed out of the office.

"No worries darl", he replied with a grin, probably thinking how ditsy I was....

I scurried next door as another gentleman saw me coming as he was walking towards the office.

"I'm here to drop my car off for a service?", I asked a little hesitantly dangling my key in the  air.

"No problem. Come in.", he replied as we walked into the office. This looked more familiar and there was the picture of the Torana on the wall! 

"I went next door by mistake. Oops!", I smiled in embarrassment. He laughed.

"You were probably standing there for ten minutes waiting for someone to come out."

"Actually, I was!" It probably wasn't an unusual occurrence. "The silly thing is, I've been here before too."

He smiled again. 

"I had trouble finding your record because it was under Ex Why".

"Oh!" Suddenly I realised that the last time I had been here, I hadn't changed the name on my driver's license yet.

"Is that your hubby?", he asked by way of an explanation. I didn't offer one.

"It's under Filly now", I replied chirpily. He looked at me hesitantly as I returned his gaze. I'm not sure what he was thinking, maybe he thought he might have put his foot in his mouth by asking the question to a lady that had been divorced. I don't know, but it didn't matter. We changed the details and confirmed that the rest of the contact details were correct. As I left, I couldn't help but giggle at the hilarity of the situation. Not only had I gone into the wrong place at first, I had also forgotten that I was listed there under a previous name. In the end though, everything was sorted and there wasn't the slightest problem. I can't complain about that.

Au revoir my therapist

Two years ago, I fronted up to her workplace as a boy for my first treatment in IPL hair removal. I was nervous but she immediately put me at ease. She knew why I was there and what I was going to be doing but she made me feel welcome and, dare I say it, normal. Her personality was honest, engaging and open and my confidence in her grew quickly. 

Since I saw her while I was laying down the foundations in exploring my transition, she was literally the first person to be involved in my transition. She has seen me go through the ups and downs. She has seen me through my surgery and she has seen me transform from the boy I was to the girl I am now. We have shared heartfelt stories and we have shared laughs over memories of Little Britain and over the funnier moments in each of our personal lives. 

Today, I fronted up once again for a short maintenance session. Only a few scattered hairs dot  around my lips and chin. I am so pleased at the result and for the work she has done for me. Sadly, this will be her last week as she is moving up north to what sounds like a wonderful opportunity helping to run a holiday resort. I hope everything goes well for her and I really do hope that we run into each other again one day. Sometimes you meet the most wonderful people in your life that you really don't want to leave. All the best Nik, I will miss you.