So I'm in the process of falling asleep and I had a little story to share before I did. So I'm officially 2 weeks, 3 days, and 9 hours post-op. Recovery has been going great, with only one minor complication, but that's not important.
I told my surgeon a couple different times prior to my surgery that I wanted to see my testicles if that was at all possible. Strangely enough my surgeon was at a lost for words and could only tell me my testicles would be sent down to pathology before being disposed of. Nothing really came of it and my surgery came and went.
I was recovering on my second day in my room and I mentioned to my nurse my disappointment. That is when she told me that there was a good chance the hospital would let me keep my testicles. All I had to do was call over to pathology and ask. So I did and sure enough they got me permission. However, they required I waited for them to do all their "experiments" on my specimens.
Last week I get the call to come pick them up and I did so this Tuesday after I was cleared to drive by my surgeon. It was a maze to find pathology and I'm pretty sure I found myself in a restricted part of the hospital but nonetheless, I was where I needed the be.
The lady at the window (Yes, strangely a walk up window like a drive thru. It was even quick-serv brand.) was obviously not very well trained in signing out specimens and told me some crap about I couldn't have them because they were preserved in formaldehyde. After asking some other person, she ended up washing my specimen and replacing the liquid with water - going as far to say I needed to do something with them right away or it would start to decompose. However, I digress.
So backup a moment and when I first told her I needed a specimen from my surgery, she asked what the organ was and listed ovaries. On top of having the lady in the emergency room (you know because of my complication) ask for me to clarify where I exactly needed a catheter put and she listed off my vagina. This would be the second time someone validated my gender identity medically not knowing I'm trans.
I told her the specimen was testicles but once more, I still don't think she caught on. She asked for the patient name and my relationship to the patient. So she went from thinking I was the patient, to it being someone else all because I was a woman picking up testicles - priceless.
Anyway, when she finally realized the truth, I signed the paperwork and she handed me two heat sealed bags with diced up flesh in them.
My mouth dropped. I asked what the deal was and she said it was routine to dice up removed organs to check for cancer. She also said my surgeon could have requested photos to be taken before they were diced specifically for me to see - kind of mad my surgeon didn't know this. I told her that I was really looking forward to seeing these "things" for myself that were in me for 33 years of my life. I guess you could say I wanted to say goodbye. And that's when she said something that I took as being a bit insensitive and rude, "Well, if it's that important, you can just super glue them back together. Not like it would make any difference."
So that's my story. Weird I know but needed to share it someplace.