Girlfriend Problems - A Transition Story - Part 8

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And So A New Chapter Begins,

Just days before my move I had sent my resume to Richard’s office manager at his Plastic Surgery Practice. Soon after that, I got a call from Doris, the office manager, “Hello, may I speak to Kathy?”

“This is she,”

“Kathy, this is Doris from Dr. Levine’s office. We got your resume and Dr. Levine and I want you to come in for an interview. Can you come in tomorrow?”

“Sure! I’d love to.”

“How’s 10 am for you?”

“That’s fine for me. I’m not working at this time.”

“Okay great. I’ll see you at 10 tomorrow morning. Oh and bring your ID and Social Security card.”

Since I was going to an interview, I thought it best to buy some decent office attire. I was trying to save some money and watch my pennies. So I went to a local H&M to find some clothes that were a little more on the conservative side. Their prices were reasonable, so I picked up a gray pinstripe business suit that consisted of a matching skirt and jacket and 2 blouses; one white and one beige.

The next morning I caught the express bus to the interview. It was mid-April and you could see little buds on the trees as I rode and scrolled through my phone. I was thinking of how far I had come since my relationship with Denise came to an end. While it was a painful episode in my life, I could see that it was all for the better. In my mind, I took responsibility for my part in ending the way it did. I learned that it was always best to be upfront with the ones you love and for that matter, with any kind of relationship. I needed to learn how to speak my mind and be my authentic self, speaking my own truth no matter who it involved.

I arrived early to the office and Cynthia, the receptionist, greeted me. “Hi Kathy, great to see you. Doris will be with you in a few minutes.”

I had a seat and within less than 3 minutes Doris appeared at the door. “Kathy, come on in!”

I got up and walked toward the door that led out of the waiting room and into the offices. My hair pulled back into a French twist, my purse on my shoulder, and the black and gray pumps that I was wearing gave me a regal look.

“You look fantastic!” said Doris, peering over her glasses which I assumed were readers. Doris must have been in her 50s. She dressed conservatively and it looked like she regularly got work done by Dr. Levine.

“Thank you, Doris,”

We sat in her office and she went over my resume with me. She looked up at me, “So first of all you got the job. So that’s the good news. But I have a question for you. Why haven’t you gotten your name changed?”

Realizing that so much has been happening that’s the one thing that I haven’t taken care of. “I don’t know Doris. Things have been changing so fast that it just slipped my mind. I need to make that a priority.”

“I would say so. You don’t want to get stopped or questioned when you present your ID in different situations. You certainly don’t look like a Kenneth Hunter. But that’s okay for now. When you get it done you can just bring me your new ID and Social Security card.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Now, Dr. Levine wants you to get started on replacing this wretched system we have with a new one. He’s already stopped payment with the current IT firm that we’ve been using. Can you start tomorrow?”

“Of course! But you’ll have to keep using the current system until I can get the new one that I’m recommending installed.”

“That’s not a problem.”

“Now after that system is installed you’ll be transitioning to working as my assistant. That’s going to take about 3 months for me to train you. You’ll have a dual role here as assistant office manager and IT person. Once that starts your dual role will pay $72,000 per year. You will get full medical benefits, a 401K, and 3 weeks vacation per year. Sick time; you are allowed 7 sick days per year. We give New Year's Day, The following Monday after Easter, July 3rd, the Monday after Labor Day, Thanksgiving weekend, and Christmas off. Your hours will be 9am to 5pm, Monday through Thursday, and 10am to 6pm on Saturday.

You’ll have Fridays and Sundays off. Saturdays are a big procedure day. Mostly small procedures. These are mainly for those who can’t get off during the week. Mostly it’s women that need a day recovery for those simple procedures like getting fillers or botox.”

“I see. That’s fine with me.” I said.

“Good, because I worked for years without a full weekend off and Dr. Levine needs to have someone on-site on those days.”

It all sounded promising and kind of new. I was 20 and I never thought I would be making that kind of money so quickly.

Doris continued, “Now Dr. Levine wants to see you. From what I understand he wants to do your surgeries quickly. Come with me and he’ll explain everything.”

Doris led me down the hall to Dr. Levine’s office. “Okay Kathy, have a seat. Dr. Levine will be with you as soon as he’s finished with his patient.

I waited in Dr. Levine’s office. I walked around looking at all of the awards and diplomas on his wall. He had pictures of him and Janelle in exotic locations along with other photos of him as a youngster with what was probably his father.

Dr. Levine entered the room as I stood looking at the photos on the wall.

“Kathy!” he said and kissed me on the cheek. “How are you? It’s great to see you. Janelle told me you moved. How’s the new place?”

“Oh, it’s much more comfortable Richard.”

“That’s great! Let me get right to the point because I have patients to see and I don’t want to get behind.”

“Okay,” I answered.

“This is what we're going to do and I hope you’re onboard with this. How fast can you get this new system up and running here?”

“I would say a week to 10 days tops.”

“Okay, that sounds good. Now once you finish installing our new system. I want to do your surgeries right after that so you can come and get to work.”

“That sounds amazing!”

“I think with the fact that you’re so young I can get all of the surgeries done at once; both the face, Tracheal shave, Breasts, and hips. That’s if you want that.”

“Sure!”

“Now do you smoke?” he asked.

“Occasionally. Only when I go out. But even then, I don’t always.”

“Well, you won’t be able to smoke at all if you do these surgeries.”

“Yes, that’s not a problem.”

“Okay, good,” he said, talking fast. “Have you decided about whether you want breast and hip implants?”

“Yes, I have.”

“The only thing you have to do is decide what size implants you want. I would recommend only a C cup. You have a very small body. You’re thin and don’t have much muscle mass or wide shoulders. You don’t want to look out of proportion.”

I immediately thought about the girl I saw at the club weeks ago whom they called Jenny looking horrific and out of proportion.

“I agree. That’s fine with me. Can I ask you, are these silicone breast implants or saline?”

“I don’t use silicone in any of my procedures. These would be saline.”

“Okay, now how long would the recovery time be with all of these surgeries?”

“It’ll take a good 6 to 8 weeks. That’s why we will start you in 3 months to full-time employment.”

“How much will all of this cost me?”

“Doris will go over the cost and payment arrangements. You gave me a price for installing and maintaining the new system for our office. I believe it was $82,000?”

“Yes, I did.”

“So the cost of all of the procedures will be around $32,000. I will round that off seeing that you’re family to $30,000 for everything.”

“That sounds great.”

“So you’ll be paid $50,000 for the installation and maintenance of the system. Doris will have a check for you as a deposit of $15,000. That’s to retain your services and give you some spending money until you start with us full-time.

“This all sounds wonderful. I appreciate your kindness for even considering and trusting with not one but 2 jobs. You and Janelle have been so good to me.”

“Janelle loves you. And you saved our asses that day when our system went down.”

“Well, I love her too. She’s been like a big sister to me. When my family basically has turned their back on me and I have no friends here, Janelle has been my rock.”

“Well, we both really care about you, Kathy. You’re a good soul and you radiate very good positive vibes. With my wealth and skill, I’m happy to help those who need it but deserve it. Now I need to go and see my patients who are waiting for me. My nurse will be in to take you to the exam room.

She will do labs on you and an x-ray of your head, torso, and pelvic region. After that, you’ll see Cynthia up front who will schedule you for your surgery.  I’ll see you soon.” Dr. Levine said, leaving out of the door.

It was all overwhelming and a little scary to think how my life was about to change. After my blood was drawn and X-rays taken I saw Cynthia at the front desk and my surgery was scheduled for 2 weeks from that day. She gave me lots of information about how to prepare for it. The one thing I didn’t realize is that I would have to get a ride to and from the surgery and I would need help afterward.

The easy part was that Janelle agreed to pick me up and take me on the day of the surgery. The hard part was to find someone to check in on me. Janelle suggested that I check in with Giselle to see what she was doing. In the meantime, Janelle’s business was already starting to see activity and get going even after a short while since posting her website.

The Painful Part.

I got to work immediately that week on installing the new system for the office. In the meantime, Janelle connected me with the LGBTQ center in Philly that had a list of lawyers who were allies who got to work immediately on my case to legally change my name. They told me everything I would need to do. I was a little disappointed that the process was going to take so long; 4 to 6 months. It took me 8 days to install the new system at the office and train everyone on how to use it and how to troubleshoot minor problems. I would be available by phone after a couple of days during my rehab from surgery until I was able to go into the office if anything went wrong. Doris deposited the $15,000 in my bank account so I was able to pay my bills upfront for the next 3 months and still had a lot left over.

Finally, the day came that would really change my life. I met Janelle downstairs from my new place. I got into her car and she looked at me and said, “Are you ready to change your life little sister.”

“I sure am!”

“Okay, let’s do this!” said Janelle, as she scooted off towards her husband’s office.

“I’ll have to admit, I’m a little scared Janelle.”

“Don’t be scared. You’re in good hands with Richard. He does beautiful work. And I’ll be there to check in on you.”

As instructed I wore loose-fitting sweat pants and a loose-fitting top, a bra which was about to become the last time I would be able to wear it. I pulled my hair back in a ponytail but placed it on top of my head. We arrived and Janelle walked with me up to the office from the parking lot and waited while I checked in. Becky the nurse called my name, “Kathy? Come with me.”

Janelle hugged me as she could sense my anxiety. “It’ll be alright, honey. I’ll be back to pick you up.”

As I got prepped for surgery I wondered how my Mom and Dad were going to react to my new look when or if they were ever going to see me. I’m sure Kiera had told them about my transition by now. I hadn’t heard from them since I talked to them at Christmas. Although I had texted Kiera since then, she never mentioned anything about my parents or their reaction. I suppose she didn’t want to give me any bad news.

Soon I was rolled into the procedure room where the anesthesiologist was waiting as well as the surgery nurse and Becky. Dr. Levine came in with a mask and scrubs on, “Hi Kathy, are you ready?” He said with a soft voice close to my ear.

“Yes,” I replied.

The anesthesiologist told me to count backward from 100 as he put the mask over my face. The last thing I remembered was saying, “100, 99, ninety…”

I woke up in the recovery room barely able to open my eyes. I heard the beeping of monitors and looked around and saw all kinds of tubes and wires attached to me. I was all alone; drifting in and out of sleep. I saw Becky, the nurse come in and check in on me.

“Kathy? Are ya doin’ okay?”

I couldn’t speak. All I could do was nod yes. Little by little I regained consciousness and realized that my entire face and head were bandaged. I could barely see out from the bandage that was on my forehead, partially covering my eyes. Becky came in and said, “Okay Kathy. Time for you to wake up. Come try to sit up a little and drink this.”

She raised my bed a little and stuck a straw in my mouth and I sucked in what I recognized as orange juice.

“Good girl,” said Becky. “That’s our Wonder Woman!”

I managed a few words, “Wonder Woman?”

“Yes, you are our Wonder Woman around here now.”

“Why Wonder Woman?”

“That system you installed is way faster than the last one. And so much more user-friendly. We’re getting work done twice as fast now.” said Becky. But she seemed as if she was speaking at the speed of light.

“Oh yes, that’s good,” I answered in a slow growl.

“Okay, that’s enough. Let me let you rest. Don’t try to talk.”

With that, I fell back asleep. It was dark out when I woke up again. But I was feeling less groggy and I started to feel the pain in my head and my hips. The more awake I became the more I felt the pain. After what seemed like 10 minutes later Richard and Janelle came in to see me.

“How are you feeling, sweetie?” asked Janelle who was standing next to me.

“Not great,” I mumbled.

“Kathy,” said Richard. “Janelle and I decided you should stay with us for the next 2 nights or so. You need to be watched.”

“Yes, honey. I would come and stay with you but you don’t have a bed or a couch for me to even sleep on. We think this is best.”

“Okay,” I answered. I was in no mood to argue or demand that I go home.

“The good news is that there were no complications. Everything is normal. You’re just going to be sore for the next couple of days. I’m going to give you a shot of morphine to take away the pain for the night and we have some oxy at the house in case you need it.”

With that information, they left while Becky prepped me to leave the facility. Soon I was back in my sweats and was being wheeled out to Janelle’s car in a wheelchair. Janelle and Becky helped me get into the car. After arriving at the Levine’s, Flora helped Janelle get me upstairs to the guest room where I fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning I woke up in real pain. I went in to use the bathroom and saw my reflection. I looked like a mummy with most of my face wrapped in gauze. My lips were swollen and I could tell there was bruising underneath my eyes. I was wearing some kind of weird bra. When I sat down to urinate I could see a little bruising on my hip area. The worst part was that I didn’t have any panties on and my male appendage was unsecured. I was so used to tucking that it felt strange. The next 2 days I was treated like a queen. Flora made me breakfast, lunch, and dinner and served me in bed.  Janelle constantly checked in on me to see if I was okay. Soon it was time to take me home.

Janelle walked me up the stairs one step at a time. I was a lot more alert but still not speaking or thinking very clearly. I was surprised that she had my keys. She must have taken them out of my purse at some point. But that didn’t bother me at all. We walked in and I looked around and thought I was in another apartment.

“Wait, is this my apartment?” I asked. I looked around and there was a couch in the living area along with a coffee table. The twin bed I had in my bedroom was up against a wall in the living room area with new throw pillows on it.

“Yes, honey. This is your apartment. Now come with me.” She took me by the arm and led me to my bedroom.

“Oh my god! Girl, Janelle! What did you do?”

Janelle had taken my keys and bought me a brand new queen-sized bed with 2-night tables on either side and 2 matching lamps. I started to cry.

“Oh, don’t cry honey. It’s the least I could do for all the help you’ve given Richard and I.”

“But,”

“But nothing. You just lay your pretty little self down and relax. I got you some pre-made meals in the fridge so all you have to do is stick them in the microwave.”

“Thank you, Janelle. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

“You’re not a friend. You’re my sister.” With that, Janelle kissed me goodbye.

For the next couple of days, I would get visits from Janelle and Giselle. Soon I started to come out of the side effects of the anesthesia. The swelling in my lips went down and so did the bruising around my eyes. I followed Richard’s instructions on my aftercare to the tee. Eating correctly and drinking lots of water. Giselle visited me often and sat and talked with me for hours. We watched TV and talked about men, the plight of trans women, and fashion. Janelle would visit or call almost every day.

Soon it was time to take the bandages and the weird restricting bra off. Janelle came and picked me up to take me to the office. Finding a top that would fit what seemed now like monster breasts was difficult. But I found a loose-fitting top that hung over my rear end. I wore some yoga pants and made my way with Janelle to Richard’s office; a place that I would soon call my place of employment. Once inside the exam room, he took off the bandages.

“Uh-huh,” he said, looking carefully at his work and lightly putting his fingers around my forehead. “Okay, that looks good.”

He worked his way down to my neck and looked at the scar from the tracheal shave.

“Well, all looks good from the neck up. Do you want to see?” handing me a mirror.

I looked and at first, I took a gasp. I was still swollen around the eyes with some still leftover bruising. My nose was different, my eyebrows were higher on my forehead than they used to be. My cheeks were still swollen but my lips were very different. They seemed bigger but he didn’t inject anything in them.

“Now all of this is not healed yet you need another 4 weeks before you really see the work. Now I need you to take off your bra.”

“You mean I get to take this contraption off? Thank God!”

I slowly unhooked the bra. As I took it off my breasts seemed to pop out like a jack in the box!

“Oh my,” I exclaimed.

Richard examined them and felt to make sure there was no swelling from infection and all looked good.

“Now finally I need to look at your hips,” Richard said. I took off my Yoga pants and showed him my hips. Standing there I felt a little weird having Janelle’s husband see me standing there in just a pair of panties. He examined me and all looked good.

“Now, I normally don’t do all of these surgeries at once. It’s not a good practice in my field but since we need our Wonder Woman here in a couple of weeks and you’re like family to us, I went and did it anyway. You’re healing up very nicely but I want you to keep on taking the antibiotic but at a lower dose. Now you get out and get plenty of rest.”

“Thank you, Richard,” I said. “Can I give you a kiss?”

“Sure,” he said as I got up and gave him a light peck on his cheek,”

New Job And A New Life.

The weeks passed and spring turned into summer. It was now June and I was well past a year when I first started my transition. Everything was healing up nicely and I was able to finally see the results of the surgeries. There was no hint of me ever being born a boy except for what was between my legs. I now had a bit of an hourglass figure. I measured myself and I was 38-25-36. The swelling in my face disappeared and I could see how the surgery totally feminized my face.

It was nothing drastic. I still looked like myself but gone was the maleness in me. Especially in my thinking. I couldn’t even imagine that I was ever once a scrawny teenage boy who played video games in High School with no friends. I thought to myself, “I wish Denise could see me now!” I was in the final stages of my name change process and I was starting a new job that summer. With some of the money that I earned I was able to boost my wardrobe; mainly work clothes. With my new looks, it seemed like a whole world opened up for me.

I wasn’t filled with that nagging anxiety when I went out wondering whether I would “pass” or not. I did more than pass though. This was a new phase in my life. Almost every day I would catch men looking at me lustfully. I admit I enjoyed the attention somewhat. But then there were other times when it was downright creepy. I would speak to men and they wouldn’t look at me in my eyes. Instead, they would look down at my breasts.

(My First Pic after surgery),

Kiera was texting me every week to check on me. I asked her if she had told Mom and Dad and said she did but didn’t tell them everything. We did talk back in June and I told her all about the surgeries and the new job I was about to start. She seemed a little hesitant in her response.

I started to hang out regularly with Giselle and at times Chelsea too. We would frequent the Golden Slipper as well as make some shopping trips together. It was nice to have trans women as friends.

I started working after the July 4th holiday. It was a good time to start because the office was less busy during the summer months. It didn’t mean that I was less busy. I had to learn an entirely new job that I had no experience doing. However, with the training Doris was giving me I picked up pretty fast. I think that the worst part of the job was the commute. Although the commute was only a half hour by car, it was over an hour by bus. One day I arrived almost 15 minutes late even though I took my regular bus route.

I thought perhaps I should try to get a car soon to cut down on the stress of public transportation. The problem was that I only had a state ID and I needed a driver’s license. I didn’t want to get my new license in my old name. So I continued to ride the bus every day.

After work one day I got a call from my Mother.

“Hello?” I answered the phone.

“Kenny is that you?”

“Mom?”

“Kenny, what’s wrong with your voice?”

“Nothing Mom,”

“You sound like a woman?”

“Mom, didn’t Kiera talk to you?”

“Yes, she did. That’s why I’m calling. I’m very worried about you. Kiera told me that you’re now going out in public dressed up like a woman. How did that happen? And why did you break up with Denise?”

“First of all, I didn’t break up with Denise. Denise broke up with me. And there’s more to it than what Kiera told you.”

“Well, what’s going on then?”

“Mom, do you remember when I was a child how I used to try to wear Kiera’s clothes?”

“Yes, I remember. And I used to beat you for it too.”

“Mom, I want to tell you this; I used to pray to God every night that I would wake up the next morning as a girl.”

“But honey, that was just a phase you were going through!”

“No Mom, it wasn’t a phase. I continued dressing in girls' clothes, trying on makeup all the way through High School. I thought that perhaps if I went out with Denise it would cure me. But it didn’t. It only made it worse. When Denise found out about me, she abandoned me and left me for another guy. Now because I was running from who I really am I hurt so many people and I wasted part of Denise’s life.”

“Okay but why couldn’t you just be gay. That would be a little easier to accept.”

“Mom, you have to accept the fact that I’m Transgender. In other words, I was born a boy but with the brain and the feelings of a girl.”

“I just don’t understand it. Why do you have to punish me and your father? I don’t think God wanted you to be this way.”

“Mom, God made me this way. I had to finally accept that. Why can’t you just love me for who I am?” I said as I started sobbing. There was a long silence while I sobbed. Fighting to speak through my tears, “Did you know when I was in High School I wanted to kill myself? I wanted to kill myself because I couldn’t be like other boys. I couldn’t play sports, I couldn’t talk to girls. I wanted all of that but couldn’t have it. I didn’t even like girls in High School.”

“I’m sorry son. I didn’t know. How come you didn’t tell me?”

“I couldn’t tell you, Mom. You were too busy going to church and preaching the word of God to everyone you met. Once you joined that church it was like that was all you cared about. You didn’t even care about me and Kiera!” I went from sobbing to raising my voice and back again. I continued. “If you love me you’ll love me whatever I am. Not because I fit inside your belief system.”

There was a long silence as I tried to dry my tears. Finally, my mother spoke. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were going through all of this. It’s news to me. And believe me, you’re my child, I’ll always love you, honey. You should know that.”

I had calmed myself down a bit, “I appreciate that Mom. But will you accept me for who I am?”

“Yes, I will,” my mother said, as she spoke, fighting through tears. “Would it be alright if I come down to see you? Maybe on a weekend. But I don’t think your father is ready.”

“That would be okay Mom. Maybe you should make the trip with Kiera. You both can stay here with me. I have enough room.”

“Okay, I’ll ask Kiera and see if she would be willing to make the trip with me. Tell me something, are you eating alright? Do you need anything?”

“Yes, I’m eating fine. I have money and a good job now. So no, I don’t need anything. I’ve managed to be able to take care of myself very well. The only thing is you have to tell me when you’re coming so I can get that Saturday off. It would be a shame for you to come and we only have a chance to spend one day together.”

“Okay, I will let you know. I love you, son,” she said.

“I love you too Mom,”

The next day Kiera texted me and said that they could come down the following weekend. I was a bit nervous about both Kiera's and my Mom’s reactions to the change in my appearance since they last saw me. I was able to get the following Saturday off because Doris would cover for me. Now I just needed to get mentally prepared for my family coming to town.