Running the gauntlet

(Image caption: Obstacle Course To The Voting Booth art print by Brendan Loper.  A cartoon image showing various obstacles, such as tyre rings and burning hoops.)

Back when I made my appointment to meet Dr Stephenson in January, I didn't think about the steps that would come afterwards. I think if I had, it would have been overwhelming, and the surgery would have been put off for another ten years. By the end of that appointment, we had picked a surgery date of the 7th March, and then I just had to get on with it.

When you have a surgery like this, you have to show that you are certain you want it done, and demonstrate that you have taken time to consider it, or back out. Before the surgery could go ahead, I had to have a second consultation, which ended up being on my birthday, 26th February.

The appointment was short and straight forward, but it is not what I would have liked to be doing on that day. Unfortunately there were no other appointments available, and so I made the best of it.

I also had to have a separate appointment with the hospital nurse. As with Dr Stephenson, their time was a precious as gold dust, and they had only one slot available that I could feasibly attend. It was somewhat awkward, as I had to fit it in around a training session I was attending for work, and luckily the time slot just about fit in with their schedule.

And then, after the appointments were scheduled and later attended, I still had the biggest issue to deal with: how the heck was I going to pay for this? The surgery alone was £5,800, plus I had to pay separately for the consultations.

Early on I had seized on the idea of crowdfunding, but to date, I have only raised £100, from four very kind souls. I went out to family members, and got a 3rd of the money as a loan from one relative. After that, I had no other option to go to the bank.

I was very lucky to be approved for the amount that I requested within fifteen minutes. It was a carefully considered sum, taking into account money that I already had, my disposable income, and the possibility of needing emergency funds.

Now, the surgery is about five days away. Around this time, on Saturday 7th, I will be in the operating room. I feel ready.

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(Image caption: a person in a wedding dress with a tiny waist and very large, overflowing breasts, with a caption that says "just giving - lisasweddingbreasts - because not everyone can pull this off.")