Farewell Thailand

Local time: Monday, 10.08pm

This evening, I had my final appointment at the clinic. Dr Suporn removed a couple more stitches, and trimmed another couple to be less likely to spike me. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about the fresh stitches from Friday's revision; I say unfortunately because they're the ones with their little prongs sticking up, encircling the clitoris, which is still hypersensative from the surgery.

Dr Suporn also asked if I'd like to be taken through the surgery photos. I've studied enough SRS surgical photos to have been desensitized to the sights, and I was curious about my own surgery, so I said yes. And maybe it was because they looked like all the other SRS photos I'd seen, or maybe because I'm already forgetting what it's like to carry the old apparatus, but I found myself pretty detached to what he showed me. It was a little as though they weren't pictures of me at all. At any rate I now have a CD of the pics, just for record keeping's sake cos there sure ain't any sentimental value there.

There was also an appointment with Mrs Suporn, who is very much the type of Great Woman you might find behind a Great Man. (She explained that her three children being daughters was just another sign that Dr Suporn "specialises in making girls".) What was the appointment for? Well, some topical anaesthetic cream (EMLA) and thirty minutes waiting time later, and she'd pierced my ears and given me little silver dragonfly sleepers! Apparently she was once a nurse, and now it's just something she does for you if you ask nicely. So my ears are finally pierced! Cool! Hurt a bit more than a blood test but less than an average vaccine injection. The pain in my ear lobes is a souvenir to remember her by, is how she described it, just as the pain down below is something to remember Dr Suporn by. When put like that, it's kinda hard to convince people that I'm not masochistic.

There were a lot of goodbyes after that. Mum handed the clinic girls some chocolates we'd bought them as thanks for all their help, and we took a few photos of everyone. They presented me with a going-away souvenir: a beautiful, enormous scented candle made to look like a floral arrangement. Also, I received copies of the medical certificate saying I'd had the surgery, along with the hospital reports. I gave Dr Suporn my heartfelt thanks and goodbyes, to which he responded by smiling and reminding me that the next month of recovery is going to be difficult. >_<

Mum and I stopped by a hawker stall for dinner on the way back to the hotel, and I performed what will be my last dilation for the next 36 hours or so before we packed everything save for the basics we'd need tomorrow.

We're leaving Chon Buri at 5am. Time to get some shut-eye!