06x01 - I Will Survive

[bunniefuu]

Last season on "I am jazz"...

[ Singsong voice ] today is the day of the surgery.

I love you.

Dr. Bowers: jazz is ready for the surgery.

Almost years she's waited.

Dr. Ting: I have an idea that I want to run by you.

For what? For jazz.

I'm not changing on the day of surgery.

This is a tough surgery

Because jazz's anatomy is different

Than most patients who have this surgery.

Dr. Bowers: she never developed enough penile skin

To create a vag*na.

I think it's pretty good considering, right?

-I think it's really good. -Darn, it's good.

It's a pretty vag*na.

I'm gonna send this picture that I just took

Over to him.

Jazz: overnight, my vag*na just, like, changed.

I don't want that last stitch to pop

And then everything will just go whoosh.

Dr. Ting: we need to intervene.

Skin graft, we suture it, something.

Not the way it was supposed to be.

Jeanette: are you nervous this morning, dad,

About your ablation surgery?

Jack: nobody likes to have catheters

Stuck up their groin into their heart.

-Greg? -Yeah?

Things went really bad.

He was bleeding and they called in a special surgeon.

My dad is fighting for his life in emergency surgery.

I need to be there for my mom.

Greg: okay. I know. I know.

I kind of have some big news. Your girl got a boyfriend.

Jeanette: I've never seen her actually like a boy.

Ahmir: my mom is not actually as accepting

As I originally thought she would be.

Get off the phone.

Jazz: I don't know what this means for our relationship.

Sometimes I just feel like

I'm not ready to commit to something fully.

Do you want to break up?

Dr. Bowers: healing is coming along.

But it doesn't look like what I wanted to see.

It's gonna require a new skin graft.

I knew it was gonna be a long process,

But this news is just really devastating.

--Captions by vitac-- www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

Dr. Ting: jazz? We brought your family.

I'll be back tonight to check on her.

-Okay. Great. -We'll see you guys later.

-Bye, dr. Ting. Thank you. -Okay.

She's still out of it.

Jeanette: you okay? You don't have to say anything.

We just want to let you know we're here, okay?

Let's just let her be. I don't think she's awake yet.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

[ Moans ]

You in pain? She's in pain.

Greg: what hurts? What's the matter?

What's bothering you? Get the nurse in here.

Sander: can we get a nurse in here?

We need a nurse, now.

♪♪

Wow, it's beautiful.

Greg: this looks like a nice spot.

Alright, you guys had the blankets.

[ Plastic creaking ]

Hey...excuse you.

Grandma farted.

This chair is like a whoopee cushion.

[ Laughter ]

Oh, god.

Jazz: today the boys are turning .

They are officially legal,

And we are celebrating at the beach.

It's been a while since the whole family

Has come together like this, grandparents included,

And it's a lot of fun.

It's not gonna work. It's too windy.

Jazz: yeah, sander, from that angle,

It might work.

-Okay. -Yay.

It's not gonna work.

Jacky: you guys need a blowtorch.

Cake by the ocean.

It's a nice idea,

But there's no way my mom's getting these candles lit.

There we go. One, two, three.

No, I got some. Look, look, look.

Happy birthday! Blow!

I'm just like, "mom, I'm .

Let's just start drinking."

Yes.

There we go, party!

Jacky: now we can have a good time.

These are your first sh*ts of being ?

-Yeah! -Yeah.

You guys, you've given us pride and joy

All the way since you were young.

We love you. Happy st birthday.

Amen to that. Cheers.

He's the man. Huge beast.

Cheers.

Jazz: of course, everyone is drinking right now.

And because I'm the only underage one,

I'm not allowed to drink,

But I'm just enjoying my life sober

While everyone else here is getting crazy.

Hey, grandpa, you take a lemon drop.

I'll take a lemon drop any day.

Toast to my brother, griffen.

I could not have made it to my st

Without drinking a sip of alcohol

This whole way without him

Making me feel drunk all the time on life.

Jeanette: drunk on life. High on life.

I keep saying, "get drunk on life."

When I start thinking about how old they are...

And in reality, jeanette and I started to court

When we were getting at that age.

Oh, my god, did you just say "court"?

What do you want me to say? We started to bop?

[ Laughs ]

Greg: this is a big year.

I mean, sander's talking about graduating this year.

Griffen is gonna be graduating this year.

Ari's gonna be getting into a master's program,

Deciding where to go.

Jazz is graduating high school this year.

Jazz has to decide what college she's going to this year.

There is a lot happening this year.

You didn't mention the surgery that I'm getting this year.

That seems like every year, so...

[ Laughter ]

Last year, I had the gender confirmation surgery,

And it didn't go too well.

I had a severe case of wound separation

Because everything was too tight.

At one point, there was no skin whatsoever,

And it was literally like red flesh and wounds.

I don't want to get too graphic.

How are you feeling, sweetheart? How are you?

Well, I am fully healed and recovered.

In terms of the aesthetics, it doesn't look quite right,

So they're gonna touch it up, revise it, restructure things.

I'm leaving for new york in a week

To get a third procedure to make a labia

And just restructure everything

So that it's more aesthetically pleasing.

I understand that sander doesn't even know

What a labia is. Do you know what it is?

Grandpa, you don't need to call me out like that.

Greg: he didn't go to medical school.

No, I'm gonna explain it to you.

It's the gateway to paradise.

[ Laughs ]

Jacky: we lost mama.

We have been on the surgical journey forever.

I never thought she'd be going back in

For another surgery, like, a few months

Before she's supposed to go to college.

Like, that's crazy.

How are you gonna make these decisions

About where to go to college?

Well, I still have time for that.

Jazz: I wasn't always sure

If I was gonna go to college or not

Because I'm just kind of lazy,

And learning, it requires a lot of effort.

I'm not gonna lie, but I realized

That I can't bag out like that.

I can't just be lazy.

I have to get a high-quality education.

So my two dream schools are harvard and pomona.

Greg: what's going on in here?

We are here ready to see if I got into pomona or not.

[ All cheering ]

Okay, harvard.

[ Gasps ]

"Congratulations."

[ All cheering ]

Greg: I am incredibly proud of jazz.

She has had so many obstacles in her way.

Going into kindergarten, when you have uniforms,

The school wanted her to dress a certain way,

And we had to fight for that.

Then when she had to go to the bathroom,

We had to fight for her right to go to the girl's bathroom.

So many things that could have made her not succeed,

Yet there she is,

A straight-a student accepted into harvard.

I don't even know what to feel.

That's harvard. [ Screams ]

It's gonna be hard to make a decision

Because I feel like this completely changes

The course of my life.

Whatever decision that I make

Will lead me to a different path,

But it's a good problem to have.

Everyone, take another drink.

Can we drink to grandpa's health?

Jeanette: this is yummy.

That grandpa's doing really well.

Jack: I think I'm back to normal.

I'm glad you're doing well, grandpa.

That makes me happy to hear.

Jack: I had a life-threatening situation.

It was six months ago.

I survived that. We survived that.

I think jacky was more frightened than I was,

But I'm in perfect health right now,

As much as one can be at my age.

I have to convince everybody that I'm alive,

And I plan to stay that way for a while.

-You look good. -Well, you know what?

Jack: it's very hard to keep up with you guys

As far as looking good.

If I could look good in this crowd,

This beautiful family, I'm delighted.

This past year was probably

The toughest year of our lives

With jazz and the surgery.

And then right in the middle,

The terrible, awful incident with my dad's heart.

I realized with the whole family,

You know, life is short and valuable,

And we need to love each other

And be with each other as much as possible.

Jack: okay. Cheers to the next years.

And I hope we can make it.

-Yay! -Yay!

♪♪

-Hey! -Hello!

What's up? What's up?

Oh, my god, we match.

We do.

Kaci has been my girl for so long now.

I just feel like we always understand each other

And are on the same page.

And I'm really, really lucky to have a friend as amazing as her.

I need to get my dose of vitamin d right now

Because I'm gonna be in a hospital bed,

Like, really soon.

Well, like how's everything, like, down there?

The number-one problem that needs to be resolved

With this surgery is my clitoris

Is a couple inches too high right now.

It's like a second belly button.

Okay, maybe not that extreme.

Oh, my gosh.

But it's a little high up.

So they have to bring that down.

They're gonna restructure the exterior of my vulva,

Build a labia minora and a labia majora.

They're just gonna fix everything honestly.

Kaci: hearing all these explicit details

About jazz's vag*na right now is a little bit alarming.

I think that the surgeons made a lot of promises to jazz,

So I really hope they're gonna work hard

To make sure that they fulfill those promises by making sure

Jazz is gonna come out looking great and happy.

I wanted it to be, like, a one-and-done procedure.

I've had two surgeries already

And this is going to be the third,

But I'm accepting it for what it is.

This is my journey.

This is what my body had to do.

And honestly I'm just happy to have a vag*na.

Welcome to the club.

I know, a true woman.yeah.

I'm hoping that this is the last surgery

And that I'll be done with the whole vag*na saga.

I actually invited ahmir

To visit me in the hospital for my surgery.

Mm-hmm. -Oh, gosh.

Jazz: ahmir and I are not together anymore.

I just wasn't ready for the type of commitment

He was looking for, but I invited him to come

Because I wanted his support as a friend.

From the beginning, I kind of always saw your relationship

As, like, a learning experience for you

And I know that now... Me too.

I've been trying to maintain a friendship with him,

But he was just, like, he does not want to be my friend

Unless I at least consider the idea

Of getting back together with him.

I'm just like, "you can't say that."

That's really bad.

You can't force someone to feel a certain way.

Yeah. That's so bad.

Pretty soon after I invited ahmir to new york,

I started questioning the wisdom of that decision

Because he's not handling the breakup very well.

He just kind of feels like I betrayed him.

So I'm trying to give him space,

But I also want to be able to make everything okay,

So I just don't know what to do right now.

I made it very clear to him.

I'm like, "look, I only want you coming

If you know that I just want to be friends.

I don't want this to be you trying to pitch your way back

Into the relationship or anything like that."

I think it's okay as long as

If he tries to break that barrier with you,

You say, "okay, I let you know that this is what I wanted

And you obviously disrespected that.

I'm gonna have to just not talk to you at all."

Honestly, I might just need to tell him to leave.

I think I'd be able to do it

If he isn't really ready to see me as a friend.

I'm a little less euphoric arriving to new york this time.

There's a certain amount of just uncertainty

That you just have to account for.

If you don't have to cut this, why would you cut that?

We're gonna have to come to an understanding.

No, that's not true.

Come on, marci, let's not play that game.

Heading to new york.

♪♪

I'm a little less euphoric arriving to new york this time

Than I was during my original vaginoplasty.

Obviously the first time, it was the big surgery,

And now we're on the third surgery.

But I'm really glad that sander came to new york.

He is like one of my best friends,

And we're just gonna do fun things in the city.

The museum of sex.

♪♪

Pretty colors.

It's a bunch of pretty penises in here.

I don't know why my brother and I

Are going to the museum of sex.

Sander: jazz has her surgery coming up,

And I want to get her mind off it.

So no better place than a sex museum.

You know, I love that we could just

Hang out at a museum like this

And it's not awkward anymore

'Cause you're not a child now.

Jazz: mm-hmm.

Jazz, look, look, lollipop.

Is that edible?

It is actually edible.

It's , calories.

Wow. It's a very...

Don't do that ever again, please.

Jazz is like, "ah, dildo lollipop.

Let me play with that."

I don't want to see it.

Do it in your own time.

-Okay. -Whoa.

This is what we came here for.

Hurry up, you're taking too long.

I'm sorry. Let's do it.

Yes!

Wah!

Never in my wildest dreams

Could I have imagined...

Jumping on boobs.

Jazz: it is so much fun.

Honestly, it definitely feels like I'm in another dimension.

On the boobs.

It's nice to have fun with your sister

And not always have to be worrying about

What's next for her

And what her next surgery will be like.

Alright, got us water. -Yes.

It was pretty fun. I love bounce houses.

It did get my mind off of the surgery,

But it also had my mind focused on the surgery

Because it's the museum of sex.

I'm, like, there were a lot of vaginas everywhere.

So is your goal at the end of this

To have the perfect vag*na?

No. I mean, going into this, I used to say that like,

"Oh, I'm gonna have the perfect vag*na..."

I remember. That's why I asked.

"...america's next top vag*na."

But, like, that whole idea

Of perfectionism is out of my hands.

There's no such thing as perfection in a vag*na.

Every vag*na looks different.

It's more important that it does its job

And I'm lucky that, like, the...

So you can have sex.

Yeah, exactly.

I mean, my biggest concern

Is I still haven't had an orgasm.

Many girls don't.

You can't orgasm or don't know how?

I can't believe I'm talking about this with you.

Jazz: while I don't usually

Talk about this stuff with my brother,

This is really one of the biggest things

Going on in my life.

I want to be able to orgasm one day.

No casual sex. Trust me.

When you actually care about the person,

It's so much better and so much more meaningful.

You're right. It's important to build a connection

With someone first and then have that experience.

Is that kind of what you do with ahmir?

Um, yeah.

One of the most valuable things

About my relationship with ahmir

Was that I was intimate with someone

For pretty much the first time in my life,

And I realized that I do have a libido.

You know, it's there.

I just need to figure out when it's stronger and more activated

And when I'm in that mood.

And I think that's how it is for everyone.

♪♪

Greg: it's nice and chilly out today, huh?

Yeah. Uh-oh.

Hello.

Why don't we sit down and relax a little bit?

I have to forewarn you,

Your butt's probably gonna get cold.

Jazz and sander are having a little sibling time.

So jeanette and I figured we'll take this opportunity

To go for a little stroll in the cold weather and chat.

And remember why we moved to florida.

This is much more pleasant

Than the last time we did this.

The weather sucks, but you know what?

Last time we were here sitting on a bench,

We were in a bad spot.

Jeanette: during jazz's recovery

After the first surgery,

It took a toll on me, especially since my dad,

In the middle of everything, almost lost his life.

And to this day, I'm still not the same.

Looking back and knowing what jeanette went through

While I was in florida and she was in new york,

I feel bad because I didn't even understand

The depth of the turmoil she felt.

And now I feel like

I'm better equipped to support her.

Do you think you're able to handle

What's about to happen?

The doctors have not seen what's going on down there,

And I'm hoping they're not shocked,

Like, "oh, my goodness, we didn't prepare for this.

Now we have to change our game plan."

Has dr. Bowers indicated anything to you

About the procedure?

I don't want to ask her a million questions

Until she sees jazz and examines her.

Jazz seems to be in a good place.

I think she's going into this in a positive frame of mind.

And I think that's really important.

Absolutely. We haven't even discussed

What's happening, like, with jazz and ahmir.

I'm sure he wants to see her and she's open to seeing him.

But the last thing she needs is more stress.

Greg: jazz and ahmir's relationship

Is like a extreme roller coaster.

It started off, like, "tchoo."

Like, right off the bat, they were going full speed.

Yeah. So bizarre.

For jazz to have surgery

And to not even have recovered from surgery

And to start a relationship was really mind-blowing.

She was in a wheelchair.

[ Laughing ] she started a relationship,

She couldn't even walk.

It's like he's gonna come as a supportive friend.

That would be nice for her to have that.

But it's got to be that.

If he comes in and gets her going,

Last thing we need is for her to be emotional or upset

While she's recovering.

Well, I don't know how you set parameters.

I'm gonna be like, "listen,

You can't upset her in any way, shape, or form.

If you're upset and having issues,

Then don't go in the room."

Jeanette: I think that this relationship

Was a good first relationship,

But they've had some rough patches.

And this is a really bad time for something like this.

I have tingling feelings in my rear end.

Why don't we get walking? I think if move it will be...

Wait, would you put your hand on and just tell me

If it's freezing?

Oh, like this, here. Is it cold?

It's squishy.

Oh, geez, it's supposed to be hard as a rock.

You've got a squishy tushy.

Do some lunges, firm it up.

Thanks, greg.

Let's go get warm. Let's find a fireplace.

♪♪

Well, here we are again.

Jazz: over the past several months, I have been sending

Dr. Bowers and dr. Ting photos, but it's been a little while now

Since they've last examined me in person.

So I think it's gonna be really good

For them to look at everything and get a game plan on

About how they're going to perform this operation.

Greg: I feel like we're near the end

Of the journey at this point,

And I do feel like this is gonna be the one

Where they're gonna say, "this is what we got to do

To finish everything up, complete the process

And let jazz go on her merry way."

Hello, knock, knock.

-Hello. -Hello.

What's up? Hugs.

How's my wonderful family?

Good to see you.

Jazz has had a very difficult surgical course.

She had a very incredible first surgery.

It went seemingly very well, but there were problems.

And that prompted a second surgery,

Which I was not a part of, unfortunately.

Yeah, this has been a real journey, hasn't it?

Mm-hmm.

You know, we knew it would be tough.

It turned out tougher than any of us imagined.

Taking jazz on as a patient for surgery,

We knew it was gonna be a one-of-a-kind surgery.

She's one of the first to have undergone

Complete pubertal suppression and lack of growth of the skin

And other tissues which we rely on

As surgeons to do this operation.

And we don't have the experience of having said,

"We've done of these."

I was just not expecting her to have a complication

As severe as what she did have.

I think in hindsight, we would have never sent you home

From the hospital.

[ Sighs ]

You know, easy to say now.mm-hmm.

Yeah.

When I wasn't here, when you had problems and had to go back,

I can't tell you how stressful that was.

Hmm. [ Chuckles ]

I'm not sure.

It's nice to hear, "I did something,"

Acknowledging that.

On the other hand,

There's the medical side and an expectation

That really should have been met.

-Can we take a look? -Yes.

-Can we examine you? -Let's do the examination.

Dr. Ting: okay, so we'll let you change.

Jeanette: we're not doctors,

But we've had a chance to actually view

What went on in the o.r. During jazz's first surgery.

And it's pretty disconcerting in certain ways.

It's like, "whoa!

This is what occurs while jazz is having her surgery

And the doctors sometimes don't see eye to eye."

To see that much information about what was going on

Is almost information I prefer I had never seen.

I will say that I feel like things

Should happen in a more methodical way.

This needs to advance more because we're off center.

Dr. Bowers: this has to come down here.

I mean, this is off center.

See, this is tilted.

So that in order to get this midline,

We need to bring that down more

And that will centralize this.

I think we're seeing the same thing.

I'm happy. I have a good sense of what we need to do.

Let me just take a picture, too.

Poor thing.

You could be a p*rn star for all the photos we've taken.

[ Laughter ]

God, I'm so sorry. I did not say that.

We have to just keep joking around here.

Otherwise we won't get through.

God knows, if we didn't laugh in the last six months,

We wouldn't have made it.

I guess I'll get dressed again.

You get dressed again.

I am happy she has feeling in the area

And the tissues have matured very nicely,

But I have some concern that we can get enough mobility

Of the tissues that we can make

The labial structures look convincing.

Now that you've seen it, do you feel good?

I feel good.

The only problem is,

Is there is a limited amount of skin,

But these scars now will make them better and neater.

We won't make new scars.

And I know you hate scars. I know.

I hate scars. Yeah.

So last time, the major complication

Was the dehiscence,

The stitches started coming apart.

How likely do you think that's gonna happen again?

It's always possible.

I have optimism that it won't need another surgery.

Just based on...this will be the last one.

This will be the last one, but there's a certain amount

Of just uncertainty in that you just have to account for.

Okay.well, I wanted to know

Will I lose any sort of sensation there?

Nerve endings, I don't know?

There is always a chance

That there could be injury to the clitoris.

Yeah.

Jeanette: I was just gonna ask about that.

That's the biggest thing I'm worried about.

Jazz: I feel like I've already lost the aesthetics.

Hopefully after this revision, it will look good once it heals,

But if I lose some of my sensation and nerve endings,

I might never experience an orgasm.

I guess it's goodbye time.mm-hmm.

Until tomorrow.

Until tomorrow.

Okay. One more hug.

Jazz: I'm feeling pretty confident

That they're gonna pull it off

And that tomorrow's surgery will be good enough

And that I'll be happy with the results.

So I'm hoping for the best

And that this will be the last operation.

To be continued.

♪♪

Hello. What's up?

You look so beautiful.you too.

Several months ago, I was in a film

About the transgender bathroom issue called "denim."

Tonight is the premiere,

And it's a good distraction from tomorrow's surgery.

Sander: I want to take a picture of you guys

In front of the sign and stuff.

That's your face.

That is my face. Oh, my goodness.

Jazz: the reason why I wanted to get involved with this film

Is not because I wanted to be an actress,

But rather, the film has a message

That I'm so passionate about.

In elementary school, I was told to use the nurse's restroom

Rather than the girls' bathroom because I was trans.

That was really the first time

That I faced discrimination in my life.

I feel like it's so important to share these stories

Because a lot of the times, they're just swept under the rug

And no one really hears

What it's like to be a transgender youth.

Lady.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my gosh. Congratulations.

Thank you for coming.

Absolutely, honey.

Peppermint: I met jazz for the first time

When she came to visit me at my broadway show,

"Head over heels."

We clicked right away.

And so I wanted to come and support her

At her movie premiere for "denim."

I just don't even know what to feel right now.

Jeanette: don't be nervous, jazz.

I can sense it.

Greg: jazz is very anxious and nervous

Because she feels strongly about the project

And I think she's, like, her biggest critic.

Hello, everybody. Hi.

[ Cheers and applause ]

I want to welcome you to the first-ever screening

Of "denim," the film.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Making a film about this subject is certainly controversial

And we've gotten a lot of backlash from it,

But then there's so many people who have reached out to us

And told us how much it means to them

That we're making a film to represent them.

What we're doing is actually important,

And it's making a difference

And we're excited to see what happens with it from here.

So thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Jazz:my name is micayla greene, and I'm .

Today is march th.

The day I went from being considered

A regular high school student to a sex offender.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm shaking a little bit.

I'm not the most confident about my acting abilities,

But I just have to not worry about that

Because ultimately it's all about the message of the film.

Thanks to a recent google search,

I learned that there are quite a few different ways

That you can become a legit sex offender.

Greg: it's kind of cool

To see your kid on a big screen,

But, you know, not withstanding jazz is in it,

This movie is really important.

It tells a great story and in a great way.

[Camera shutter clicks]

I have photographic evidence

That you're a chick with a [bleep]

You know, my dad's a cop.

Maybe I should just call him up

And let him know how violated I feel with you in here.

Greg: what this movie does is it lets you step

Into the shoes of a high-school student

Who goes through an horrific event.

There's a lot of discussion in society

About use of bathrooms and things like that,

But it's not just that.

It's really just about people

Being allowed to be who they are.

I don't know why that's such a hard concept.

Now, really, do I look like a sex offender to you?

[Siren wailing]

[ Cheers and applause ]

All I could feel is a sense of relief

About how the audience is reacting.

That was fantastic.

Thank you. Did you love it?

It makes me feel proud.

That was really good.

I had never seen the whole thing!

To be a part of a project that I feel, like, is so meaningful

And has the ability to speak out and represent

So many trans youth voices out there,

I feel like that's amazing.

Did you guys like the film?

-I loved it. -Loved it.

Absolutely great.

In the end, I was all teary eyed.

I'm glad that you're happy with it

Because you being involved in the project

Really brought it to life,

And I'm so thankful for that.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.thank you.

♪♪

♪♪

Sander: how are we feeling, miss jasmine?

Tired, but ready for surgery.

♪♪

Greg: do you have any thoughts?

No, I'm just gonna go with it.

I don't have to do anything except fall asleep.

[ Jeanette laughs ]

Hello.

Hey, welcome back.good to see you.

Jeanette: right now, I'm just feeling

Kind of like flash-backy

To when this happened before.

Here we are again in the hospital

And it's just strange. It's like a déjà vu.

And I'm trying to push that away because I want to be positive

And that was a really tough experience

And I don't want to think about it.

I'm just ready to go.

The waiting part is the hardest.

Good morning. Anyone home?

Hello, good morning.

Good morning.

Dr. Bowers: going into the surgery,

Because we had problems before,

I'm confident, but I'm also very cautious.

I have a good plan in my mind,

But we're gonna take additional precautions.

And we're gonna be really careful

Because we're not celebrating until she's three, four,

Five, six months out.

I just want to make sure

That we don't have any issues like last time.

Great. Yeah.

-Knock knock. -Come in.

-Hello. -Hello, good morning.

-Hello, good morning. -There she is.

What's up?

-Should we go? -Yep.

Dr. Ting: you're getting a two-doctor escort.

Jeanette: it's a little different than last time.

We're walking to the o.r.

Dr. Ting: do you want to say goodbye? This is it.

This is the goodbye? Alright.

Well, jazz, right from the start,

And through all of her complications

Has just had a fantastic attitude,

So she's in a good place.

She's optimistic, she's prepared,

And hopefully things will come out well.

♪♪

She'll be okay.

I know. It's just a lot.

I'm hoping for a non-eventful,

Positive surgery

Where jazz comes out and the doctors say,

"Everything went exactly as planned."

And they don't have any "buts" along the way.

Yeah, and jazz lives happily ever after.

♪♪

Dr. Ting: nervous?

Mm. Not as nervous as I was the first time.

This is a piece of cake.i feel good.

I know everything's gonna turn out great.

Dr. Ting: there are risks with surgery.

It's a little less risky than her last one,

But it's gonna be challenging.

We have to get things repositioned

And I don't know how tight it will be,

If we'll be able to close her incisions,

If she'll need a skin graft.

Moving the clitoris,

You have to preserve its nerves and blood supply.

So there are a lot of things that have to go perfectly

For her to have a beautiful aesthetic result.

Dr. Bowers: and the trick is how to recruit anything here

To create some kind of labia minora.

That's the hardest part for me.

Well, bringing this down here will make this more lax

Because this'll go that way. Same thing here.

Can we put some local in the scars?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Jess, we're gonna have to have one voice.

Let's wait. I want to get a pen

And I'll mark and I'll show you what I'm gonna do.

We specifically chose mount sinai

Because it has a multidisciplinary setting,

Where we have lots of expertise from different specialties,

But ultimately,

In a surgery-like secondary revision or labioplasty,

There needs to be one cook in the kitchen.

I feel a responsibility

Of we aren't quite to the finish line yet,

And I need to get her there.

I was wanting to mobilize miticides

Because I was focused on this trying to get through that.

Yeah, but we do all of our scars.

We just need to open this all up.

But we're gonna have --

And then we'll see how much laxity we have.

It's unusual to have two surgeons on a surgery like this.

Jazz was a very special case.

Her surgery was unlike any that we had really done before.

Let's use the local now.

Dr. Bowers has done more of these operations

Than just about anyone on the planet.

So it's great to have that experience.

I bring to the table a different background.

As a plastic surgeon,

We're always moving tissues around.

So I think that when we put our heads together,

We can get the best of both worlds.

This little thing she thought was weird

And I kind of agree.

So I think if we can just excise that...

Okay. Can I get a pair of iris scissors please?

We're just excising a little area of scar.

Suture please.

Isn't it beautiful?

Yeah.

So vag*na, check.

Jeanette: I think we're gonna be waiting a while.

I think it's gonna be like three hours.

The doctor seemed confident.

They seem confident. Yeah.

Everything's gonna be alright.

Jeanette: I'm on pins and needles watching the clock

And wondering what's going on.

I won't lie. In the back of my head

Is still that safety net of being prepared

For something to go weird.

I'm trying to push it away

Because I want the positive energy

And I want that surrounding jazz,

But I've been b*rned before.

I mean, I hope once this is all done that she recovers,

That surgical procedures are in the past.

Okay, now the challenge,

This clitoris needs to be down here.

So we're undermining the skin

So that the skin has mobility.

Dr. Ting: go down the fascia.

Go straight down.

Marci.

The big thing here is overcoming skin tension,

Bringing in enough skin to get things back to the center

Because she's asymmetrical.

The clitoris relies on a very, very small nerve

To give it its sensation

And moving the clitoris is a little dangerous.

So we have to be really careful.

There may be a wedge of tissue

We have to take out here.

Well, we need to open up along here.

-Oh, yes. -So we have to bring that down.

Oh, yes.

Can I get a blade please?

Well, why don't we leave this part for later?

Let's just open that up and see what it looks like first.

Why are you cutting there?

Right here?yeah, why?

Because it's scar, jess, I don't like it.

Yeah, but there's scar everywhere.

If you don't have to cut this, why would you cut that?

We could just advance it to there.

Jess, let me go.

But it doesn't make any sense, why do you need to cut that?

It makes -- because this is a disfiguring scar.

How do you know? It's not a disfiguring scar.

These are the two labia.

I mean, you may be right, but we don't know.

Jess.why don't we just open this up

And then see what this looks like?

I mean, this is your idea,

And it was a brilliant idea but i...

I'm just saying once you cut it, you burn your bridge.

There's no bridge to burn. I wanted this out anyway.

This is scar. This does not look good.

This is all scar. Everything here is scar.

Alright.

We're not cutting out every scar.

We just need to centralize this.

We're gonna have to come to an understanding.

There's gonna have to be one driver.

No, that's not true. Come on, marci.

We're in it together.

We're two surgeons here. We both have opinions.

I know. I'm not gonna do anything without your blessing.

There's not one driver. There are two surgeons.

Let's not play that game.

No egos on the line here.

This is not about egos.

This is about doing what's best for the patient.

And that's why I'm doing this.

So if you think that's not true,

Then we need to step away.

Dr. Bowers: no egos on the line.

This is not about egos.

This is about doing what's best for the patient.

And that's why I'm doing this.

I think you think that's what's best.

That's not necessarily what I think.

You want to cut that, go ahead and cut it.

I'm gonna cut it.

Dr. Bowers: dr. Ting and I

Got into it a little bit in the surgery

Over a small area of skin,

Actually scar that was to be excised.

He didn't like what I was doing,

Or maybe in the order I was doing it,

And, you know, I had to stand my ground.

So that's done.

So just let that go.

Dr. Ting: I think we both wanted the same result,

And we both were gonna end up in the same place,

But we differed in opinion on how to get there.

And I think marci's not used to operating

With another attending.

She's usually alone,

And she calls the sh*ts for everything.

-Alright. -Hold it while...

Alright.

You guys are picking on me.

I need your love and support.

You have my love and support.

Okay. Now how far down?

I could use advice there. Is that reasonable?

Mm-hmm.

Ultimately, we have a very good relationship.

We're pretty much like husband and wife in a sense.

Kind of work husband and wife.

There was never any question,

We always had our eyes on jazz's wellbeing and her outcome.

See, this is a good collaboration.

Do you want some local in there?

Sure.

[ Knock on door ]

Jeanette: come in.

Hi, how are you?hi.

They sent me down from the o.r.

I just wanted to give you an update.

Oh, yes.

The surgery is going very well.

He figures about an hour, maybe a little bit more.

Wonderful.

I'm looking forward to seeing jazz.

Hopefully she's...

Well, usually she's just coming out of anesthesia

So she's a little humorous.

What happened?

You had your surgery, baby.

I have a boner.

[ Gasps ]

And then after the first vaginoplasty,

She came out with a big smile.

It's a girl.

I wonder what she's gonna be like

When she comes out of surgery this time.

Dr. Bowers: I think this clitoris is fantastic,

And it's very feminine.

Dr. Bowers: we are very happy about the state of the clitoris.

When we freed it from its attachments,

We found that it comes down very nicely into an area

Where we think it should be.

And we have to create labia minora.

Dr. Ting: maybe we shouldn't plicate the labia today.

Too much tension.

You really think so?

Yeah. Bring it back for another day.

We're gonna have to tell them

They have to do a fourth surgery.

Okay.

♪♪

Greg: so what is it? : Now. She went --

Jeanette: we should be hearing from them any minute.

Started surgery a little after :, right?

Yeah. I like to be there when she does wake up,

But I don't think they want the --

Yeah, but I think they like to make sure she's stabilized.

Hey, hey.

-Oh, look who it is. -Oh, my goodness.

-We're finished. -Hi.

We've been waiting anxiously.

Yes, we took our time. Really wanted it right.

But it went fantastic.

How does it look?so much better.

I mean, it's all nice and symmetrical.

Things just look tremendous.

I know she had that on the right side.

She had that one bigger scar.

-It's gone. -It's gone.

It's gone? So what'd you -- just, like, throw it away?

-Yeah. -Yeah.

Dr. Bowers: but the most dramatic thing

Was we didn't know how the clitoris would look

Because it was so pulled back inside.

Yeah. But it's beautiful.

Dr. Ting: and it moved very easily.

Yeah. There's no chance of it

Having any diminished feeling

Or any problems with that. -Oh, good.

Sander: so overall, would you say today was a big success?

Huge success.

So you're very happy and you got everything?

Well, you're jumping to the bad news.

I wasn't able to recruit enough skin

To get that to form a labia minora.

It's just too flat, too tight.

So there's another surgery?

Yes, there is a possibility

We would need to do a fourth surgery.

But it may not be necessary.

Once all the tissues soften up,

The creases begin to kind of form the inner labia.

But will it actually form labia,

We won't really know for a number of months.

I am definitely confused because I thought

That was one of the main reasons

That she was in there.

So I'm thinking, "well, what were they doing?"

And I guess they spent a lot of time with the clitoris,

Um, fixing her scars.

And, um, yeah, I am definitely shocked.

Over the next couple of days, what are you watching for

In terms of there being any problems?

The wound. That's the thing that is most worrisome.

Her incision is tight.

And last time, things split open.

Theoretically, that could happen again.

Unlike the last time,

This time, I want to keep her in bed.

Mm-hmm. [ Knock on door ]

-Hi. -Hello.

So we're ready. Ready to go see her?

-Yes. -Let's rock and roll.

-We can go? -Time to see the loopy one.

Is she in clowning stage?

Dr. Ting: it could be clowning stage.

She may say something she regrets.

-I love clowning stage. -We don't want to miss that.

Here she is, mom.

Come on in.

We're just giving her a little oxygen.

It's humidified. It helps her throat.

We brought your family.

Hi, we're here.

Sander: she's conked.

Greg: she's still out of it.

Does she need more time to...

Dr. Ting: she's awake, she's just groggy.

Jazz, everything went really well.

We're really happy.

I think you'll be very happy, too.

Thank you.

Alright, I'll be back tonight to check on her.

-Okay, great. -See you guys later.

Jeanette: bye, dr. Ting. Thank you.

Okay.

She's still out of it.

Okay. You don't have to say anything.

We just want to let you know we're here. Okay?

Greg: there's actually a big difference

Between this post-op visit with jazz

And the original surgery.

Jazz seems to be in a lot of discomfort,

And I'm really concerned.

Let's just let her be. I don't think she's awake yet.

I'm gonna talk to her.

Think she's a little more tired this time.

[ Moans ] seems like she's...

You in pain? She's in pain.

What hurts? What's the matter?

What's bothering you?

Sander: breathe, breathe, breathe.

Can we get a nurse in here?

We need a nurse now.

Alright. Jazz. Hey.

[ Panting ]