Leigh Anne
by Barbara Lynn Terry
(Author's Note: Title IX USC (Title XX USC) §1681 (a), (8) states as follows:
"(a) Prohibition against discrimination; exceptions. No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, except that:
(8) Father-son or mother-daughter activities at educational institutions
this section shall not preclude father-son or mother-daughter activities at an educational institution, but if such activities are provided for students of one sex, opportunities for reasonably comparable activities shall be provided for students of the other sex; and" Other sections not necessary have been omitted.
This is the law that the United States District Court uses to rule on civil action hearings for sex discrimination. Like it or not, the MHSAA must allow Leigh Anne to play as a girl on the girls tennins team; of course with the proper medical certificates. It is this title that permitted Canadian Tami Maida to play quarterback on an all boys football team in Oregon in 1981, while her father finished his doctorate degree.) ~ Barbara Lynn Terry ~
Chapter 3 - Leigh's physical.
It was a fitful night for Leigh as she kept dreaming that her father was coming to kidnap her, and make her be a boy whether she wanted to or not. Leigh tossed and turned so much that her blankets were on the floor and she was on top of them. Her mother came in to wake her up.
"Leigh! My goodness, what are you doing on the floor?"
"I...I don't...know. I had a terrible dream, but I can't remember what it was."
"It is all right, dear. Today you get your physical done. Get your bath in and get dressed. We need to be at Dr. Sam's at ten. You have time for a bubble bath, but a quick one."
Leigh got up and went to run her bath water. She put in a cap full of Violet Garden bubble bath, and went to get her clothes out. She put her dress on the bed, as well as her stockings, and she took her lingerie in to the bathroom with her. When she got back to the bath room, the tub had a mountain of suds. Leigh turned off the water, and got in the tub. She soaked for a few minutes, when her mother told her not to dally too long. So she made sure she cleaned all over and then rinsed off with the shower head. She patted herself dry and got in to her lingerie. It was just basic white, but the bra had lots of lace between the cups, the panties had a lace waistband and lace around the leg openings. The slip had lace on the front between the breasts. After getting her lingerie on, she went back to her room, making sure her father was no where to be seen.
She went in her bedroom, and sat at her computer desk she used as a makeshift vanity. She turned her mirror so she could see her face, and put mascara on her lashes and dual foundation/powder on her face. She put on a light pink lipstick, and then sat down to put the breast forms in the bra cups. She made sure they looked like the girls at school, and then put on her stockings. These were stay up, tan nylons, so she didn't need garters. Then she stepped in to the white dress with the red sash. She zipped up the dress and fastened the red sash. Even though it was sewn in to the dress, there was a button on the back that made if look like the red bow was actually tied. She sat down and put her shoes on. These were white Mary Jane's with modest one inch heels. She put her hair in a high pony tail, and pronounced herself to see Dr. Sam.
Leigh went downstairs and poured herself a glass of orange juice and milk. She toasted one slice of bread, and spread jelly on it. When she was done, she rinsed her glasses, and threw the paper plate she used in the trash. Her mother came in at that moment.
"Here's your purse, dear. You forgot it in your room. Leigh, a girl has her whole life in her purse, that is why we guard them so closely. Never leave the house without your purse. When you are at school, carry your purse with you to class, never leave it in your locker."
"Yes, mom, thank you."
"All right, dear. My you look so pretty. Are you ready to go and see Dr. Sam?"
"Yes, mom. Mom? I've been thinking. I am glad that Patty and the girls want me to play on their team. It will give me something to do for the school. I mean, the jocks just play because they want everybody to think they are something special. The girls play in competition, and they really get in to it, too. But when the game is over, it is over. Guys are always telling others even when there is no game, that they are losers and will get the manure kicked out of them."
"You never could say cuss or swear words. Could you? Honey, boys and men are notorious for doing that. I never could understand why they are like that though. Your grandmother says it is in their genes and they can't help being childish, no matter how old they get. It seems men seem to think talking nasty is cute, or something. That is why we have to look after them, because they are actually unable to look after themselves. If it weren't for us, Leigh, the men would have destroyed the world decades ago."
Leigh's mother backed the car out of the driveway, and headed for downtown. When we got to the medical arts building, mom found a parking spot that was quite a ways from the door. There were boys walking by that whistled, and I just smiled to myself. My back was facing the boys, so they couldn't see me smile. We went inside and took the elevator to the third floor where Dr. Samantha Haggar, MD OB/GYN had her office. We went in, and the receptionist told us to have a seat. We were told there was one patient ahead of us.
We waited for about fifteen minutes, before Dr. Sam's nurse called us in. Betty Anderson was a nice lady and has worked for Dr. Sam for three years. I watched how she walked, and how her sun yellow, blonde hair framed her face. When she talked, she had a husky high voice, and teeth that sparkled.
"Leigh, get undressed, except for your panties and bra, and put this gown on. It goes on backwards. Then sit up on this table." I did as she said, then she came back in and asked if I had the gown on.
"Yes, I do, Betty."
"I need to take your vitals, honey."
She listened to my heart, my lungs, looked in my ears, my throat, took my pulse and put a thing on my finger she called a pulseox.
"What is a pulseox?"
"It stands for pulse oximeter. It measures your oxygen saturation level and your pulse rate. The top number is your oxygen level and the bottom number is your pulse rate. The higher the top number, the better."
"I learned something new today," I said, with a beaming smile.
"That's good, Leigh," Dr. Sam said, coming in to the exam room. "I haven't seen you since you were three years old. What brings you in today?"
"I need a physical, and a statement from my doctor saying I can play tennis. I am substituting for one of the injured girls."
"Well, let's take a look at you. You look like and angel, Leigh. Let me take a listen." She did the same thing Betty did, but this time, she did it longer. She also listened to my belly, and then she said because of my physical nature, she had to check me for hernias. When she felt between my legs, she went ... "oh my".
"Leigh, I have scheduled a CAT scan and an MRI for you at the hospital as soon as you can get there. When you are done at the hospital, I want you to come right back here. I will also be at the hospital watching the MRI being done. I don't have any more patients to see today, so I can devote the rest of the day to you. I also want you to go to the lab at the hospital and have blood drawn. I can get the CAT scan and MRI reports right away. The lab will fax me the results of your blood draw. You may get dressed. Leigh when you are done, take this paper to the check out window, and she will give you something to give to the hospital. You are to go right to out patient check in. They will probably have you do the blood draw first, then the CAT scan and the MRI. These diagnostic tests will tell us a lot about what is going on inside of you. Geri, I felt something that boys should not have. I am going to watch this MRI very intently."
"Sam, Leigh and I have talked about this. Could she be intersexed, with the sex being female?"
"There is a strong possibility. Leigh, you are how old now?"
"I'm fourteen, Dr. Sam."
"Yes, and that is about the time late bloomers start to develop. I noticed breast buds on your chest, and felt a cavity being hidden by what looks like a penis. We will see what these tests show."
We took the check out slip Dr. Sam gave us, and the lady checking us out, took another sheet that had all kinds of little square boxes. She checked five of the boxes, and at the bottom of the slip, she wrote in capital letters...FULL MRI BODY SCAN. She handed the paper to mom, and we left to go to the hospital.
Chapter 4 - At the hospital.
Mom found a parking space not far from the main doors of the hospital. We went in and right to the desk that said outpatient registration. Mom gave the lady the slip of paper, and we were told to have a seat. It was about ten minutes later, that a man came out and called my name. He said he was from the lab, and he was going to draw some blood. I asked how was he going to draw it...in pencil, ink or charcoal. He laughed, and his teeth sparkled. He looked like maybe he in his late twenties, so I had to ask.
"Excuse me, but how old are you?"
"I'm 31, Leigh. How old are you?"
"I'm 14."
"I wish I could be 14 again. Have you ever had blood taken from you, before this?"
"No."
"Well, I have to draw six tubes of blood, and there is quite a lot here your doctors wants. He doesn't just want a hormone level, he wants a complete hormone panel done. Then wants a cbc, too."
"What is a cbc?
"Complete blood count. That will give us your heart enzyme levels, your corpuscle count, that is just to see if you are anemic, and a hormone balance level. Plus quite a few other things. But your doctor wants a complete hormone panel done. Does your doctor suspect that you are transgendered?"
"No, she just said she wants to find out what is going on."
"Oh. Well, the reason I asked, is because we have had a few in here for the same thing who are transgender. All right, here we are. Sit in that chair, and just relax, put your arm on that wide arm rest." I did as I was told, and he placed a small needle he called a butterfly in my arm. The blood just flowed through the attached rubber hose thing in to the glass tube.
"What is your name?"
"Eric and your name is Leigh. You are very pretty, Leigh, never let anybody tell you different."
"I won't," he was done and he put a folded gauze square on my arm, and put flesh colored tape to hold it over where the needle was.
"Be good, now. You can go back out in the waiting area where you registered, and someone from radiology will come and get you. It was nice meeting you, Leigh."
"It was nice meeting you, too, Eric."
I went back out by mom, and I told her about the hunk in the lab. She whispered to me, that we was too old for me, even if he was as handsome as Paul Newman. I giggled. I had seen many of mom's movies, so I knew about these actors that mom knew about and had seen their movies in the theater. Now she has dvd's with all of her favorite movies. One of my favorite movies is Flower Drum Song, with Benson Fong, James Shigeta, Nancy Kwan, Jack Soo, Juanita Hall and a famous actress from China, Miyoshi Umeki.
James Shigeta plays Benson Fong's son, and he tells Benson Fong that here a man thinks for himself. Benson Fong tells him, "when that day comes that you can think for yourself, I will let you know." When I heard that I laughed so hard, I thought I would never stop. It is a very funny movie, and the antics between Nancy Kwan and Jack Soo are hilarious. While I was thinking about these movies mom has at home, I heard my name.
"Will you please get in the wheelchair, please? It is hospital policy because radiology is a ways from here. May I see your wrist band, please?" I showed it to her. "Give me your name and birth date, please?" I did and we were on our way to radiology. "Have you ever had a CAT scan before?"
"No. What does CAT scan mean?"
"It means, computed axial tomography, or CAT it is also called a CT scan, but it is the same thing. We usually use the CAT scans for head trauma, and to see if you still have a brain." I giggled. "But it doesn't take long, about fifteen minutes at the most, unless we are looking for something specific. Then it can take up to twenty minutes.
"Do I have to lay down for this?"
"Yes. We put you on a movable exam table, and then we move your head just inside the arch. If you watch it, you will see different colors as it goes around."
"If this can see my brain, and the MRI I am going to have can see my brain; why does my doctor want me to have a CAT scan?"
"Because then she can compare the two. The MRI is better at scanning diagnostics than the CAT scan is, but I think she just wants to be able to compare them. In the CAT scan, too, we can isolate certain areas. The MRI just sees everything at once. It took almost ten minutes to get to the radiology department. I went in, and they said to lay on the table, with my head in the recess. I laid down, and I heard buttons being pushed, and the table started to move.
"Here we go, Leigh. This will take about ten or eleven minutes."
After a while I was told there were seven minutes left, then four minutes, then one minute, and the lady said we were done. The table moved again, and I had to have help getting up.
"See, that wasn't so bad. Was it?"
"No, not really."
"All right, young lady, back in the wheelchair and I will take to the MRI lab."
I sat down in the wheelchair, and she took me out in the hallway. She also brought a blanket with her. The MRI lab was four doors away from the CAT scan room. She stopped by the MRI lab, and went in to tell them I was here. She gave me the blanket, because she said some patients get cold sitting in the hallway. I was kind of chilly, so I covered up with the blanket. It seemed I waited forever, then Dr. Sam came by me.
"Hi Leigh. Are you ready to find out what makes you tick?"
"Yes, Dr. Sam," I smiled when I said that.
"All right, I will go in and see how much longer."
When she came back out, she said they were almost finished with the patient that was in there. Dr. Sam waited with me, to keep me company while I waited.
"Dr. Sam, why did you want me to have a CAT scan and an MRI?"
"Well, sometimes the CAT scan can see something in a certain area of the brain. What I want the MRI for is a full torso examination. I wants to see what is below your neck."
"Do you think what you said in your office is what is happening?"
"Honey, it is a very distinct possibility. The MRI, CAT scan and blood tests will tell me everything I need to know. The MRI is going to take a while, so if you feel like taking a nap while you are in the tube, you can. They will give you ear plugs, because it gets horrendously noisy in the tube. With the ear plugs the noise sounds far away. They will even pipe in music for you to listen to."
"Leigh Anne Smythe?" A lady asked me. I nodded. "Name and birth date, please." I said it, and she looked at my wrist band, and we went inside. She gave me a gown and told me to go in to the restroom and take off my dress and bra and put the gown on. It was a good thing I was wearing a half slip. I came out holding my dress and bra, and Dr. Sam said she would watch them.
"Lie down, put your head in the recess and fold your arms across your belly. Here are some ear plugs. Place one in each ear, and here is a bulb that if you feel at any time you cannot complete the exam, you just have to press this, and we will bring you out immediately. This MRI is going to be a lengthy one, and could take anywhere from forty five minutes to one hour. Are you ready?" I nodded, and she and Dr. Sam disappeared behind the glass. The table began to move in to the tube. "All Right, Leigh, we are going to start now. Just don't mind the air hammer noise. What kind of music do you like?" I told her, and she put it through.
As I laid there, being scanned, I was getting kind of drowsy. I drifted off to sleep, and the next thing I knew, I was being wakened by the radiology tech.
"It was a good scan, young lady. Joanne will take you back to registration, then you can leave."
Dr. Sam walked with me back to the outpatient registration, because she wanted to talk to my mom. As we were walking, Dr. Sam only said the word yes, and smiled at me. We got outpatient registration, and mom was surprised to see Dr. Sam.
"Sam, did everything go all right?"
"Yes, better than I suspected it would. Now all I need is the CAT scan and the blood results. Leigh, you can go home, but Geri, I want you to bring her back to my office Monday after school. We have some very big plans to make."