I find it odd that, even though I grew up as a male for nearly 15.5 years, I'm actually a female, well technically intersex.

Because of the procedure that was done the other day to open what was actually my outer and inner labia, I have to take it easy for about three weeks. That sure as heck isn't going to be easy, but if I want to prevent any problems, I'm going to have to suck it up and be tough.

Haha! That is sooo funny, I'm now or soon will be legally female, and I'm talking about being tough like a guy would do. Oh, yeah, I got a surprise, it seems that Jack Birchland said he would have his lawyer Fargo sort out my ID and correct everything to show me as being female.

Mom and dad came in and spent some time with me after I returned from the operating room, but eventually had to leave for the night. Shelly was still in the room with me. She was such a sweet young girl, I made sure that she could bother me whenever she needed to do so.

I haven't had to deal with undergoing cancer treatments, but I've heard of family, friends or acquaintances of some of our folks with Birchland who have gone through that sort of shit, so I have a slight idea of just how traumatic and physically draining such treatments can be.

For some people, it can be even worse, as chemo treatments often cause the loss of one's hair, which is many girls' crowning glory.

It seems that little Shelly was facing such a possibility, but I overheard her mom that afternoon talking about making a wig from her hair if they can manage to save it when it falls out. If they can't, there are places that make very nice human hair wigs that will help little Shelly.

I'm amazed at how bright and happy Shelly is, even though she is facing a full regimen of chemotherapy treatments for her leukaemia.

They released me from the hospital late this Sunday morning. I was only able to be there after Shelly's first chemo session late Friday afternoon. I spent the next several hours holding the small child who was pale, shaking and very nauseous, she'd actually vomited a few times.

I held her close and gave her all the love I could. She finally fell asleep around 9:30 PM and I gently laid her on her own bed.

A nurse came in a few minutes later, saw that she was sleeping and covered her with a light blanket, then left again.

Shelly woke up twice, each time crying and feeling sick. Both times, I helped her, held her close and got her to relax until she slept again.

She wasn't much better through most of Saturday, being periodically nauseous, sometimes vomiting, but that settled down by late afternoon.

I had to go and see Dr. Powell early Sunday morning. He checked me out, then repeated his order about no strenuous exercise. Old fart!

Mom brought the RV to pick me up. I hugged little Shelly one last time, and held close to me the contact info I had been given for her.

I hate to see a child suffer so, I honestly wish I could be there for her. I guess I'll have to send her messages by phone or text or email.

I wasn't happy about being told I had to be in a wheelchair as we left there, but it wasn't worth the hassle of arguing about it, ya know?

Thanks to the medical stuff, I missed the last three days of the Lake County Fair. I'd have been happy to wait a couple more days, but what are you going to say to a doctor who jumps through hoops to get you medical treatment as soon as possible without being pushed into it?

We spent the rest of that Sunday just relaxing in the RV, watching old movies on the small TV dad had installed over the kitchen area.

Dad decided we would get moving early on Monday, so we were on the road, heading north and then west, not long after 8 AM.

Ah well, at least I won't have to do any of the takedown or packing of equipment as they get ready to move on to the next event.

Speaking of which, mom said that Jack had decided to go to the Hunt County fair in Texas which starts next Friday. I guess that means we can take our time getting there, as we have over four days to get there. That should be plenty of time, but who knows what might happen?

Dad was happy to see me. So was Jack, in fact, most of our folks and quite a few people we know from other carnies came over to wish me well and a speedy recovery. I'm not sure if any of them know what was done, but I'm definitely glad that so many folks seem to care!

I ended up going to bed pretty early, around 9:30 PM. I'm not sure why I was so tired so early, but I didn't feel like fighting it, so... bedtime.

I do know that dad decided to stop in Mobile, Alabama, tonight. I guess it's good that mom and dad can switch driving when needed.

I'm feeling a little bit better today, we were on the road around 7 AM after a quick breakfast at a diner near the motel we had used.

I spent most of the day just chilling in my little bed area over the driver's seat, either reading or checking my phone for messages. Yeah, I've already sent a few off to Shelly and her parents, hoping she's doing okay. Damn, she had another chemo session some time yesterday!

We had a fairly easy time on the roads, there was only one major accident, which blocked a lane on the highway, but vehicles could get by it.

We switched from I10 to I12 at Slidell, Louisiana, then back to I10 at Baton Rouge. That was about four hours after that accident we passed.

We stopped for the night at a Motel 6 in Crowley, Louisiana. We were lucky, the place was pretty much empty. Not for long.

Let's just say I've been in better places than that motel. The beds were awful, bent or busted springs, smelling like old piss or beer. Gross!

I couldn't handle it. After a couple of hours of tossing and turning, both mom and I went back out to the RV and were soon asleep.

I have to wonder how we ended up with a room that hasn't been repaired or kept up to standards. Everyone else seemed okay with the place. Mom and I made our way out of the RV around 7:30 AM to find the other folks discussing where to go to get some breakfast.

Someone pointed off to one side past the motel, where a sign advertising Waffle House could just be seen. "That looks good."

So we ended up over there. I think we came close to filling the place just with our group, but the food was pretty good. I had a nice stack of blueberry waffles, mom decided on vanilla, dad and Jack joined me in having blueberry. I'm not sure what everyone else chose.

We were on the road shortly after 8:30 AM. Like I had been doing recently, I climbed up into my bed area and pretty much took it easy.

There were no complications such as accidents today. We reached Houston around 11:30 AM, then headed north toward Dallas, which we didn't actually enter. Instead, we exited I45, taking I20 for a bit before that connected with I635, then headed up I30 until we hit Greenville.

We had decent directions, it only took us a short while then to find the right turn-off, and within another twenty minutes, we reached the site.

Hey, thanks to my recent medical adventure, I don't have to help with unloading or set-up of things here. Damn, that feels weird! I can't actually count how times I've helped out with takedown, set-up, loading, unloading, getting animals to their correct locations, all that stuff. I do know that I've been doing it for as long as I have been walking the tightropes, one of our events, so that means nine years. Wow!

I can tell you that I spent a fair bit of time pacing around as I watched folks setting everything up. I'm not used to not being involved.

Well, it looks like we can relax tomorrow, maybe have some fun checking out things here in Greenville. There must be something to do here!

The fair doesn't start until late afternoon on Friday, at least, not according to the events listing, so we can have fun for a while on Friday, too!