Rajinda Narinesingh – Rajee for short – wanted wider hips, larger lips, and bigger breasts, but she couldn’t afford to see a professional plastic surgeon. Like a lot of transgender women she knows, she decided to get “pumped” with illegal silicone injections by a street doctor named “The Duchess.”

At first, Rajee was loving how the injections made her look, and she liked the attention she was getting from men. But soon, things started to go really wrong. Golf ball sized nodules started to form on both sides of her face. In Hollywood, Flordia, Julia Alsop has the story

Production assistance on this story from Julia Duba. This story was reported in collaboration with Audio Smut.

Julia Alsop is a poet working in radio. She lives in New York City.