Docs, labs, and being us

[Trinity]

Today was weird, and uplifting.


I went for my estrogen blood labs, and being pretty tired of stuff, I went out dressed in male clothes, feather earing in, big P100 mask but not the one t hat makes me look like a huge bug, but my hair just goes everywhere with this thing.


Sirred consistently by everyone, lab tech and all. Of course I never changed my name and have no plan to do so, so that name is typically gendered male although it is occasionally gendered female.  And then I explained I was there for estrogen levels, was trans, and  that they needed to make sure for my insurance that they listed my gender as female, because medically I am considered female now after 7 years of full dose HRT.


The lady doing the draw was super nice, the way she talked to me was gentle and kind, reassuring, the way you talk to a woman maybe, and I forget the pronouns she was using, it wasn't maam but it was more like honey or something, something not really gendered but clearly validating kindness and gentleness.  Not darling, not sweetie, but just totally kind.  I don't remember the word she used though.


Had a short talk with her, she was a strong Christian, totally accepting, talked to her about the horrible way we have been driven from Christianity by the far right church that doesn't represent the real total church.  She was very nice and understanding about it.  Clearly she did not share the views of those who have demonized us.


It was just a totally validating experience.


In Florida, in the Orlando area, I have been treated so much better than I was in NY its just not funny.  Yeah there is the usual turnover and burnout of docs that treat trans people, it overwhelms them because of what we go through and with complications of AIDS on top of it for a lot of us, and the desperation  that is everywhere, at least that's what I think.  But I found out that there are a whole lot of us around in this area, the lab tech said that she sees a whole lot of trans people in there for blood work.


So even though I was male presenting and looked like hell, I got treated with dignity and I got treated in a way that was congruent with my nonbinary trans female nature and physical gender.


I feel very good about this.  Its a bit hard for me in one sense, there is a guy running for office on stopping trans health care for kids under 18 and he's pushing hard for that, wants to jail any doctor that treats a trans kid with hormones.  These monsters have to go away, they just do, and I don't think they will in this state, that party has been hijacked by the bigots and its terrifying here to be a kid and be trans, and our overall mental health as a group is really in the pits from the oppression.


But for that one difference maker, all she was doing was drawing blood, and she managed to make me feel like a human being that not only had human rights but also a person deserving respect and kindness.



Cis allies.  It can go such a long way in helping us, tangibly, and emotionally.


I was wondering what our experiences have been in the doc offices?   In Florida mine have been good.  Up north, a mixture of good, horrible, and nearly deadly.

What a blessing that we came here.

Hugs all.

How has it gone for you with the medical profession and support staff?

[Ativan Prescribed]

The Dr I used to see pretty much was all trans patients, so it was always easy, same with seeing my shrink, same place, but my therapist was in a different place and the same thing with them, everyone going in to see them was lgbtq.
I gotta say though, far right christian? isn't christian at all, maybe old testament bullcrappers at best, but christian, not hardly.
I don't even understand why they reference the old testament and then claim to be christian, didn't Jesus say to forget that crap, that was a different time and different sort of god, that god had changed and so the faith had to change and that he was one and the same as the new way god wanted it to be.
Trying to combine the old and new testament just doesn't work, and sure to some they are both the word of god, but didn't Jesus become the son of god because thats was the way god wanted to move forward, so the past was the roughing out that god wanted and Jesus was the way forward.
Christian is from the name of Jesus Christ, christian isn't a part of the old testament and the right so called christians use the old far more than anything else other than the constant send your money for prayers, since when do prayers cost anything anyways?
The right is a business religion its all about the money and thats exactly what evangelicals are about, send your prayers to god and your money to the church, so assholes like Fellfar can live his cuckold lifestyle while jetting around on his private jet and nobbing the other rich.

[Trinity]

I do physician steer with hormones.

Once I got my letter of approval, basically stating that I have gender dysphoria and hormones can help me, it was between me and the docs, and most of the time, it was me suggesting the levels I wanted, which are on high side for mtf trans and most likely very high for nonbinary, and then frequency of dosing and all that, and discontinuing finesteride and spiro, was me doing that when I figured out what those were doing to me.

I didn't know enough going in about it, I knew about the old school stuff but not current thinking, which is higher e levels and no blockers, which suppresses T.

For the NB's, and Ativan is the one who knows the most on this one, low dose, but Spiro? Dunno. Know it has nasty side effects, depression, visceral fat.

I wound up pushing for and getting progesterone, and that has a big impact on general well being and depression, could be a little placebo effect there but I know I feel better on estrogen with progesterone than without it. The docs don't like it, but the head shrink for the place that I go weighed in on the mental health benefit outwaying any potential risk.

I've been putting off a mammogram here, need one, overdue for it.

I think it is very dependent on the clinic that we go to as to how we get treated. I had to fight like heck for my hormones as I did not have a "true transexual" diagnosis.