Proactive doctors

[Padma]

So... last weekend I found myself visiting a hospital late on Saturday night, with a septic cyst (I'll spare you the details, but I'm damned glad of antibiotics). Anyway, the doctor I eventually saw asked me what medication I'm on, so I told him I'm on HRT etc. We then got to discussing my symptoms, one of which was a urinary infection a couple of days earlier. He then scored some serious Proactive Points by asking after my ureter! I told him "I don't have one of those yet, but I appreciate your effort." .

I think I'd like to use this story to start a thread on positive experiences we've had with doctors around our transitions, to counter some of the horror stories.

[eli77]

I went to my family doctor, who I've had since I was tiny, for my physical pre-facial surgery. That was the first time she'd seen me in two years (I was away), and, of course, the first time she'd seen me after going full time (after 6 months on hormones). She knew in advance that I was transitioning, but I was so impressed that she went through a fairly intimate examination without ever misgendering me, getting my name wrong, or showing any sign of discomfort. She acted like she sees trans patients every day, and I know I'm the only one she's ever had. She's awesome.

P.S. Padma, maybe you'd like to move this to a more visible board? This section doesn't get a ton of traffic.

[Colleen Ireland]

Great topic!  My previous family doctor was great.  He'd known me for about 8 years prior to July 2010 when I went to him for referral to CAMH (the Gender Identity clinic in Toronto).  I wasn't his first, but he didn't have much knowledge or information.  He was learning from me.  He was willing to refer me to whomever I might ask, and I ended up asking for referrals to 3 different endos before I found the right one (he wasn't willing to prescribe HRT,  but he had no problem referring me to someone who would, but I had to do the legwork to discover who I wanted to see).  The first time I came to him after going full-time, he was very complimentary.

My current doctor is herself a post-op transwoman.  THAT I consider a REAL stroke of luck!