My awkward experience at the OBGYN: Tell me yours! :)

[EmmaS]

So I know most people see an endo for their hrt, blood work and whatnot but I go to a very liberal University and I see a therapist that I have access to because I am a student and after a couple sessions she told me I could actually see an OBGYN in the very same building (conveniently) for my transition and I was pretty surprised about that but I wasn't going to complain since my tuition pays for it anyways. So my psychologist/therapist told me to call the women's health clinic and tell them I needed to schedule an appointment. So I call the office and say that I need to schedule an appointment with this specific doctor and they seem a bit taken back since it's just a receptionist and they probably aren't used to getting calls from an androgynous "ish" sounding male, but male sounding anyways and she was like, did you mean to call the sports medicine clinic or general health and I confirmed I was indeed in the right place. So I had an appointment set after a little bit of awkwardness on the phone but no big deal really. My appointment comes around and it's scheduled for 9am, so I get there around 8:45am and check in and wait, seeing I'm the only "male" appearing person in the lobby which wasn't a surprise. So awkwardly I sat there and at about 9:05am a nurse came out and called for "Emma" and at first I just kind of looked around and thought to myself, "She couldn't possibly be calling me, could she......-_-" and no one got up including myself, and the nurse left and came back about 1 minute later and called me by my male name and so now slightly humiliated I got up and went inside where the nurse apologized and whatnot. I had a recommendation letter from my psychologist which included both my male name and female name but it made it pretty clear I was still presenting as male for the most part so that was why it really caught me off guard. Looking back it makes me laugh and overall it wasn't all that bad, I mean eventually I want to be called Emma everyday of my life but presenting as a male and being called Emma was really awkward haha.

I just thought I would share one awkward experience I have had already and if anyone wants to share an awkward story, I would love to hear it! Also I'm curious if anyone else sees an OBGYN for everything or if I'm just super weird like that

[A]

By OBGYN, you mean a gynecologist? Uhm, why? You don't have vulva issues to be examined, do you? ._.

There's the endo who, despite being a stubborn cow, once he got my request to get a support letter for my name change, called my female name through the waiting room's mic. I was with my mother and my [now ex-]stepfather who knows, but with whom I hadn't talked about this at all. I really wasn't expecting it, and it made me feel a weird mix of happiness and shyness.

[Elspeth]

By OBGYN, you mean a gynecologist? Uhm, why? You don't have vulva issues to be examined, do you? ._.

Ob/Gyns (gynecologists) routinely prescribe HRT for some patients... the specialty is also somewhat more popular than endo (meaning, there's more competition... endo, at least when my ex was in med school, was regarded as the specialty for those who had trouble getting into any other residency programs).  I would tend to think an Ob/Gyn might be preferable, as long as you don't live somewhere where they are finding it harder and harder to stay in practice (they face some very high malpractice insurance premiums in some areas, at least of the US).

Unrelated, at my first high school audition the name called for me was "Bette Davis." I was secretly pleased, even if it did generate some titters at the time.

[Celery Stalk]

By OBGYN, you mean a gynecologist? Uhm, why? You don't have vulva issues to be examined, do you? ._.

There's the endo who, despite being a stubborn cow, once he got my request to get a support letter for my name change, called my female name through the waiting room's mic. I was with my mother and my [now ex-]stepfather who knows, but with whom I hadn't talked about this at all. I really wasn't expecting it, and it made me feel a weird mix of happiness and shyness.

My HRT doctor is a gyno.

Learn something everyday, yea?

[EmmaS]

Guess I'm not alone ^_^ I'm going to need one anyways in less then 2 years!

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

My doctor is a GP, but many years ago one of my exes had OBGYN as her primary.  On one visit I mentioned to her doctor I was having stomach issues and could not get into my GP for a while.  Her doctor made me an appointment for a week later.

It was strange to be in the waiting room with all these gals, most of whom were pregnant.  When the nurse called my name, I did get some strange looks for the women.  The doctor determine that my stomach issues were from stress.  Gee go figure, my ex and I were having problems.  I later determined it was from my GI (GID). 

Anyway, he gave me a vitamin B shot and prescribed Tums.

[muuu]

.

[summer710]

Well I guess my awkward experience was getting one in the first place.

I just recently moved to a new city and was needing to get established with a primary care physician.  I got a few names, and just randomly picked one close to my house.  There were no red flags when I called to make an appt - the receptionist simply asked why I'm coming in, set the appt date, and that's it.

When I get there, nothing really seems unusual - the typical adverts for birth control, lung cancer, heart disease, etc.  A few other female patients...no biggie.  They call my name, take my weight, my vitals, put me in a room, give me a gown, ask me why I'm there (to establish a new patient-primary care relationship).  Nobody says anything.  Finally, the physician walks in, (again) asks why I'm there, and we have friendly, non-medical history give-and-take for a few minutes (i.e., how I'm liking the city, work, etc).  After awhile, she finally let's me know that she's actually an OBGYN (obviously geared towards women's health/women's primary care), and not a 'men's health' primary care physician.  However, after saying that, she says that since I've just moved to the area, and have no serious medical issues, she'd be OK to refill my meds in the interim until I get established with a different primary care physician.  It's at that point that my MTF status comes out.  As she's reviewing my meds, she notices I listed E2 and inquires about it - I tell her about my HRT and transition, my endocrinologist, etc.   To make a long story short, she says she would be OK seeing me as a patient, and would be comfortable co-managing my HRT, if I wanted her to. 

When I think about this experience, it's kinda funny, kinda fortuitous; my friend thinks it hilarious and a testament to how oblivious I am to some things...evidently, there are online reviews of her...all by women (pregnant women, post-menopausal women, women needing birth control, women with very specific women's health issues, etc...but all women). 

I'm still early in my transition with HRT, so I'm not too sure about going to her exclusively.  On the plus side, she's only ~20 min away from me (as opposed to my endo, who's ~1 hour away), is really nice, is willing to take me on as a primary care patient, and  is comfortable with HRT and my transition.  We'll see.
 

[A]

I never knew people could have a gynecologist as a primary care doctor. I was convinced you only went to those for specific things' screening, and when you had something specific to check (pregnancy, pain, iching, whatever). I thought only GPs could do such a thing.

Really, you do learn everything every day.

[Rita]

Well most primary doctors specialize in different fields. 

[jessicas37]

My first GYN was awkward to say in the least. I had spent the better part of two months calling every local dr i could find to make an appointment when i was post-op. No dr was willing to see me some told me flat out "No" others said "We do not have the required knowledge to work on you effectivly" one even tried to schedule an appointment 9 months out. So i went back to the drawing board and called one of the first on my lists a local female gyn and just set up an appointment. I gave them no information about my past and just acted like any other woman shopping around for new DR. The visit went like i would have expected "We need your weight, height, you know you really should quit smoking,cute boots :-)" so i went back into room and disrobed and got on the bed while the entire time staring at those stirrups in fear and wondering at the same time. When the DR walked into the room she was all business with no personality and starting asking from a checklist. 1. When was your last period you left it blank on application, me: Never (this got a raised eyebrow)
2. When was your last pap me:My first(chin scratch from her)
more inconsequential chat just when i was about to tell her i was post op i got asked to "Assume the position"
so i got into the bed and put my feet in the stirrups (thinking to myself i hope i pass the visual test and all looks good)
she never said a thing just started to put lube all over this metal device(speculum i assume) and when she inserted it she was NOT gently then all of a sudden between my legs i look down and see her looking up at me smiling actually smiling saying is their anything about your medical history you may have forgot to tell me with a big grin on her face. I went into my whole story on surgery trouble finding gyno ect.. all the while she is poking and proding around me just making little comments like "Wow it looks great" "Can you feel this" The kicker was where do you pee to which i replied "Down there" she later found uretha. i stayed about 45min in that room and now have a wonderful new dr she is my primary care and handels all hrt. The best part of all is i did not have to pay for that visit or any other visits as she honestly wants to learn and help others to learn about me and always brings a college from school or once even a 4 nursing students from one of the classes she teaches.of course she asked me first before any of these and being as how they are there to learn i am all for it i told her the more the merrier as is the more students who learn the more educated people will be and the less prejudice we will encounter.

changing the world one nurse at time :-)

[summer710]

Yeah, seeing an OBGYN as a primary care may not necessarily be the typical 'primary care' setup, but alot of it really depends on the comfort level for both the patient and physician.  If the physician feels comfortable tackling certain medical issues (and isn't forbidden by the scope of their training and/or specialty) - and the patient feels comfortable having that physician tackle said medical issues, it really isn't a big problem.  That being said, if I needed surgery, I wouldn't go to a primary care physician for that...if I had poorly controlled chronic diseases, i.e., poorly controlled asthma, diabetes, etc, again I would want a specialist tackling that. 

In my case, my only health issue is well-controlled asthma; then there is the HRT, which she is comfortable with RE: dosage and serum level evals; plus (at least initially), it will be comanaged with an endo.  It's not a done deal for me, but it's on the table to have her as my doc.

Again, alot of it depends upon the context and the nature of the patient-physician relationship, scope of knowledge, and reciprocal comfort level.  I know alot of cis-woman who exclusively see their OBGYN for just about every non-surgical medical issue (which basically amounted to a yearly PAP, yearly breast, basic labs, allergy meds and OCPs).  When I was in college, I also had a few friends who would see their pediatrician as their primary care physician, again, since they were in stable health, without pressing issues, and the pediatrician was OK still seeing them.  Of course, eventually (by 20-21 y/o), they moved on to a more 'typical/grown-up' doctor.

[Cindy]

Well my endo is a gynaecologist, and she runs the largest private practice clinic for menopausal in woman in the city.

She is also MtF and if anyone feels uncomfortable in the waiting room you have her evil wit and her receptionist's equally dry humour to put everyone at ease.

The waiting room tends to be a rather fun place.

[Sarah Blomsterhatt]

I go to a gyno for me HRT. She is nice and definently used to seeing trans patients which is good. The place itself feels very nice I must admit, I've frequently been asked if I'm "Anna", or "Isabella" while waiting even before I started HRT and came there dressed in less then charming clothes. To them it was not strange that this person sitting there who appares to be male might be Anna or Isabella, which was a nice feeling.

[generous4]

Also I'm curious if anyone else sees an OBGYN for everything or if I'm just super weird like that

My partner talked to her GYN about me and got me in.  Prior to that, I had not been getting my breast exam etc.  It is good.  I am glad she did that.

Now though, I mostly visit the nurse practitioner, though.

[spx_1112]

I may see an OB/GYN moving forward for my primary care. Hugs Shannon

[herekitten]

My HRT doctor was a local gyno in the Atlanta area. He was also, at the time, the doctor who followed up some of the postops on their return from overseas doctors.  Unfortunately, he doesn't practice anymore, but he was the best for most any issues.

[DebbieA]

I had been self medicating for 6 years.  Mainly because I live in an extremely conservative community (if Ted Cruz were still running he would win here) there are no endos that treat trans that I could find till I found a Gynogologist that actually has a trans son and she treats all the trans people close by.  I still present as male so I was pretty nervous for my first appointment.  So there I sat in a room full of women literally squirming in my chair.  When they took my blood pressure it was through the roof because I was so scared.  I normally don't have high blood pressure at all.  The staff was so nice to me I couldn't believe it.  I have gone back a few times and they remember exactly who I am and don't even need to look at their notes.  It has been such a positive experience.  Self medicating is a really bad idea.  Glad I got past that.

[V]

I've had a few awkward or funny experiences with the medical profession, none of them with an OBGYN though.
So maybe I'd better not post them here.

[Anne Blake]

I have an OBGYN administering my hrt. It really had me out of my comfort zone calling the local women's clinic for my first appointment and then dealing with dual names and the ID plus insurance cards at check in. This was not something that I had ever expected to be doing! I anticipated  the awkwardness to continue with the nurse and doctor but I was delightfully surprised at how comfortable they made me feel. The doctor, a women, was both warm and friendly while being very straight forward and direct. She answered all of our questions, no judgement or hesitation. The next visit was to begin hrt. Straight forward, moderately conservative dosages by the book. My first follow up visit is in 3 weeks, 10 weeks after beginning e & spiro. The entire experience has gone far better than I had expected and my OBGYN is far easier to deal with than my GP. Anne