Made the appointment

[Lesley_Roberta]

Called the doctor today and this Monday I sit and explain that I need a referral to a place in Toronto where I can get started on the process of getting rid of all that isn't me.

Yeah I suppose that sums it up well.

Been foot dragging all week.

[mrs izzy]

Called the doctor today and this Monday I sit and explain that I need a referral to a place in Toronto where I can get started on the process of getting rid of all that isn't me.

Yeah I suppose that sums it up well.

Been foot dragging all week.

Yah. Does the happy hampster dance for you. Hope all goes well and you come out with a better feeling.

Hugs
Izzy

[Jamiep]

Lesley, is this a GP? If so I wonder if they would even know who to send you to. If you are looking at provincial funding for eventual SRS a gender Doctor is probably going to send you to CAMH (Center for Addiction & Mental Health). I went to an Endocrinologist a year ago & that is where he would have referred me to. I have two friends have a bad experience there, so I was not going to go there.  Some of my friends are in transition through the Sherbourne Health Center, they live nearby & that is the only way you can go there is if you live within their zone. Last fall SHC directed me to a new start up clinic in my area of Mississauga, west of Toronto. It is the East Mississauga Community Health Center. Again you have to live within their area to be accepted. I see a gender Doctor there. If you are outside their area I am not sure if they can work something, so don't quote me on that. Keep in touch as to what the Doctor comes up for you on Monday re Toronto. Dont' mean to be a downer, but if it is CAMH I have heard that is a long slow drawn out process in transition. The place has gone through changes & I am sure a person here said they had no problems, so hopefully the change is for the better.

Good luck.

Jamie

[Lesley_Roberta]

Thanks Jamie it was the CAMH but I will go to the family doctor armed with your advice and see what he has to say.

Going to copy your post into a text file I have made to keep it handy.

Multiple insights are always a good idea.

[Jamiep]

I am going to see the same Endo I saw a year ago & see what he has to say about the place now. I have to see him re having had to be taken off Spiro due to high reading in my Kidneys (everything is okay now0, so I will find out if I can handle Estrogen or not. Too bad the two places I mentioned can't take people from anywhere. Are you very far from Toronto, or might you move to Toronto to proceed with transition? To go on hormones, I think after an Endo assessment he could probably advise a GP on dosages if you live in a rural area & you could go on informed consent. I was hoping my regular GP would do that but she hasn't dealt with any trans people or knowledgeable of the gender variances & I suppose not confident to deliver the hormones.

Lets keep in touch about what we find out about what comes from our Monday appointments.

Jamie

[JLT1]

 Girl, you take "look before you leap" to an extreme.  But Congrads.....Congrads......Congrads.''

Hugs.

Jennifer

[Cindy]

Well done Lesley.

Remember we are here for you on this journey.

[Jamiep]

Another thought I have is that you could google search Doctors in the Toronto area & see if any of them list experience with gender patients. I did that once before the East Mississauga Health Center was mentioned to me. My two friends had family issues that CAMH staff needed them to work on before they could let them move forward, which they couldn't do, so it isn't right to totally blame CAMH. I am being fair, people have had good results, so want make sure this is balanced. You could check the web site for CAMH.

I do want to congratulate you on moving to transition & I am sure you are going to find medical people to get you started. Happy for you!

Take care.

Jamie

[Lesley_Roberta]

Logic suggests you be in the general vicinity of Miss. I have a buddy (oldest friend) that lives in the northern section somewheres (can never lock in that region in my head, anything near the basket weave confounds me).

Maybe sometime we should arrange a moment to meet and share a drink at Tim Horton's

Myself, I live in the remote dullness of cottage country City of Kawartha Lakes. But transportation can be arranged through my pension and community volunteer drivers (great people too). So my distance is no concern, but getting access to the professionals might be a challenge.

I have lived in TO from 86-90, didn't mind it, just didn't like it, I'm a rural Canadian through and through. I could never get used to the fact the noise never goes away at night. And it never actually really gets dark there. That and the only real reason, I can't afford to live there.

I survive in town mainly on the basis of not needing to need even mass transit, as nothing is more than a 5 minute walk here.

I won't mind the process being a lot of travel and effort. Life has pretty much stuck me in a life where I have nothing but a lot of long Saturdays at any rate. Only 51, but I am fully aware of what it is to be 70.

[Jamiep]

Hi Lesley, yes I am in the lower west end of Mississauga on the border of Oakville, live near the Clarkson GO stn. & the town, about a mile north of Lake Ontario. Whenever you get in to Toronto for an appointment, I could probably meet you somewhere, that would be doable. I like Tim's. My wife & I occasionally drive into cottage country. In my child hood to teens my parents used to take a vacation at a lodge on Sturgeon Lake as my Mom grew up in Lindsay. It is nice to get away from the noise of the GTA. Our house backs on green space, there is some industrial companies with background noise, not bad, it does get quiet at night. Always lived in the city & burbs, but we enjoy going on day trips to places of interest & love to be amongst mother nature like you don't have far to go to from where you live to achieve that. Light pollution is such that I can't see many stars in my fav science of Astronomy.

Excellent that you have transportation to get you around & to TO. All you need a 5 min. walk away, sure saves on the expense of owning a car.

Life being a lot of long Saturdays, someone said something similar to me recently. I love every day a Saturday.
Will keep in touch.

[Lesley_Roberta]

Like your sig by the way Jamie.

Your mom, if she is still with us might recall some of Lindsay potentially. Depends on how long ago she was here I suppose.

My father has had something of a tangible influence on the town, in that the trains sitting on display are basically his doing. He is the man that started the annual model trains show here in town (back several decades now).

If conditions permit we will certainly need to meet. Any trip I make will certainly require planning so I would be able to know in advance at least. I can't picture anyone driving me passing up a break at Tim's

[Jamiep]

Both my parents passed away in the early 90's both in their mid 80's, so they had a good Happy & healthy life. Small world when I mentioned Lindsay. My parents had friends that had cottages on the lake outside of Fenlon Falls that we used to go back in the 50's & 60's. Last post I was going to mention so will say it here, the August long weekend we were at an annual family reunion on my wife's side in Tweed. We decided to take hwy 7 back, have lunch in Lindsay & visit family plots in the cemetery. I came across the railway display in the park next to it. I love seeing old trains, especially steam engines as I had been on those passenger trains traveling to see the relatives in Montreal back in the 50's. I appreciate your Dad's efforts at preserving the past railway heritage so significant to Lindsay. I took some pics.

That is good you will have advance idea of when you are coming to TO.
Cheers
Jamie

[Lesley_Roberta]

Once upon a time, I was quite immobile, quite disinterested in the idea of not being in Lindsay.

Sadly I have lived here since 67 and basically, 'my' town is gone.

Just about every landmark able to be called a landmark is gone or has been significantly altered. So much of the landscape is missing.

Today my walks tend to be mainly in the downtown core and I see a lot less of the outer edges of town. Sometimes the missing stuff is depressing.

I also try to avoid all the shiny new homes. Tends to smack me in the face too much about lost dreams.

Not sure what everyone is talking about half the time when they speak of financial depressions recessions etc, people sure have money to spend in my home town.

[Jamiep]

Sadly we do seem to tear down our history. I didn't check this time but I did find my Mom's house she grew up in. Got the address by looking in newspaper archives in the library on Queen St. about 10 years ago. We had lunch at the Grand which we enjoyed when there 10 years ago. I took some photos of the old buildings that have been preserved in the business section on Queen St., very impressive.

[Lesley_Roberta]

So the appointment has come and gone, did and done.

Got some decent use out of my Nexus 7 too

Took the pdf file of my report as well as a text file which I added some comments to it, and was able to let the doctor read it thus avoiding needing to get anything printed out.

All went well and he is used to the needed form that was required, so it has been sent and now it is a matter of me waiting for them to respond I suppose. Can only hope the process is not tooooo slow.

But anyway, took that first step.

[Rachel]

Congratulations Lesley.

[Jamiep]

Hey Leslie,

Saw my Endo today & asked him about CAMH. He said the real story was that a lot of aged staff were moved or were at retirement age, so it wasn't as much procedure changes, but old thinking being removed with younger Doctors and the concepts of today, so he says it is good at CAMH now.

Excellent that you are going to be getting an appointment soon.

Be good to keep in touch. I put my update in Transformation talk forum, a thread titled Decisions, decisions...
Be Happy!
Jamie

[Lesley_Roberta]

Thanks for the update Jamie.

I am thinking it is time I took a long pause from the internet for a while.

I have a great large pile of models and a need to go hide me thinks too.

I might have reached a threshold a saturation point where more talking is doing a less and less return on investment.

I have a lot of TV shows that need downloading, and a lot of anime to catch up on and I have a great urge to read some books.

The years of chatting on forums has I think taken its toll on me.

I can only hope the process is not too slow in starting, and I can only hope the guyish look in me gets lost sooner than later.

I'm sick of looking male. I'm sick of the mirror constantly making me wonder if I am in some fashion f**&%$#king crazy somehow.

I'm only just now beginning to accept that all my past pursuits and interests don't make me less of a woman.
I'm merely a woman that knows how to use power tools and can identify tanks expertly and knows what ZOC means.

[JLT1]

The decision is the most difficult.  Then, comes that first appointment, then the second and so on.  But with each new success, the next hurdle becomes easier to go over/though/around. 

One day at a time, one step at a time.  Keep us in the loop.

[Jamiep]

Lesley, I absolutely understand about being de-netrified for a while. I was in that spot through some of June & July, every bodies friend Shantel said you have to take a break occasionally, I was on hold until I saw my Endo yesterday for his assessment. Yes, if you have back logged some of your hobbies & interests, it is good to work all that variety in, that cycle keeps life interesting. Whether you are a writer, sports jock or mechanic, those vocations,interests & hobbies etc don't know gender.

Like I waited 2 1/2 months to see my Endo, appointments with whomever especially specialists in the medical profession are always several months or more waiting, there are spaces in moving forward that take a lot of patience.

I will be looking for your posts whenever you feel up to it.