An introduction, Leeds and FFS

[Squircle]

Hi everyone,

Ive been a member here for a while but haven't really been on the site much. I've become a bit frustrated with other forums so I thought I'd give this one a proper go

I'm 34 (just!! Birthday this weekend just gone) and I've been fulltime for about 8 months, and on hormones privately from Dr Curtis at Transhealth for about 5 months.

Yesterday I had my first appointment at Leeds GIC, after a year on the waiting list. It went well and it looks like I'll be accepted onto the care pathway after my next appointment, but as usual with the NHS everything gets slowed down by waiting lists so by the time I get hormones from them it'll be near Christmas.

Then on Saturday I'm going to London for a consultation with Dr Bart van der Ven. Ive already had a proposal from him based on photos I emailed across, and he recommended forehead/hairline/browlift, rhinoplasty, lip lift and chin recontouring. If Saturday goes well I'm hoping to get the surgery done later this year.

Anyway just wanted to say hello and introduce myself and where Im at right now. There isnt that much info on Leeds on the internet so I'd be happy to post updates if anyone is interested .

[Jessica Merriman]

A big warm welcome to the family!  Sounds like you are off and running already. I wish you the best and by all means share with us what you are comfortable with. There are usually tons of questions from people wanting to know the process of the NHS.

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[Julia-Madrid]

Hi Squircle

Ah used to live in Leeds, luv, over 20 years ago, before and during my time at uni, so here's a big hello to yah!  (Bit difficult to write a Leeds accent ) 

Good luck with your hormone travails and the FFS - I'll be doing a fairly similar bit of FFS in July here in Spain, including forehead recontouring, so wish me luck!

I know that we winge about how our respective health services go, but on the positive side, at least we both live in countries where the health services are  sufficiently progressive to at least offer gender identity programs.  Sometimes we tend to forget this.  While I'm probably going to have all my surgical stuff done privately at my own cost, what I really like about my gender clinic is the socio-legal support it gives me, plus the therapists and medics who are agreeable and helpful.  The cafeteria is also great (said with a straight face!)

Anyhow, do participate in the forums - we've an interesting bunch and some really relevant stuff gets discussed.

Hugs
Julia

[alena]

Hi Squircle,

Nice to meet you. I'm also with Transhealth and I've had my trachea shave with Dr Bart. I've been on other forums too but find Susan's to be the best 

[Squircle]

Hi everyone! Thanks for replying, nice to meet you all.

I'm just waiting to hear when my next appointment at Leeds will be now; apparently the Dr I need to see is booked up until August but if there are any cancellations they will try and fit me in earlier. I'm glad I've at least started the process now, everything seems better once there's a feeling of progress.

I'm pretty excited about Saturday. My Dad is coming with me as my parents are a little nervous about the prospect of me having facial surgery so I'm hoping that meeting Dr Bart and hearing what he has to say will help put their minds at ease.

I actually live and work in Manchester, and my visit to Leeds was perhaps only the 3rd time I've ever been there, and all of those times I've only really been passing through, but it looked pretty smart from my view on the train