Dr Hayes, the Sydney endo.

[roxie rudi]

Hi again Ms. There are two factors which might go against oral HRT in my case; my age (which is 46) and I have undergone  cardiac procedures, albeit when I was younger and a more recent ablation of scar tissue from that procedure to forgo any subsequent problems. It's a relatively simple procedure to ensure that old surgical methods don't cause subsequent problems. Newfound techniques for oldschool methods. That sort of medical thingy!

[Claire_Sydney]

Fab!

Thanks Cindy, Ms.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SamKelley]

The bottleneck might also be due to the number of endocrinologists willing and able to take on trans clients, which could be fairly limited even in Sydney.

Yes agree 100% - and endocrinologists don't seem willing to accept referrals from psychologists either, generally speaking.

Bear in mind that there's no legal requirement for doctors to follow WPATH or ICD-11. Whatever Dr Hayes is doing, its his choice.

No there isn't. My point was if we also perpetuate that endocrinologists can only take referrals from psychiatrists, when that isn't in the literature, we become part of the cause of this bottleneck.

[roxie rudi]

Yes Sami I honestly and completely agree. We shouldn't perpetuate myths that might prolongue our suffering.
I am one of the first to stand up and not be obeisant to someone elses' self aggrandising lies. I do not take sh*it, believe me. BUT in my case here I called Dr Hayes' office as was suggested in an earlier post on this thread and low and behold I was told I would MOST PROBABLY need a psychiatrists' letter to begin HRT.
I know, I know, I'm the so-and-so who posited the original question about what referrals would be necessary to begin HRT but even Dr Hayes' fellows are directly involved in perpetuating the myth of psychiatry being a necessity for this.

Nevertheless Sami I thank you and Ms. and all the other girls here who have shown this myth to be no more than some weird degree of atavism(?) on all our behalves and I will hopefully be able to use this in conjunction with Claire's advice to avoid spending too many bucks on psychiatrist's appointments.
I know what and who I am.
I know what I need to do and any person's obfuscation in this matter, professional medico or otherwise, will not be helpful.
And it will be a problem which I will only duck and weave anyway, no matter the medico's plaudits etc.
So I will return to avoiding and ignoring legalities when I am capable of doing so without hurting others because I am me and I am not mentioned in the Australian Constitution Act which is the basis of our commonwealth's law (the Lion and the bloody Unicorn and all that palaver). But I will be a dead set sneak and adhere to legal necessity to commence HRT because I know the woman I am wants to get out and about.
Thank you Sami we really shouldn't perpetuate myths that uphold anything that might prolongue our suffering.

Ciao Bella,
xoxo,
Roxanne.

[AnonyMs]

Yes Sami I honestly and completely agree. We shouldn't perpetuate myths that might prolongue our suffering.
I am one of the first to stand up and not be obeisant to someone elses' self aggrandising lies. I do not take sh*it, believe me. BUT in my case here I called Dr Hayes' office as was suggested in an earlier post on this thread and low and behold I was told I would MOST PROBABLY need a psychiatrists' letter to begin HRT.
I know, I know, I'm the so-and-so who posited the original question about what referrals would be necessary to begin HRT but even Dr Hayes' fellows are directly involved in perpetuating the myth of psychiatry being a necessity for this.

Its not really a myth in this case. If Dr Hayes says its necessary then it is, because he's not going to give it to you otherwise.

The myth is that there's some kind of law that doctors have to follow, when its actually their choice.

I don't know how difficult it is to get a psych to write such a letter in Sydney, but I'd imagine its pretty easy, assuming you're trans and don't have any other problems. When I first started I thought it would be difficult and you'd need to get diagnosed with a mental disorder (which may have been true at the time, I don't know). I wanted low dose HRT and no transition at the time, and I wasted a lot of time and effort working around non-existent problems.

I know how now, and I've no moral issues working around the system, but there's simply no point. Not here.

I suspect what we have in Sydney, at least seeing the right psych's, is proper medical informed consent. The psych evaluates you to make sure you're informed and more to the point capable of consenting. They are not evaluating you to make sure your the right kind of trans, and you don't have to present female to them. I very much doubt you'd have a problem if you're non-binary. Assuming that's the case then I think its pretty reasonable of Dr Hayes to ask for it, and there's no harm in doing so. Its not his job (or expertise) to asses people's mental state.

The MOST PROBABLY likely means that there are cases where he won't ask for a psych letter. Perhaps if you're already on HRT or post-op.

[Ms Grace]

When I see Hayes next I'll ask him.

[Ms Grace]

So I saw Dr Hayes today and asked him: "A friend was wondering how they might go about seeing you..."

He said that a doctor's/GP's referral was necessary for the Medicare rebate claim (you get a bit back, not a lot). He added that "general practice" was to also include a referral from a psychologist or a psychiatrist.

I originally went to Hayes via a referral from a psychiatrist, which covered me as far as the rebate was concerned too so I didn't need anything from my GP. (I don't know if a referral from a psychologist or a counsellor would cover you for Medicare.) However a psychiatrist referral only lasts a year and needs to be renewed, a GP can write one that has no end date. Once my psychiatrist referral to Hayes was expired I just got one from my doc and that was well over a year ago now.

As for my appointment today, my E had just started to dip below the magic 800 mark so I'm now running on a new implant. Everything else is going really well!

[Claire_Sydney]

Perhaps this thread should be more properly called 'We are all going to see Dr Hayes sometimes this week'.

Good to hear you're all refuelled (?) now Grace.

Happy Australia Day everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ms Grace]

He's a popular guy!

[AnonyMs]

I originally went to Hayes via a referral from a psychiatrist, which covered me as far as the rebate was concerned too so I didn't need anything from my GP. (I don't know if a referral from a psychologist or a counsellor would cover you for Medicare.) However a psychiatrist referral only lasts a year and needs to be renewed, a GP can write one that has no end date. Once my psychiatrist referral to Hayes was expired I just got one from my doc and that was well over a year ago now.

I got Indefinite Referrals for both Dr Hayes and my psych. The first GP I asked would only write it for a year, so I went elsewhere.

Education guide - Indefinite referrals – what you need to know
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/health-professionals/services/education/education-guide-indefinite-referrals-what-you-need-to-know

It looks like the psych referral would be valid only 3 months, so far as medicare rebate goes.

Referrals under Medicare
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/health-professionals/subjects/referrals-under-medicare

These referrals are only so you can get your medicare rebate, you can go without them if you didn't care about the money. I booked Dr Hayes before having a referral, and got one before I saw him. These first referrals were only for a year.

[roxie rudi]

Happy Australia Day girls! I love Australia as much as I love the world as a whole. Odd really. No room for racism inside me because I'm f****** lost when it comes to similar matters, especially sexism.

To be precise a myth is something that becomes popularly accepted as an explanation for matters that involve the supernatural. For example the Gods of Olympus are mythical. Whereas a legend is something that purports to be historical explanation. For example King Arthur is legendary. However I also know that there is some overlap between these. For example King Arthur has a magical (supernatural) sword called Excalibur.
IS EVERYONE BORED?

Okay. So yes we can use the term "myth" to loosely describe Dr Hayes' demands for a psychiatrist. I shall duck while everyone gets angry and hurls abuse/brickbats/knives/rocks and whatnot at me for being cheeky! He he he he!

Luckily I saw an agreeable psychiatrist yesterday but unluckily I have to return to see him in late February. Additionally I am to see Dr Hayes in just under 3 weeks time. This is driving nuts because I have discovered an escape route that I can't yet take with any abandon. I shall ask Dr Toohey for "the letter" at the end of Feb and return to Dr Hayes with it ASAP.

Gonna' be feminine, gonna' be beautiful. And not just in my dreams!

Ciao mie bella sorelle,
xoxo,
Roxanne.

[Ms Grace]

Get a referral from your GP to see Hayes, tell his office that you are currently seeing Dr Toohey and I expect they will be able to work with that.

So yes we can use the term "myth" to loosely describe Dr Hayes' demands for a psychiatrist.

As I mention above, it's not a myth but it's also not a demand. Currently he considers it the practice to require one from a psychiatrist or a psychologist.

Thing is, Hayes will most likely require you to have a blood test before he starts prescribing anything. Usually it is your second appointment with Hayes where you'll get a script. I was able to get back in for my second appointment fairly quickly (about 7-10 days) but that was a few years ago, don't know what his schedule is like these days. At any rate, you'll be able to ask Toohey to write directly to Hayes, I believe they both know each other professionally. I'm sure everything will align for you one way or another and very soon.

Believe me I very much understand the frustration of wanting to start HRT, I remember mine quite clearly. Thing is, you are moving at a good pace and it's not as far away as seems.

[SamKelley]

I got Indefinite Referrals for both Dr Hayes and my psych. The first GP I asked would only write it for a year, so I went elsewhere.

Thanks AnonyMs I didn't know this, that's really important information! xx

[roxie rudi]

Thanks very much Grace.
I have already supplied Dr Hayes with a GP's referral. In fact the GP is a Dr Santos whose name was supplied to me by the Gender Centre for just this purpose. To make things even better Dr Santos has already told me that he has worked with Dr Hayes to transition girls. And even more betterer Dr Santos arranged for my transitioning blood tests which I then forwarded to Dr Hayes.
I am going bonkers and my clock has been ticking for tooooo long and without the girls on this site and my GC counseller I don't know where I'd be right now. All I know for certain is that I'd still be lost.

Ciao bella,
xoxo,
Roxanne.