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Amberwaves:
Thank you for your thread sharing your transition experiences.
Thank you others for adding to this good read.
Allow my comments that bookend to your post.
You transition at your pace. If you feel the need to move quickly, then do so. If you feel the need to move cautiously, then do so. It is your personal journey, a marathon in which you decide your finish line.
You wrote that you need bottom surgery. There are many excellent surgeons world-wide. It is never too soon to begin corresponding with prospective surgeons. Some may have a waiting list of two to three years for their initial consultation and another two to three years for surgery date.
Nearly all surgeons require complete electrolysis at your site for bottom surgery. That may not be necessary.
As the saying goes here: YMMV. I had a very hairy body. Hormones cleared that all away; I haven't shaved since the 1980s. You may not require electrolysis if hormones will do likewise for you.
Now to the other bookend.
You got it - 'enjoy the ride' - it will go fast enough.
I celebrated my 40th anniversary of my enrollment in Stanford University's 'Gender Dysphoria' program last December. I still am amazed how time flies. Through both my transition period and since my full-time, I counted the days, then the weeks, then the months, then the years. Now I count decades.
Please take your time to smell your roses. Savor each moment - good, bad, indifferent - they will be your memories for life. The lucky transitioners have family and friends with them.
I wish you all the best.
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