Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi everyone,
Just thought I would introduce myself. I have been a long time lurker around here but I have finally got around to joining up. My name is Grace and I am a *just* 30 year old trans woman from Tasmania, Australia. I started my transition a bit over a year ago – I'm not sure where I would place the starting point but that was when I came out and started making my moves. I guess my story of a lifelong sense that I was female is pretty familiar to a lot of people – I am always interested in hearing other people's experiences of the same thing as although the main ideas are usually similar– how we deal with them can be unique and fascinating.

Either way, my first real move on my transition was a hair transplant surgery which I had done with Dr Hasson in Vancouver. It wasn't cheap and I was very fortunate that I received a large payout (redundancy) last year when I lost my job (not transition related) as a land surveyor. The surgery was very important for me as I had suffered considerable loss due to MPB and I am happy to say that at almost 11 months post-op the 6300 grafts I had seem to be all growing well with little to no sign of the prior thinning. As part of that op – I had a lower, more feminine hairline created which I am very happy with.

I didn't start HRT until February this year owing to the various hoops I had to jump through and the waiting times for the gender clinic and specialists such as endocrinologist and psychiatrist etc. everything on that front seems to be going ok, although I did have to change from Spiro to Cyproterone at 6 months as Spiro failed to lower my testosterone at all despite increasing the dosage.  I have been living full time around 7 months.

Since I lost my job last year due to cutbacks, I have been back at university studying history, classical lit and journalism but I recently started doing some contract work back with my old company, so I think I might focus on that from now on as I am looking forward to the next stage of my transition  - surgery. I have spent a bit of time lately researching GRS and ideally I would like to do it in Australia, although there is pretty much only one real option in that regards and I am interested on hearing feedback on people's experiences here.  That said, I am not completely against going overseas as I was willing to travel to the best when I got my hair done – From what I have gathered there are ways and means of getting the surgery at a somewhat reduced price here if you play the game right between medicare and your private health fund.

Anyway, apologies for the rambling first post!  I look forward to contributing on here in any way I can.
Grace xx

Hi from Sydney, and welcome to the board!

Good luck in your continuing journey.

Hi Grace, welcome to Susan's. No need to apologize. It's always good to ramble on a bit. Congrats on what you have accomplished so far. I hope once your through with your schooling that you find an even better job than you had before. I look forward to seeing you around the forums. Good luck and Hugs
Mariah

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Hi from Sydney.

I guess you're referring to Andy Ives for SRS? There's been a few posts about him there.

Hi Grace  :icon_wave:

Welcome to Susan's  :)  Glad to have you here, join on in the fun

Hugs

V M

Hi Grace,
I big welcome from the Sunshine State :)
I wish you all the best in your transition.
I was discussing SRS options at my last gender clinic appointment, my doctor told me that the best surgery in Thailand can be cheaper than surgery here, even with Medicare and private health (you also get an awesome holiday as part of the package, as my cousin said).
It is definitely something I am researching. My surgery is still several years away though.

Once again, welcome and good luck.
Hugs,
Sarah

Hi everyone, thanks for the warm welcome! Yes the surgeon I was referring to was Andrew Ives, I've seen a few threads here talking about him but they were pretty light on detail, I would be open to going to Thailand as I've heard the standard is pretty high but there is a lot to consider!

Hi Grace,

Im a transgender woman from a similar neck of the woods ( NZ )

Glad to see you and hope to see you around on the forums

Taylor.

Hi I'm from vic, had srs with Andrew Ive's, I posted what I thought was pretty detailed thread about it all.

Not sure that info that is correct Sara, Isnt suporn about 17k usd?

Oh hi serenation! I think I just found that thread! Yes that has a bit of detail. I think in the last post of that thread you mentioned you had written more about your experience and to pm for more detail - as I'm new I can't pm but I am interested in any further information you can give, perhaps email? Or is that not allowed ? I have also considered suporn but one of my main hesitatations of going to Thailand is eating safely due to my celiac disease. I know that it should be fine to eat gluten free there but with language barrier etc it may be a challenge? I'm happy to to hear if that is an unfounded concern! :)

Hi Grace,

I'm sure you could arrange for special hospital and hotel food if you need it.

I live in Thailand and can usually find most things one needs here.

The doctors staff will usually try to be as accommodating as possible.

Tayor.

Oh sorry one more thing,

I don't speak Thai, never needed to here, especially in the hospitals where many doctors and some nurses will be able to speak english with you.

Just raise it as a concern when you book in to ensure they have at least one english speaking nurse available for you.

Major hotels will all have staff onboard who can speak english.

I never had much of a problem.

Taylor.

Hi Taylor! That is good to know. I am probably 12-18 months away from the surgery but I know how long the waiting lists can be so, I'm trying to make up my mind in the next 6 months or so. I do have two friends/former work colleagues who are married to Thai women, one lives here the other in Bangkok so if it comes to it I'm sure I could arrange something with them to help me. I took photos at one of their weddings for free so maybe they owe me one haha :)

Quote from: Grace_uz on October 06, 2015, 10:11:03 PM
Oh hi serenation! I think I just found that thread! Yes that has a bit of detail. I think in the last post of that thread you mentioned you had written more about your experience and to pm for more detail - as I'm new I can't pm but I am interested in any further information you can give, perhaps email? Or is that not allowed ? I have also considered suporn but one of my main hesitatations of going to Thailand is eating safely due to my celiac disease. I know that it should be fine to eat gluten free there but with language barrier etc it may be a challenge? I'm happy to to hear if that is an unfounded concern! :)

The other stuff was just more specific to after care, dilation and orgasm, feel free to ask anything related in the thread

Hi Grace,

Waiting lists can be a problem, last time I looked Dr Suporn was booked out a year ahead, not sure if thats still the case.

When I had my FFS (well half of it ) and Breast aug with Dr Kamol I got in literally the next day, not sure if they had a cancellation, they certainly seemed busy in general.

Plan ahead in-case

Taylor.

Suporn's waiting list is around a year, but earlier openings keep popping up and you can reschedule.

Hi seranation! silly me! So I *actually* found the thread you were referring to - answered pretty much all my questions and I appreciate the detail you put into the write up! I still might ask some questions when they come to me but I'll head over to that thread.
Thanks Grace x

Big warm welcome Grace

I am from Sydney, well last 28 years  ;D

No problem with a good intro.... always nice to read.. Having been following for a while I guess you probably have found your way around... enjoy xx

Really look forward to seeing you about the forum's

L Katy  :-*