Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Kia Ora,

::) This thread/poll is for pre,  post and non-op trans-people[hence why there's up to five voting options]...

If you have been through the system [or are going through the system] how would you rate your treatment[so far] by the above ?

::) I just realised you only need maximum of three votes...For example Psychologist/psychiatrist [1] Therapist[1] Surgeon/s[1] Oh well whatever  ::) I'm sure you will all work out what's what[fingers crossed] ;) ;D

Metta Zenda :)

I have been blessed to have been seen by some really excellent caregivers. First and foremost, my gender therapist (psychotherapist) Susan Tarshis in Milton, Ontario. She charges $110/hr, and is worth every penny, and more. I'm in the CAMH program in Toronto, and my treatment there has been stellar.  I also now have an excellent primary care physician, who is herself post-op, and is looking after my meds along with everything else. An option to vote for Endocrinologist would have been a good addition to the poll, I have an excellent one of those, also, Dr. James Martin, in London, Ontario.

Quote from: Colleen Ireland on September 24, 2011, 05:13:28 PM
I have been blessed to have been seen by some really excellent caregivers. First and foremost, my gender therapist (psychotherapist) Susan Tarshis in Milton, Ontario. She charges $110/hr, and is worth every penny, and more. I'm in the CAMH program in Toronto, and my treatment there has been stellar.  I also now have an excellent primary care physician, who is herself post-op, and is looking after my meds along with everything else. An option to vote for Endocrinologist would have been a good addition to the poll, I have an excellent one of those, also, Dr. James Martin, in London, Ontario.

Kia Ora Colleen,

Thanks, I've just added the endocrinologist to the list, but I afraid you won't be able to add the extra vote...

Kia Ora Sarah,

Thanks for added the names and links of your care-providers, I take it they won't mind going public so to speak...


Metta Zenda :)

 Not at all, they're well known as specializing in trans care, and proud of it.

Quote from: Colleen Ireland on September 24, 2011, 05:13:28 PM
I'm in the CAMH program in Toronto, and my treatment there has been stellar.

This really surprises me. I guess they've actually started to change seriously? They still have Zucker and Blanchard on staff there, makes me queasy.

Quote from: Sarah7 on September 24, 2011, 10:51:11 PMI guess they've actually started to change seriously? They still have Zucker and Blanchard on staff there, makes me queasy.

Yes, there have been some serious changes there recently.  For one thing, they're moving to be more in line with WPATH SOC, and they've recently shortened their RLE requirement from two years to one.  Dr. Nicola Brown is wonderful, she was one of the two who interviewed me at my first appointment in January.  The other one was Dr. Dickey, who has since retired.  HE was ALSO wonderful, and I was really leery of meeting with him, because I've heard such horror stories, but he was very nice, and very good.  And I've heard the same from at least one other girl (who's now post-surgery).  Anyway, I guess I'd say, don't believe everything bad you hear about that place.  They're actually doing very good work these days.

Another friend of mine had her interview for possible approval for surgery a few weeks ago.  One of the doctors who interviewed her at that time was Dr. McIntosh (sp?).  Now, I've heard VERY good things about him from a number of sources, but she apparently had a very BAD time with him, at least from her perspective.  She was over at my house the night after the appointment, as I had a few friends over for BBQ.  She was VERY stressed about how the interview had gone, she was talking about how she was SURE she'd be refused, and she ended up drinking too much and spending a good part of the evening crying in the bathroom.  Well... this past week she got the word... she's APPROVED.  Just like we all knew she'd be.  Moral of the story:  Even when someone has a bad experience, it might be just their impression of it, or how they felt about the questions that were asked.  It doesn't mean the DOCTOR isn't a good one.

However, yeah, Blanchard gives me the creeps too...

Well, it's good to hear they are improving, though I'm going private for SRS regardless - I'm unwilling to deal with the extra time to get through the waiting lists. Actually, of the two I'd say Zucker is worse even though Blanchard gets more press. Zucker was the one conducting reparative therapy on trans kids - also known as aversion therapy. The same ->-bleeped-<- they used to try to de-gay people. That he's still working and not in jail blows my mind. CAMH's history is kind of horrific.

I have a fantastic therapist who's based in San Francisco: Alexandria Hodes. She's worked with transpersons before, but I'm pretty sure I'm the first one she officially diagnosed with GID. Working with her has been absolutely wonderful. She wrote the letter that I used to start HRT.

For a very good marriage/couples therapist, I can recommend Diane Marquez in Millbrae, CA.

My endocrinologist is Dr. Timothy Offensend, and he's based in San Mateo. He has worked with transpersons before, but I'm the first who's started an HRT regimen with him. Prior to me, he'd done maintenance HRT. As my results have been quite noticeable, I think he really seems to know his stuff.

It's nice that most of you have had good treatment from psychiatrists/psychologists.  My therapist raved about a psychiatrist that deals with children/teens when I was 15 years old, and set me up for an appointment with him.  One of the worst experiences of my life.  He asked me questions that EXCLUSIVELY had to do with my sexuality.  I asked him not to tell my mom about my sexuality (liking guys) and he said "What do you mean?  She must already know.  You want to be a girl, so you're attracted to men."  His end diagnosis?  That I was a homosexual that wanted to play the role of a woman in a relationship. 

After that, my mom and I stopped at a grocery store to get food and I just walked around the store in an almost-catatonic state.  He didn't discuss hormones ONE bit or anything.  He really had no knowledge of transgenders/transsexuals/etc.  Then we saw a thing on ABC about a transgender center in Philadelphia and went there and they've been amazing ever since. 

Never seen a therapist.

Somthing missed out of here is that the NHS process is different Thus most of my contact thus far has been through GP's

Gp1: ->-bleeped-<- complete ->-bleeped-<-.
Gp2: Moderate experience... He did help me but didn't listen like most doctors and was apprently divorced from the reality of my situation.
Gp3: Slow she's Glacically slow and dosen't really have much of a clue about most things but has helped alittle.

Psychatrist Encounter: Moderate... He was a robot, and had some rather outdated methods of sex and gender aswell as transsexuallity and yes towards the end of my psychological assessment he did pop out the HBS scale of how ->-bleeped-<- art tho.

Endocrinologist: This guy was also a massive ->-bleeped-<-. he made very clear he dosen't think the nhs should treat "Pepole like you" and was generally rude and dismissive towards me the only time he opened up at all was when I demonstrated my Medical knowledge and we discussed hormone blockers breifly.

Kia Ora,

::) Pebbles pointed out I had left out the "General Practitioner", so I've just added it to the poll... When I come to think of it, it was my doctor who was my first port of call and my main caregiver at the beginning of my transition-she was really helpful, she also witnessed my name change documents...

Metta Zenda :)

My GP was terrible, the first appointment she basically told me to sort it out myself, then i went back with the name of a local gender clinic and she reffered me. The gender specialists were awesome but then the NHS lost my paperwork and now im in limbo

I wish there was a category for the gynecologists, for us ftm's. My GP is intimidated but basically friendly, my therapists have been a little inept but not bigoted, I'm just now meeting the more official psych people but they seem nice so far, my daughter's psychiatrist is incredibly accepting and supportive of my gender identity and transition, I don't have an endocrinologist but my T prescriber is very respectful and helpful...

but my gynecologists have both judged me as a person and neglected my actual health issues because they couldn't see past my gender. And giving someone who doesn't think I should exist so much access to my body feels incredibly violating. Ick.

I have had some very bad experiences with psychiatrist so I had to rate them as being poor. Now though I have found a MTF psychiatrist and as you would expect it has been nice just being understood.

Huggs

Emily

Quote from: Felix on December 08, 2011, 02:42:09 PM
I wish there was a category for the gynecologists, for us ftm's. My GP is intimidated but basically friendly, my therapists have been a little inept but not bigoted, I'm just now meeting the more official psych people but they seem nice so far, my daughter's psychiatrist is incredibly accepting and supportive of my gender identity and transition, I don't have an endocrinologist but my T prescriber is very respectful and helpful...

but my gynecologists have both judged me as a person and neglected my actual health issues because they couldn't see past my gender. And giving someone who doesn't think I should exist so much access to my body feels incredibly violating. Ick.

Kia Ora Felix,

::) I've just added Gynecologist ...

Metta Zenda :)

My GP was great, simply wrote the referral I requested and really wasn't at all fussed.. My therapist is great, has really helped me with some stuff.. And none of that 'gatekeeper' crap so many around here seem to complain about..

My gyno is fantastic.. Has a great sense of humour, has a great knowledge of what she's doing and is a post-op trans woman..

Quote from: kelly_aus on December 08, 2011, 08:53:18 PM
My GP was great, simply wrote the referral I requested and really wasn't at all fussed.. My therapist is great, has really helped me with some stuff.. And none of that 'gatekeeper' crap so many around here seem to complain about..

My gyno is fantastic.. Has a great sense of humour, has a great knowledge of what she's doing and is a post-op trans woman..

Kia Ora Kelly,

::) It's good when things just fall into place, I'm happy that it did/is for you...However at times I think the gate keepers are just doing their job-probing for answers to help their clients, but at times their clients feel somewhat violated when having to look a little deeper into the whys and hows and resent this...

Metta Zenda :)

Quote from: Zenda on December 08, 2011, 09:30:50 PM
Kia Ora Kelly,

::) It's good when things just fall into place, I happy that it did/is for you...However at times I think the gate keepers are just doing their job-probing for answers to help their clients, but at times their clients feel somewhat violated when having to look a little deeper into the whys and hows and resent this...

Metta Zenda :)

My gyno told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to get used to being a woman because that's all I'll ever be. Because of her overly focusing on gender when it wasn't the issue, I have some kind of ovarian problem that's gone untreated for months. I was in the ER the other day and they said my right ovary was twice the size it should be, cystic, twisted at a bad angle, and probably infected. I've been telling the doctor about how I've been hurting, bleeding way more often than I should, and way too heavy, and passing weird chunks of grey flesh at odd times in my cycle, and she dismissed everything and kept acting like I was trying to trick her into giving me a hysterectomy. She's not "just doing her job," she's being pointlessly suspicious just because I'm trans. If I were to try to trick somebody into giving me surgery, I'd be much more concerned with top surgery than hysterectomy.

Quote from: Felix on December 09, 2011, 12:33:03 AM
My gyno told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to get used to being a woman because that's all I'll ever be. Because of her overly focusing on gender when it wasn't the issue, I have some kind of ovarian problem that's gone untreated for months. I was in the ER the other day and they said my right ovary was twice the size it should be, cystic, twisted at a bad angle, and probably infected. I've been telling the doctor about how I've been hurting, bleeding way more often than I should, and way too heavy, and passing weird chunks of grey flesh at odd times in my cycle, and she dismissed everything and kept acting like I was trying to trick her into giving me a hysterectomy. She's not "just doing her job," she's being pointlessly suspicious just because I'm trans. If I were to try to trick somebody into giving me surgery, I'd be much more concerned with top surgery than hysterectomy.

Kia Ora Felix,

::) I hope things work out for you, can you change your doctor ?

Metta Zenda :)

Quote from: Zenda on December 09, 2011, 12:46:21 AM
Kia Ora Felix,

::) I hope things work out for you, can you change your doctor ?

Metta Zenda :)

Yeah, I asked around and found a doctor who sees a few other trans guys in town, but I'm a new patient so I can't see her until January, and the problems I'm having now are pretty urgent. I have ct scan and ultrasound proof from the ER that my ovary is pretty dagnasty and I'm not lying about the pain, so I expect the transphobic lady will stop ignoring me. I got worked in to see her early tomorrow morning. I'm on a lot of painkillers and still hurting a lot, so sorry if I got a little grumpy or ranty.

Quote from: Felix on December 09, 2011, 12:52:28 AM
Yeah, I asked around and found a doctor who sees a few other trans guys in town, but I'm a new patient so I can't see her until January, and the problems I'm having now are pretty urgent. I have ct scan and ultrasound proof from the ER that my ovary is pretty dagnasty and I'm not lying about the pain, so I expect the transphobic lady will stop ignoring me. I got worked in to see her early tomorrow morning. I'm on a lot of painkillers and still hurting a lot, so sorry if I got a little grumpy or ranty.

Kia Ora Felix,

::) No need to apologise....I'm just happy you are being seen to and if your doctor's a true doctor[ a professional] she will look beyond her personal prejudices and treat you with respect and not contempt...I truly do hope things go well for you tomorrow...

Metta Zenda :)

Quote from: Felix on December 09, 2011, 12:33:03 AM
My gyno told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to get used to being a woman because that's all I'll ever be. Because of her overly focusing on gender when it wasn't the issue, I have some kind of ovarian problem that's gone untreated for months. I was in the ER the other day and they said my right ovary was twice the size it should be, cystic, twisted at a bad angle, and probably infected. I've been telling the doctor about how I've been hurting, bleeding way more often than I should, and way too heavy, and passing weird chunks of grey flesh at odd times in my cycle, and she dismissed everything and kept acting like I was trying to trick her into giving me a hysterectomy. She's not "just doing her job," she's being pointlessly suspicious just because I'm trans. If I were to try to trick somebody into giving me surgery, I'd be much more concerned with top surgery than hysterectomy.

:o, can you sue her? Surely this falls under neglect or malpractise or something?

I had some very negative experiences (as had others with the same guy) with the only accredited SA gate-keeper. He got me suicidal, an elitist gay chauvinist pig.
Same with the SA head of gender-team - no one else may speak up or say anything or ask anything. A VERY defensive and self-satisfied outfit, basically 2 guys working hand in glove.
They produce very questionable results to boot (colovaginoplasty ONLY!) - and then call those results 'superior'. There is now a group of victims of that system being gathered by Gender Dynamix (GDX) for some group-action suit.
I do wish them best of luck, and some decent no cost revisions...
It is one crying shame IMHO, with vaginal entry width of pencil size.

My therapist/psychologist was supportive AND knowledgeable, very much more so then the gate-keeper. She, the psychologist, had been part of gender studies at her varsity and was very well informed.

My SRS surgeon was VERY good and very supportive, Dr. Sanguan Kunaporn at PIH.

My GP knows squat about gender issues and/or hormones (like most any other in Pretoria) but at least he gave me prescriptions that I asked for, though not for micronised progesterone... Why?
He is not very interested, and seems compromised with his Christian belief system. He tolerates me though.

Not quite sure if I ever would need to go to a gynie – as I do not have any internal female organs.

Axélle

Quote from: Axélle on December 09, 2011, 06:46:32 AM
I had some very negative experiences (as had others with the same guy) with the only accredited SA gate-keeper. He got me suicidal, an elitist gay chauvinist pig.
Same with the SA head of gender-team - no one else may speak up or say anything or ask anything. A VERY defensive and self-satisfied outfit, basically 2 guys working hand in glove.
They produce very questionable results to boot (colovaginoplasty ONLY!) - and then call those results 'superior'. There is now a group of victims of that system being gathered by Gender Dynamix (GDX) for some group-action suit.
I do wish them best of luck, and some decent no cost revisions...
It is one crying shame IMHO, with vaginal entry width of pencil size.

My therapist/psychologist was supportive AND knowledgeable, very much more so then the gate-keeper. She, the psychologist, had been part of gender studies at her varsity and was very well informed.

My SRS surgeon was VERY good and very supportive, Dr. Sanguan Kunaporn at PIH.

My GP knows squat about gender issues and/or hormones (like most any other in Pretoria) but at least he gave me prescriptions that I asked for, though not for micronised progesterone... Why?
He is not very interested, and seems compromised with his Christian belief system. He tolerates me though.

Not quite sure if I ever would need to go to a gynie – as I do not have any internal female organs.

Axélle

Kia Ora Axelle,

::) Most of the Kiwi trans-women I know who have had surgery overseas have gone to Dr Kunaporn and from what I gather he's a very skilled surgeon and all round decent caring human being...I've dealt with him in the past on behalf of a friend who had complications with her colonvaginoplasty [performed here in Aotearoa 'NZ '-like SA it's the only type of reassignment surgery performed here] ...She too had problems with the psycho-surgical team at the gender clinic here, and had battled with them for years. However things have come right for her now and she's made peace with all concerned...

I had my colonvaginoplasty performed by the same team of surgeons and saw the same psyche assessment team, but had no problems whatsoever, and have nothing but praise for their professionalism...Perhaps it was because I had no high expectations and just put my trust in the team's ability to do their job, which fortunately for me they did just that...

::) Here's a little snippet about Dr K WARNING surgical procedures look somewhat gruesome so be WARNED !   :icon_yikes:
http://pantau2.blogspot.com/2009/07/vulva-and-vaginoplasty-with-sanguan.html (http://pantau2.blogspot.com/2009/07/vulva-and-vaginoplasty-with-sanguan.html)

Metta Zenda :)

Felix, I have heard so many negative stories like yours. It is quite unfortunate that it happens and angers me so much when I hear about it. In every single case there has been evidence that called for an ultra sound at the veryleast which would have proven that you guys were not faking anything to try and get a surgery.

I wish you the best darling.

Emily

Thank you Emily.

And El I guess it is malpractice, but I'm not sure how well I could prove it, and even if I could I don't want to become known as a patient who sues. And court cases can be drawn out and exhausting.

On a different note, monday I'm taking my daughter in for gender counseling. She's not trans, but she's forming her identity, and my gender is a big part of her life. The counselor is at a community center for sexual minority youth, so there's the added benefit of trans and gay kids hanging around. That might help her feel a little more normal. She won't have to answer so many questions about her dad there.

Quote from: Zenda on December 09, 2011, 12:40:22 PM

Kia Ora Axelle,

[snipped in deed]

::) Here's a little snippet about Dr K WARNING surgical procedures look somewhat gruesome so be WARNED !   :icon_yikes:
http://pantau2.blogspot.com/2009/07/vulva-and-vaginoplasty-with-sanguan.html (http://pantau2.blogspot.com/2009/07/vulva-and-vaginoplasty-with-sanguan.html)

Metta Zenda :)

Did they take those pix of ME????!
Gosh my vj is getting all squeamish and my tummy getting jumpy but that's what I had... same man same team I guess.

Thank you all the same for sharing it... any "deep in denial gay-males" are most welcome to that treat... now having colovaginoplasty still ups the ante, and that by some!
Gory stuff ain it?

Good to hear you had no issues with yours, AND left all in their hands, - no questions asked :-)

Thanks hon,
Axélle

Quote from: Axélle on December 09, 2011, 01:53:35 PM
Did they take those pix of ME????!
Gosh my vj is getting all squeamish and my tummy getting jumpy but that's what I had... same man same team I guess.

Thank you all the same for sharing it... any "deep in denial gay-males" are most welcome to that treat... now having colovaginoplasty still ups the ante, and that by some!
Gory stuff ain it?

Good to hear you had no issues with yours, AND left all in their hands, - no questions asked :-)

Thanks hon,
Axélle

Kia Ora Axelle,

::) When I transitioned I had no one to really bounce things off of[apart from a short encounter with a local support group]...I just put my trust in the professionals,[my GPs-psychiatrists-clinical psychologist-endocrinologist and surgeons] and perhaps due to me not challenging their expertise with personal demands[personal wants], allowed them to assess my condition free from any personality clashes that might have arisen if I was overly demanding in any way, [which they might have taken as me telling them how to do their job]...

::) Perhaps I was just really fortunate to flow through the system with relative ease, however others weren't so lucky...

::) However what's done is done and in the past, and the past experiences[both wholesome and unwholesome] are just illusions that at times one chooses to mentally revisit/relive again and again...But Now is Now - the past 'IS' just an 'illusion'...

Metta Zenda :) 

Quote from: Felix on December 09, 2011, 01:30:16 PM
Thank you Emily.

And El I guess it is malpractice, but I'm not sure how well I could prove it, and even if I could I don't want to become known as a patient who sues. And court cases can be drawn out and exhausting.

On a different note, monday I'm taking my daughter in for gender counseling. She's not trans, but she's forming her identity, and my gender is a big part of her life. The counselor is at a community center for sexual minority youth, so there's the added benefit of trans and gay kids hanging around. That might help her feel a little more normal. She won't have to answer so many questions about her dad there.

Kia Ora Felix,

::) How did you get on at the doctors ?

Metta Zenda :)

My first gender therapist who specialized in the treatment of gender dysphoria, and additionally is a Dialectical behavioral therapist. She made it very clear to me that I did not have Borderline Personality Disorder. Since it was a major area of her practice I believed her when my next group of psychiatrist started to treat me as borderline. I just simply refused to participate any therapy that had treating an untrue condition as its goal. The harder I fought against it the more sure the doctors became that they were correct. The only way that I could get out of the cycle of continued screwed up care was to find care providers that were themselves transsexuals. I am very lucky that I live in a city where I could find not just a trans gender therapist, but also a trans psychiatrist. I am not saying that only transpeople can help other transpeople, but someone who is untrained or who hasn't been supervised in the care and treatment of transgender can totaly misdiagnose us and cause a great deal of harm. I am an educated member of my treatment team and as the sole expert on me I demand that my opinions be given some respect.

Huggs

Emily

Quote from: Emily Ray on December 09, 2011, 03:16:27 PM
I am not saying that only transpeople can help other transpeople, but someone who is untrained or who hasn't been supervised in the care and treatment of transgender can totaly misdiagnose us and cause a great deal of harm. I am an educated member of my treatment team and as the sole expert on me I demand that my opinions be given some respect.

Huggs

Emily

Kia Ora Emily,

::) "Different strokes for different folks !"

::) It's a fact, some trans-people have underlined conditions unrelated to their gender dysphoria [or GID] that need to be resolved before further treatment for their GD condition can be carried out...

::) From what I gather after meeting you in another forum[many moons ago], you have now a support network which includes some family members and friends[possibly more so than some member's here], and blend [as your trueself] quite well into mainstream society... However as you have mentioned in the past, like some other members here, you still have some unresolved issues, that 'you' need to work through 'with' your team...

::) I wish you well and hope those issues become a thing of the past and that they cause you no grief when having to revisiting them...

Metta Zenda :)

Quote from: Zenda on December 09, 2011, 02:51:33 PM
Kia Ora Felix,

::) How did you get on at the doctors ?

Metta Zenda :)

Burst cysts and resultant abdominal messiness. It's a lot better than it was a few days ago. They told me to take antibiotics and give it a few days for the pain and bleeding to stop. Idk. At least because of this I've got tangible proof that I wasn't making anything up, and I've changed both my general practitioner and my gynecologist to doctors who are more trans aware (my GP was nice, just too intimidated).

I was told that testosterone should stop further cysts from forming. I'll find out. :)

I've been incredibly lucky with health care practitioners. My optometrist and dentist don't seem to know that I'm trans even though I saw them through insurance that had me listed as female. Otherwise, my GP has been great, my endo has been very good, a sleep specialist I saw was quite wonderful, my top surgeon treated me with great respect and professionalism (though my results could have been better), and the gyno I just saw a couple of months ago was terrific.

I'm not completely pleased with the trans clinic I have started going to, but they do treat me well.

Oh, and my therapist has been absolutely fantastic. If he hadn't been, I doubt that I would have survived much longer. I was at the end of my rope.

Quote from: Felix on December 09, 2011, 09:36:33 PM
Burst cysts and resultant abdominal messiness. It's a lot better than it was a few days ago. They told me to take antibiotics and give it a few days for the pain and bleeding to stop. Idk. At least because of this I've got tangible proof that I wasn't making anything up, and I've changed both my general practitioner and my gynecologist to doctors who are more trans aware (my GP was nice, just too intimidated).

I was told that testosterone should stop further cysts from forming. I'll find out. :)

Kia Ora Felix,

::) Well that's good news and when you start seeing the new doc and gyno things should improve even more...

::) Take it easy Felix-let the antibiotics do their work...

Metta Zenda :)

Quote from: Arch on December 09, 2011, 09:59:51 PM
I've been incredibly lucky with health care practitioners. My optometrist and dentist don't seem to know that I'm trans even though I saw them through insurance that had me listed as female. Otherwise, my GP has been great, my endo has been very good, a sleep specialist I saw was quite wonderful, my top surgeon treated me with great respect and professionalism (though my results could have been better), and the gyno I just saw a couple of months ago was terrific.

I'm not completely pleased with the trans clinic I have started going to, but they do treat me well.

Oh, and my therapist has been absolutely fantastic. If he hadn't been, I doubt that I would have survived much longer. I was at the end of my rope.

Kia Ora Arch,

::) It's nice when things just flow....

Metta Zenda :)

I'm 57,  U.K.   NHS

My GP knew nothing about trans issues but has been excellent in every way.
My psych at CX (Charing Cross, London) was excellent and got me through the system in the minimum allowable time.
Surgery by Mr Bellringer.  Recovery was without incident or problem of any kind.  The result works well and looks good  IMO.  I am perfectly happy.
The endo...... he's a great endo but very overworked so my problems were delay in getting to see him, partly due to secretarial/communication SNAFU's

It was almost exactly 3 years to the day from me first walking into my GP's to tell her I was trans to me lying down on the operating table at CX

Kia Ora Steffi,

::) From what I gather you are one of the lucky one...I'm glad it worked out well for you...

Metta Zenda :)

Im 21, through the NHS.

I put "fair" for psychologist, therapist and endo because its the same one person for me (well, atleast for the endo part, she deals with my T results, deciding what dose I was to be on, when I was to start etc). She is a wonderful person to be honest,  but not the best when things need to be changed. For atleast 9 months now Ive been asking to learn to self inject and she keeps forgetting.
  Although, now I really think about it, Id like to bump up psychologist abit, because she was amazing when referring me for surgery. She has been great, but there has always been one thing thats bothered me. I was referred to the clinic at 16. They refused to see me till I was 18, so , you can imagine my absolute frustration and deep depression when waiting so impatiently. They did eventually see me at 18 (yay), but since then, have changed their rules to, as they put it, "make sure no young people have to go through the wait you did". They now see people as young as 16, but they wouldnt take that into consideration for me.
   But Im happily passed these type of frustrations now, living well :)

I rated surgeon "fair" because he did the job, but mislead me with what my scars would look like. Describing it one way, I wake up from surgery to find it another way. He didnt seem to feel he needed to explain why, when I asked, gave a vague answer. But all is said and done and I am ridiculously relieved it is :)

GP - excellent, because they have been no less!
I wish there was "nurse" on here, for the nurses that do my injections and blood tests, they have been the nicest and most accepting professionals I have met along my way.

I left gyno, never been, never ever will!

Quote from: El on December 08, 2011, 11:26:10 AM
My GP was terrible, the first appointment she basically told me to sort it out myself, then i went back with the name of a local gender clinic and she reffered me. The gender specialists were awesome but then the NHS lost my paperwork and now im in limbo

Yes, this has happened to me before!
Also, before I was referred to a gender clinic, I was at camhs (Child and Adolescent Mental Health), the one in my area didnt prescribe hormones, but one in a different area did. I was referred to the other one (before they lost my notes), and wasnt told until a year later, which was shortly before I was 18,that they had accepted me and were waiting to see me. So, I could have changed to them and gotten T if the place I was at had remembered to tell me in time, as once I hit 18, they couldnt see me anymore as Id be an adult.

With the frustration and feeling of complete lack of direction, I felt like Id never get out of the rut, but you do. The Nhs keeps working and they put you back on your feet aslong as you keep patient and hopeful :)

Kia Ora,

I've just re-set the votes because I've added extra options,[the most recent Gynecologist and Nursing Staff]... however the old vote count was as such :
Option 1:  (18 votes)
Option 2:  (5 votes)
Option 3:  (6 votes)
Option 4:  (5 votes)
Option 5:  (21 votes)
Option 6:  (3 votes)
Option 7:  (7 votes)
Option 8:  (3 votes)
Option 9:  (9 votes)
Option 10:  (1 votes)
Option 11:  (2 votes)
Option 12:  (0 votes)
Option 13:  (31 votes)
Option 14:  (2 votes)
Option 15:  (2 votes)
Option 16:  (1 votes)
Option 17:  (14 votes)
Option 18:  (5 votes)
Option 19:  (4 votes)
Option 20:  (2 votes)
Option 21:  (7 votes)
Option 22:  (3 votes)
Option 23:  (2 votes)
Option 24:  (2 votes)
Option 25:  (0 votes)
Option 26:  (1 votes)
Option 27:  (0 votes)
Option 28:  (0 votes)

Metta Zenda :)

BTW I've just realised I can't add additional vote options the max is '5'

I don't have an endo per se; my general practitioner does that, and she has been wonderful-and-a-half. My psychiatrist is the other person I see, and I would say that he's more or less useless, always late, and rushes his sessions, so I put poor. It's okay, though; he seems to be willing to approve me for surgery. It is said that he is biased because he appears to treat the passable patients better than those that are not... I feel a little bad knowing that I win his favour because of that, but I can' complain.

Rambleramble.

Quote from: Kelly J. P. on January 15, 2012, 12:19:43 AM
It is said that he is biased because he appears to treat the passable patients better than those that are not... I feel a little bad knowing that I win his favour because of that, but I can' complain.

Hardly unique to your psychiatrist. That's sort of a general feature of humanity. I was fast-tracked by my current therapist because of it. I get treated better by pretty much everyone who knows about me because of it. I watch professionals misgender other trans folks who don't pass well enough and stumbling to correct themselves. I'm fine with skipping that. I got hurt enough in other ways.

Kia Ora,

::) I guess because the psyche assessors are only 'human' their biases will come into play when assessing a candidate for surgery etc...But I suppose on the other hand they have to assess the candidate's overall chances of them being able to slot comfortably into society with the lease amount of problems...It's not the correct approach to dealing with trans-peoples issues[as we all know its root is internal-how one feels on the inside-regardless of how one looks on the outside] but it happens and no doubt will continue to happen for years to come...

::) This also seemed to be the case here in NZ when they select people for government funded surgery...I can understand the 'reasoning' behind their selection process, the more ones physical appearance fits ones target identity the less likely they will have problems when interacting in society...

::) However even some of those who do blend in still have emotional hang ups that can lead to regrets, but I guess this is less likely than those who don't quite blend-in and whose problems with assimilation tend to occur on a daily bases-this can greatly increase the chances of them regretting their decision to have surgery...

::) But all the same an interesting point you brought up Kelly...

Metta Zenda :)