Just thought I'd share two funny, yet confirming experiences I've had lately.
First, I went to the DMV today to get a new license, because the picture looks absolutely nothing like me anymore. It's about 4 years old. Worth mentioning is that my given first male name is gender neutral, like Shannon, Terry, Chris, etc. I wait in a couple of lines, get to lady that takes the pic and gets to keep your old license. I hand her my old license, she looks at it, and without looking up from her computer screen, says "Dear, I need your license...". I answer, that is mine. She then looks up at me, back at the license, repeats this a few times, then exclaims... "You're a boy!" I was going to say no sh!t Sherlock, but couldn't keep a straight face. Anywho, after her discovery, the only thing I said was: yep I guess I've changed a lot recently, she took my pic and sent me to the other line to pic up the new DL. As I walked over to sit down, I saw her whispering to a co-woker and pointing over to where I was sitting... her co-woker looked equally shocked. The best part of everything though was this was the fastest DMV visit ever. I was in and out in 15 minutes. That had to be a world record.
Second encounter, I went to a new doc to get my pre-op SRS tests done (X-Rays, blood, EKG, etc.) My normal primary care doc does not do these sort of tests in his office, so he sends me to a local clinic to have the testing done there. Fun... new people that I don't know and don't want to share with. Cool! Anywho, long story short, I walkin fill out the paperwork, check the "Male" box on everything... again remember, gender neutral first name here... I'm asked to strip down to my underwear (glad I decided to go with a matching bra/panty set today :))... and wait for the doc. I can hear thru the door, the nurse explaining to the doc as to what I'm there for. SRS Pre-op testing. The doc asks the nurse what does "SRS mean"? She explained it to him. Doc walks in, takes one look at me standing there in my underwear, and the first question out if his mouth was, "Are you a boy or a girl?" I told him, if you can't figure it out by the end of the exam, I'm not going to tell you. His face turned super bright red, he started stuttering, and was obviously very embarassed. After I explained everything, he was cool about it and said I was the first trans-person he ever met. He said he had only read about it in books. Well, I said we are real and we do exist. :o
I guess this HRT stuff does work. ;D
all I can say is jajajajajjaa
Its great when you go out and not a single person sees you as a guy.
Quote from: JennX on January 29, 2013, 04:00:07 PM
I guess this HRT stuff does work. ;D
Your entire post is terrific, I was thrilled for you just reading it. Yes you're right, the HRT stuff does work!
Love it! ;D
+1 for making me smile
Awesome ;D getting shocked disbelief that you where ever a boy must feel great!
Also did your doctor look like this by any chance :)
(https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/108786233/oak.jpg)
Forgot to mention: I must of really confused the nurse that did my EKG. Even after explaining everything to the doc, she first ran the EKG for a female patient with a female test pattern, the doc caught the error and she had to rerun it for a male patient with a male test pattern. The staff were all nice to me though.
JennX thanks for the smiles and even more for your very patient education of my old medical peers. I am a retired anesthetist and can assure you that neurosurgeons, cardiologists and all kinds of smarty pants providers may indeed benefit from a little trans 101. You rock! I don't know the rules here but you get my +1 too.
JennX,
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, it brought another smile to my face today.
Congratulations to you.
Hugs,
Bethany
Quote from: JennX on January 29, 2013, 04:00:07 PM
She explained it to him. Doc walks in, takes one look at me standing there in my underwear, and the first question out if his mouth was, "Are you a boy or a girl?" I told him, if you can't figure it out by the end of the exam, I'm not going to tell you. His face turned super bright red, he started stuttering, and was obviously very embarassed. After I explained everything, he was cool about it and said I was the first trans-person he ever met. He said he had only read about it in books. Well, I said we are real and we do exist. :o
Holy crap! This made me laugh so hard I have tears in my eyes!
Filling out paperwork with male would cause me all sorts of trauma. :o Was this necessary? If so, does one declare, for all future tests, that one was born male when doing an ECG? I'd most certainly "lie" about it.
Thank you for posting this, I was in need of a little giggle today. Reading what you said to the doctor just about did me in! ;) I think you handled everything like a champ and best wishes on your up coming SRS.
QuoteI can hear thru the door, the nurse explaining to the doc as to what I'm there for. SRS Pre-op testing. The doc asks the nurse what does "SRS mean"? She explained it to him
He's not doing the surgery, I hope... :o
Quote from: Beth Andrea on January 29, 2013, 05:47:11 PM
He's not doing the surgery, I hope... :o
Oh, he is. Don't worry, though; I'm sure he'll watch the video beforehand. :laugh:
(Of course, I kid. :P)
Lovely stories, by the way! Especially that DMV part. I went there for my learner's permit, and it took 6 hours. :-\
Dear Tesla, I would respectfully encourage all of us to be open with our medical providers. As a nurse anesthetist one of my first responsibilities was to create a patient profile that includes drug use history, past surgeries etc. Frequently folks who drink 2+ shots of ETOH daily will report only 2+ shots weekly. We typically double what is reported. Metabolism of drugs does vary considerably. All experienced gas passers have had the holy moly patient that required three times the expected dose and you keep reloading syringes as fast as you can. Better to be open than experience the dreaded "awareness under anesthesia" or have your other important medications simply ineffective. Medical people can be arrogant and judgmental as frequently as any group of people but, we don't live with them. We do live with the results of treatment and you deserve to have the best.
Quote from: Tesla on January 29, 2013, 05:10:40 PM
Filling out paperwork with male would cause me all sorts of trauma. :o Was this necessary? If so, does one declare, for all future tests, that one was born male when doing an ECG? I'd most certainly "lie" about it.
Yes, it is. Male and female physiologies are different and respond differently to meds, etc. See Tessa's post below.
And if you think that's bad... wait till after SRS, FFS, and whatever else, when you have to call your doc and schedule your first prostate exam. He'll most likely be: woman + prostate gland = confused doc. :o
Quote from: Tessa on January 29, 2013, 06:42:28 PM
Dear Tesla, I would respectfully encourage all of us to be open with our medical providers. As a nurse anesthetist one of my first responsibilities was to create a patient profile that includes drug use history, past surgeries etc. Frequently folks who drink 2+ shots of ETOH daily will report only 2+ shots weekly. We typically double what is reported. Metabolism of drugs does vary considerably. All experienced gas passers have had the holy moly patient that required three times the expected dose and you keep reloading syringes as fast as you can. Better to be open than experience the dreaded "awareness under anesthesia" or have your other important medications simply ineffective. Medical people can be arrogant and judgmental as frequently as any group of people but, we don't live with them. We do live with the results of treatment and you deserve to have the best.
I completely agree. Anonymity, being private, and not sharing your past is one thing. But not being open/honest with a doctor when it could harm your health is entirely another. Docs need to know everything, so they can best analyze/treat the patient. We're not talking about telling some random guy on a first date that you're trans. This sort of disclosure is mandatory in my book.
Quote from: Beth Andrea on January 29, 2013, 05:47:11 PM
He's not doing the surgery, I hope... :o
Heck no. He was the doc that ran the clinic/lab where they did my preop-tests only. My regular PC doc, nor my endo do any testing (blood, x-rays, etc) on site. They always send you somewhere else. Supposedly to save patients money, and less work for them. I was still shocked he didn't know what it was. He had other questions as to how it's done, cost, recovery etc. He seemed sincerely interested, and was nice about it.
Quote from: Tessa on January 29, 2013, 06:42:28 PM
Dear Tesla, I would respectfully encourage all of us to be open with our medical providers. As a nurse anesthetist one of my first responsibilities was to create a patient profile that includes drug use history, past surgeries etc. Frequently folks who drink 2+ shots of ETOH daily will report only 2+ shots weekly. We typically double what is reported. Metabolism of drugs does vary considerably. All experienced gas passers have had the holy moly patient that required three times the expected dose and you keep reloading syringes as fast as you can. Better to be open than experience the dreaded "awareness under anesthesia" or have your other important medications simply ineffective. Medical people can be arrogant and judgmental as frequently as any group of people but, we don't live with them. We do live with the results of treatment and you deserve to have the best.
Oh yes, I was having an upper blepharoplasty and hadn't been honest about the fact that at the time I drank excessively on a daily basis. I was aware of the surgeon's laser knife slicing through my eyelid briefly, not fun!
Definitely brought a smile to my face. That's rare.
Quote from: DianaP on January 29, 2013, 06:14:29 PM
I went there (DMV) for my learner's permit, and it took 6 hours. :-\
Was that the Ecuadorian DMV ??? LOL
Well, I came to America when I was 14, so no. It was indeed the American DMV. Wait a second, what's that supposed to mean? Trying to insult my country, eh? Well, I'll just give you the ol' 1 2. :icon_boxing:
Anywho, JennX, I just noticed that the DMV lady said, "You're a boy?!" out loud. Did that lady out you? ???
Quote from: DianaP on January 29, 2013, 08:13:03 PM
Anywho, JennX, I just noticed that the DMV lady said, "You're a boy?!" out loud. Did that lady out you? ???
Kinda, sort of I suppose. The DMV was actually empty today for some weird reason... there was only two other customers at the counter with me. One of which was an older lady arguing with another DMV employee about how they misspelled her middle name... which really ticked her off for some reason. So there was really no one around to hear what she said, and I really didn't care much about what she said. Though in retrospect, I never said yes or no to her declaration. So? I just was happy to get my new DL and get out. I pass just fine, and could careless honestly... the whole experience did made me laugh though.
Wonderful stories, thank you for sharing and making me smile!
Awwww great post! Big smile here for you!!
Thank you for sharing :D
Quote from: JennX on January 29, 2013, 07:19:53 PM
Yes, it is. Male and female physiologies are different and respond differently to meds, etc. See Tessa's post below.
And if you think that's bad... wait till after SRS, FFS, and whatever else, when you have to call your doc and schedule your first prostate exam. He'll most likely be: woman + prostate gland = confused doc. :o
You're braver than me. I had some FFS in '96. I've been pretty stealth since. Prostate exam? This is a prerequisite to what? Ouch.
Quote from: Tessa on January 29, 2013, 06:42:28 PM
Dear Tesla, I would respectfully encourage all of us to be open with our medical providers. As a nurse anesthetist one of my first responsibilities was to create a patient profile that includes drug use history, past surgeries etc. Frequently folks who drink 2+ shots of ETOH daily will report only 2+ shots weekly. We typically double what is reported. Metabolism of drugs does vary considerably. All experienced gas passers have had the holy moly patient that required three times the expected dose and you keep reloading syringes as fast as you can. Better to be open than experience the dreaded "awareness under anesthesia" or have your other important medications simply ineffective. Medical people can be arrogant and judgmental as frequently as any group of people but, we don't live with them. We do live with the results of treatment and you deserve to have the best.
Maybe it's different in the UK? I put female down in all my paperwork, medical and insurance etc., regardless. My current surgeon knows I'm TS, but I state female in all paperwork. His own paperwork states female, but in notes buried deeper will state TS. My GP knows I'm TS, but she personally states female in all her paperwork, so when I'm passed onto another department like radiography or hematology they do not know any better. Perhaps the protocol is different in other countries? It's not something I have to worry about here, but just the thought sends my blood pressure sky high.
Wonderful post. Really emphasizes the reality of just being yourself and going with the flow, because the current will take you no matter what.
Barbara