This is cross-posted from my blog. I've seen a few threads regarding informed consent, and I thought it would be beneficial to share my experience:
I had my "establishing care" appointment today at my local LGBTQ clinic. This post will probably be a little lengthy – I think it would be helpful for people who are considering informed consent as a pathway to hormones. Please keep in mind that this was my experience at a particular clinic – the one I go to is very highly regarded both in my community and in the greater area. I can't say that others will have similar experiences elsewhere. I'm also willing to pass on specific location and doctor information for anyone interested.
I originally e-mailed the clinic's transgender advocate three weeks ago asking about their referral process for HRT. He promptly called me at a provided number and let me know that they followed informed consent and that I would not be needing a referral for T. At his advice, I filled out the required new patient paperwork and brought it to the clinic 2 days later with my driver's license and insurance card. That trip took less than 15 minutes to get me in the system and get me an appointment for two weeks later.
My appointment today was at 10:15. I got to the clinic at 10:00am, signed in, and waited maybe 5 minutes in the lobby before I was taken back to have my vitals recorded (blood pressure, weight, temperature). After that, I was taken back to an examination room where I ended up waiting until 10:45. My doctor stopped by twice to let me know she was running behind from her last appointment, and asked if I needed to reschedule or if I was free. I already had the day off, so I hung around.
When she finally made it in, she introduced herself and asked a few questions about me that were already expected from therapy: How long have you identified as trans? Do you see yourself as binary? How long have you wanted to transition? What is your ultimate transition goal?
With the initial Q&A done, we went into medical history (mine and my extended family's). She made a few offers for vaccines and testing that I wasn't interested in. Then we went through the consent form (reproduced verbatim here) and she gave me time to ask questions and ask her professional opinion on my options. We discussed my needle aversion and my aversion to the price tag attached to T gel, and I affirmed that I was willing to work on my needle issue in order to start medically transitioning. She was quick to inform me that the attached pharmacy's prices on gel are actually roughly 80% lower than the prices I had seen online, and that in her professional experience, the results were very similar. We agreed that with price being a non-issue, gel would be the preferred method for me.
Then came the part of the appointment that I had been dreading: blood work! I get terribly nauseous whenever I lose blood or get blood drawn, so I was incredibly nervous about all the blood they'd need to take to run the tests they needed to do. I went over to the attached lab and was immediately taken into an exam room. I let the phlebotomist know about my past experiences with having blood taken and she was incredibly understanding. She grabbed a fan from the hallway and found me an ice pack. The fan was blowing on my face and the ice pack went on my neck. She also agreed to do the draw from my hand, since I've had better results with that in the past.
The entire draw took less than 5 minutes. I closed my eyes and felt fine the entire time. I didn't feel anything other than the needle going in initially and being pulled out at the end. I didn't experience any nausea whatsoever.
Apparently Thanksgiving season is busy at this particular clinic, so the soonest I was able to get a follow up appointment was December 5th. Provided everything checks out with my blood work, that's when I'll be starting T.
thanks for this!
Chris