So after a couple of months queuing up my first ever endo appointment is upon me. On Monday.
From reports online she's a bit of a hardass with a woeful bedside manner, but is very knowledgeable. I'm seeing here because I've been largely unsupervised throughout the first 10mths of hrt (aside from regular bloodwork from the GP) and hopefully I'll learn some things while I'm there. I'll be taking a spreadsheet showing qtys and timing of everything I've been on since the beginning, so this will be an interesting visit.
Anyone with any advice on how to deal with her, make the most of the 40 mins, and what to ask would be great.
If anyone has any pre-collated data on levels and studies in mtf hrt I'd love to take it with me :icon_boxing:
Kay? ;) not to single you out, but you've educated a few endos in your time ... ;)
Wish me luck!
I don't trust doctors much so I try to find out what they know first before I disclose I know anything at all myself. If they don't know what they are doing or are going to lie to me I want to know.
Also bear in mind that if you get into an argument you they might not want to deal with you and you'll have to find someone else. Telling doctors stuff you read on internet often doesn't go down too well.
That's probably not a bad idea ;) I'm half expecting to be shown the door anyway :P ??? ::)
I go to the Mazzoni center and my PA-c is awesome. I use the web portal before my appointment to provide the questions or needed items before my appointment. We have an awesome relationship and the center sees thousands of trans.
Perhaps e-mailing questions before the appointment and keeping the conversation at the appointment friendly may provide good results. You can decide to not see her again or ask her to refer you to another doctor if the relationship will not flourish.
Cheers Rachel,
From what I can glean from the interwebs she's one of the foremost and most respected female hormone specialists in Aust, but I'm not sure that she's particularly trans friendly. I will be polite and listen carefully to what she has to say, but my track record of dealing with dismissive individuals is not good. I'm quite nervous that it may not go well, I already got into an altercation with her snobby receptionist ::) :-\... I will update y'all later this afternoon.
:o
It all went much better than expected. I'm so frikken relieved!!!! She even wrote me prescriptions!!! Holy CRAP!
What a DAY!
How did it go with all the preparations?
Yeah. Hugs Shannon
Prep-wise I just took my bloods for the last two years (which she didn't pay a lot of attention to) and a list of everything I had taken/am taking with times and qtys. I arrived 5 mins early thinking I could collect my thoughts, and then sat in the waiting room with four....three.....two... one other woman for 30mins waiting my turn. That was uncomfortable. I'm 5'11 and 90kg, and dressed in work clothes. They're all little middle-aged women going through menopause.
First thirty seconds behind the mysterious consult room door were really uncomfortable.
Then it all just kinda flowed. She checked thyroid, bp, reflexes, asked about family history of cardio and health problems, we chatted for a bit about my changes so far and how far I wanted to go...
She told me I'd gone about it all backwards, but liked my current dosage and regimen, and then ordered bloodwork through her preferred lab, and wrote me three prescriptions!
She also set me up with a referral to a clinical psychiatrist just to close the loop, and told me I was on her patient list now, so no more waiting 3months for a return visit.
She knows the difference between progestins and progesterone! She discussed clotting factors and levels, and didn't care that my E level was 1000, as that measurement was clinically largely unimportant in her opinion.
What a find!