Well after my therapist meeting.. She said I should start hormone replacement therapy.. but she didn't give me a letter or anything she just told me to go to this endocrinologist and to tell her she sent me..  However that clinic is 30 minutes away.. I notice there's one near by but would I be able to get my prescription there.. My therapist doesn't answer emails.. so I'm confused.. everywhere on the net it says you needed a letter.. I only have 600$ and planned to use this to get an appointment and blood test since I have no insurance.. I don't even know how much they will charge.. so it might not even be enough.. What should I do..? I realize people say go to a LGBT group but... Look on google and find nothing.. there's a meeting in west palm but that's like 45 minutes away.. Not to mention I am very shy and I don't even know how well I can hold out before I start to break out from my phobia of being surrounded by strangers and especially people I have never been trained to talk to.. I scared of my pants.. I barely made it walking through graduation and they were regular people I been around since 9th grade..
What should I do.. ? I live in Hollywood FLorida..

Hi - ring them up, tell them "X told me I should come and see you for transition HRT but didn't give me a letter, do you require a letter or can I just make an appointment anyway"... at least that way you'll clear up that bit of confusion. If they don't need a letter (seems unlikely though) then good, if they need a letter then...

Ms. Grace beat me to it! Give the endo a call and see what you need! If you need a letter, there's the potential that you could still go in and do your blood test anyway. A lot of places won't start you on HRT until after they have those results, so if you're sure that's where you're going to end up going, it can't hurt to give them a call and figure everything out.

If you're going to an informed consent clinic you don't really even need the therapist OK.

In my case my therapist works with them but I signed informed consent paperwork, it was called "hormone therapy for women of transgender experience" and listed the risks and effects. They asked if I had a therapist and who s/he was and I told them and that was that. Some places will send you to their own counselor.

Either way call ahead and ask.

My endo required neither a letter nor any consent forms. She was content with a brief "interview" about my history, then laid out a treatment plan and wrote the prescriptions.

Apparently I found the one endo who treats her patients like adults. :-)

Edit: forgot to add, I did ask when I called to make the appointment, and the receptionist said that no letter or anything special was needed. I agree with the others, do this, especially if money is tight so you don't waste money on a misunderstanding.

I'd also be sure the endo knows that cost is an issue, they may be able to minimize costs (and some will reduce fees for those with limited resources).

okay thank you guys for the advice.. I will call her.. Here goes my best attempt to talk over the phone :S Is it strange that I don't like people hearing me talk over the phone...?

I called what is now my primary care several times before staying on the line till I made a connection. My face was beet red and my heart was pounding out my chest. The important thing was I made the connection.

After two or so visits I was sitting in the waiting room surrounded by my community and just thought wow I fit in. I am so glad I made the call.

Good luck.

Or, you could just travel the 30 minutes to the clinic your therapist suggested. I currently travel about an hour (on public transport) in order to get my hormones and other medical treatment..

Quote from: kelly_aus on April 01, 2015, 01:32:01 AM
Or, you could just travel the 30 minutes to the clinic your therapist suggested. I currently travel about an hour (on public transport) in order to get my hormones and other medical treatment..

I don't think OP was implying that they didn't want to drive 30 minutes to get care, I think it was more of a "I don't want to drive for 30 minutes only to be told that I need a piece of paperwork before I can actually do anything".

Quote from: ftmax on April 01, 2015, 04:42:10 AM
I don't think OP was implying that they didn't want to drive 30 minutes to get care, I think it was more of a "I don't want to drive for 30 minutes only to be told that I need a piece of paperwork before I can actually do anything".

The part that says "she just told me to go to this endocrinologist and to tell her she sent me.." would suggest to me that the therapist has an arrangement with this particular endo.

I'll also add that I've never seen my hormone letter, I know it exists, but it was sent straight from my therapist to the gyno who originally prescribed my hormones.

Quote from: kelly_aus on April 01, 2015, 04:52:15 AM
The part that says "she just told me to go to this endocrinologist and to tell her she sent me.." would suggest to me that the therapist has an arrangement with this particular endo.

I'll also add that I've never seen my hormone letter, I know it exists, but it was sent straight from my therapist to the gyno who originally prescribed my hormones.

It throws up a red flag though if you've been reading things online about what to expect and what is required. Personally, I'd much rather make the call ahead of time and make sure all the dots are connected before I spend the time driving out of my way.

Plus most specialists in the US aren't doing walk-ins. You'd have to either stop in or call to make some kind of initial appointment.

Quote from: ftmax on April 01, 2015, 06:33:12 AM
It throws up a red flag though if you've been reading things online about what to expect and what is required. Personally, I'd much rather make the call ahead of time and make sure all the dots are connected before I spend the time driving out of my way.

Agreed.

QuotePlus most specialists in the US aren't doing walk-ins. You'd have to either stop in or call to make some kind of initial appointment.

The two major ones that do HRT here, Callen-Lorde and Beth Israel will take walk-ins. But you have to be prepared to wait as they see a lot of people.