As many of you know I have been under am enormous amount of stress over my Gender Dysphoria of late and at 51 I have had enough. So I have taken steps to remedy this by seeing the only available Dr in South Australia so I am able to get HRT or even SRS for that matter. So I got a call From the Gender Dysphoria Clinic to offer me an appointment for the 23rd of August...not bad...but...that is 2016. Quite frankly without any help before then I think I would be dead. I do not exaggerate.
I cannot believe I have to wait for over a year to even see him. I can tell you this much if it goes well with my Therapist I will find a way of moving this forward before a year. I am not going to wait on this downtrodden system. I am downhearted and disgusted. The only light in my tunnel now is this therapist I just hope that she is good.   

Sarah T

Long waits seem to be the norm for publicly-funded gender care.  Unlikely to change in the near future either.

Options?  Look into private healthcare, at least to the point of getting on hormones as quickly as you can.  It's a small price to pay for peace of mind and the knowledge that you're actually moving in the right direction from a medical standpoint.

omg I had no idea that it could be that bad. I once had to wait like 3 months for a sleep clinic, and thought that was bad. I'm so sorry hun. I understand now why so many people are having troubles with this. How is anyone supposed to get the help they need having to wait that long.

My grandma had to wait once really long to see a specialist for her arm that kept swelling for no apparent reason. She's a bit stubborn and kept calling them to see if there was any cancellation. She was able to reduce her waiting time in half. And with that ridiculous waiting time, there are bound to be some cancellations. *hugs*

That's the public system in Australia for you. (ie CRAP!) If you can afford a private therapist then I'd strongly suggest you go that route. Chances are, if you get a referral through your GP you might be able to have some psych appointments fully covered by Medicare, the others will be partly covered.

I know it is of little comfort Sarah, but we are in the process of taking the SA state government to the HRC for failing to supply a gender clinic in the public system. In dismissing our rights to medical treatment on the grounds that 'the condition is too rare' the government is failing in their duty to us and against the principles of the HRC of which they are a member.

The Act that we are under in SA 'The sex Reassignment Act 1988' is also under review and we have been told it will be repealed and that will allow more psychiatrists to offer help in SA, but that will take about a year, and as it is sponsored by the Greens, there is a very good chance that political games will be played.

We also have the Dept of Law at Adelaide Uni submitting to the government that what they are failing to do in providing appropriate care is illegal.

Dr Lyons and I and others have been very active in trying to resolve these issues as we are all totally frustrated by the existing system and the arbitration of our health care to the private system, which is largely not interested in supporting Trans*healthcare in SA.

Finally, I'm free for a catch up on Monday morning so pm me!

Thankyou all and I was pretty blown away when they told me. I have managed to find a therapist who is seeing me tomorrow night. I feel for anyone having to try and work within this system. I would do the whole thing privately is I had the money. While I can get a hold of some cash an ongoing commitment for a health fund is well out of my league on Disability Support Pension. I will be getting 10 therapist visits for free then I have to pay after that. But 10 is a really great start I just hope that she is good. Will post again after tomorrows session

Sarah T

good luck

Sarah T

I hope all goes well and smoothly.

With warmth,

Joanna

Gender clinics are really not that much better than if you just know which doctors to go to.  There's no gender clinic in Perth for anyone who is an adult, so we have to just know which doctors to go to.

First off is finding a GP, who will refer you to a psych.  The psych needs to give you a letter for what you want to do (generally you'll want HRT, then later you'll want SRS). 
Finding a GP can be hard, but usually you just need someone who will refer you to who you want.  They don't need to understand necessarily, they just need to be okay with writing referrals. 

Ask around for who is a psychologist or psychiatrist who has treated transgender people before.  This is crucial, because a psych who isn't familiar with transgender people will just tell you to see someone else.  This can be disheartening when you wait so long to see anyone.

When you find the right psych they will then go through a procedure to diagnose you with gender dysphoria.  Once you have this diagnosis you can take it to your GP, get a referral to an endocrinologist (again, someone who has treated transgender people before) and book your appointment. 
The endo will take blood for tests, but should eventually prescribe you your hormones.

For surgeries it's a similar process.  I haven't gone for that yet, so I don't have advice. 

I will say that there are ways around some steps.  Informed consent model can mean you skip a psych or endo.  This means that by acknowledging that you're an adult and can make your own choices, you elect to have surgery or take hormones and are fully responsible for any regrets in the future.  This is pretty cool, but you'd need to find a GP who is comfortable with it.  Most GPs have never seen a transgender person though. 

You could have a look here:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,109367.msg825414.html#msg825414

There is a link to a list with transgender friendly gp and psychs in Australia.
You just have to email there to have it sent to you...


And you could look here:
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,192174.msg1713588.html#msg1713588

hugs

Thank you all for the encouragement...I have been feeling fairly helpless in all of this but you have all been a great support. I am starting to think that the best way forward for me is via informed consent. If and when I feel the time is right I will pursue HRT on this basis. Even a low dose to see how I feel...I will soon know if it is for me.
This morning my Dysphoria is being triggered by everything and I feel really quite off kilter today. I was so angry after I woke up this morning...dreams again I suspect. My wife said to me just as she headed out for work that I seemed forlorn today...when I think about it that is not such a bad description...didn't tell her why I was feeling this way, Didn't think it was fair to send her off to work upset.

Thanks for being there

Sarah T

Quote from: sarahtokes on August 19, 2015, 08:41:59 AM
Thankyou all and I was pretty blown away when they told me. I have managed to find a therapist who is seeing me tomorrow night. I feel for anyone having to try and work within this system. I would do the whole thing privately is I had the money. While I can get a hold of some cash an ongoing commitment for a health fund is well out of my league on Disability Support Pension. I will be getting 10 therapist visits for free then I have to pay after that. But 10 is a really great start I just hope that she is good. Will post again after tomorrows session

Sarah T

Going from a year of waiting to less than a week is a huge difference. That's awesome you were able to find someone.