Hello everybody! Long-time lurker here. I tend not to talk a lot on forums, but these post ranks and site restrictions are a great motivator to change that fact. My name is Christopher and I'm 22 years old. I'll soon be going into my third year of my study of Visual Arts for Digital Media. I love drawing as well and I play a bit of ukulele.

I realized that I was trans at 18 and began testosterone treatment (Nebido) when I was 21, in November 2015. More excitingly, I had top surgery last week on the 18th of July! I've never been so excited about not being able to move around a lot and reach for things above my head.

This site has been a great source of information for me after I had my surgery. Occasionally I'll find something on my chest that freaks me out and end up looking on here for more information. A couple of days ago, I found a bit of skin on my chest that had air trapped under it, and it made a weird farting noise when I pressed on it... Turns out it's fairly normal, and the body should absorb the air over time!

So, thank you for being a good source of information for me, and nice to meet all of you!

- Chris

Dear Christopher;

Welcome to Susan's!

Thanks for moving from lurker to member!  It's way more fun to interact with others here than stay in the background.  (Other lurkers, that's a hint!)  Have fun, ask and answer questions, it's all good!

Congratulations on getting the surgery done and all your progress in resolving gender incongruities.  Being more comfortable in our own skin is something that so many folks underestimate in importance for our long-term well-being.

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Hi Christopher, welcome!

And congratulations on your surgery last week.  I am MTF but I equally admire FTM.  We may aim for opposite directions on some topics but our overall motivations and challenges are so similar.  At some point in the future I will also be getting surgery that will make it temporarily impossible for me to move around a lot and reach for things above my head, and I will definitely be excited.   

In the field you are studying, you know the value of being able to interact compared to a static display of information.  I am so glad you are here now!

Kendra

Hi and welcome to the forums.  You don't have to post anything you don't want to but sometimes it does feel good to get something said out loud or typed as the case may be.

Hi Cristopher 

Welcome to Susan's Place    Glad to have you here, join on in the fun

Hugs

V M

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

Hi Christopher,

Hi and welcome to Susan's Place. I'm Laurie and I read elsewhere that we caused you some apprehension while you eagerly awaited a response to this post. I am personally sorry for that. I have been failing in my self appointed unofficial greeter duties. I did see this post before but for some reason I failed to welcome you.
  If you have been lurking as you say you may have read some of my  Road Trip thread. If you have you will see that I have been concentrating on myself a lot late but want I want you to know is that I met many of the members here and that personal connect with them has had a tremendous impact of my progress. The forum is a great place to begin forging those bonds with people like ourselves. Meet some IRL just makes those connections stronger and more personal. When you lurk you don't have that chance to connect as you do being an open participating member. I hope to see more of you here sharing what is happening with you, good or bad. That is how we get to know and help  each other. We learn from each other and we support one another.

Welcome to Susan's Christopher.

Hugs,
   Laurie

Hi Laurie, thanks for the belated welcome! I really appreciate you lot who take the time to greet the new members on this forum, the vibe here is so welcoming. But it's important to take care of yourself too, so don't sweat it. The belated post is still appreciated equally

I know when I started out transitioning (and still), it meant a lot to talk to people who were also trans. So I love seeing that this forum can be that support for people who need those connections. There are actually monthly get-togethers for trans people at a bar near my home, so I'm actually working up the courage to visit it. Hearing that you had such a great time meeting people IRL may help me gather the courage to give it a shot!

Hello, Beeshellaknees
That's a unique user huh, welcome and finally, you're here and able to post, you are alway free to share your experience and have fun with us. enjoy your stay and hoping you always a good day,

Quote from: beeshellaknees on July 30, 2017, 10:31:46 AM
I know when I started out transitioning (and still), it meant a lot to talk to people who were also trans. So I love seeing that this forum can be that support for people who need those connections. There are actually monthly get-togethers for trans people at a bar near my home, so I'm actually working up the courage to visit it. Hearing that you had such a great time meeting people IRL may help me gather the courage to give it a shot!

Hi again Christopher,

  It can be rewarding meeting others like us, but I think someone should caution you about those regular meetings. Some of them are really good and will be warm and welcoming and others are not so good and it could take some time to be able to fit in. That is not to say don't go to the meeting in your area, not at all. It means to go and find out what that one is like and if it feels good to you being there. Getting a group that makes you feel comfortable and offers you the support is what you want to find.
   I went to one meeting in my area and it had several things about it I didn't care for so I haven't gone back. But the meetings I did that you are referring to was a very very good thing for me. I was able to meet with 9 or10 other ladies I had already met here at Susan's Places even if just slightly. I asked if there were any that would like to meet me while I was on my road trip and all of them said yes so I tried to make it happen. These one on one face to face encounters were priceless to me and helped me quite a lot. I hope I can do more of them in the future and am sure I will as I have a couple in mind now.
   I hope your meetings are all that mine were for me.

  Hugs,
    Laurie

A hearty welcome, Chris!

Congratulations on your top surgery. I am so envious! But my time will come. In the meantime I'm working on developing as much chest muscle definition as I can to help with the outcome of the top surgery results.

I'm an engineer , play a couple of instruments, such as the banjo ( love the happy sound), guitar ( love the moody sound I can produce on it), ukulele is just a joy for so many reasons. Alas, I have little time to spend on all my lovers and so I'm focusing on my main love, the b->-bleeped-<-ipes ( big and loud to compensate for my introversion  ).

I live in a big country town in Australia where there are no trans groups so I'm grateful for the existence of Susan's Place.

See you around!