Hi y'all

I'm Julia.  I'm English originally, but have been living in Spain for 18 years, most recently in Madrid, and I speak Spanish fluently, as well as having a bit of Catalan and French.

I made use of Susan's forum extensively when I decided to transition in 2014 and, during my really busy transition year (I was very focused on getting it all done in not much more than a year), I met some excellent people here.  I did delete my account, but I do dip in from time to time if I find someone who has questions where I hope I can make a positive difference.

I'm a reasonably senior exec in a multinational technologies company.  When I decided to transition they gave me excellent support, despite my being the only known transgender person out of 120,000 employees.  I do some gender- and orientation-related advocacy within my company and, outside of work,  I have done some informal coaching of people just starting their gender journey. 

Here in Spain transgender rights are reasonably well established, and I was lucky to have the support from the gender identity unit at the Ramon y Cajal hospital in Madrid.  I did facial surgery with Facial Team in Marbella,  BA and SRS with Dr Chettawut in Bangkok, and some body sculpturing with Dr Kaye of Ocean Clinic, also in Marbella.   

I'm a firm believer of taking charge of one's transition, and I was really, truly fortunate that my transition year was a positive and fascinating experience, with too many taxi drivers asking for my phone number!  I am immensely grateful to my family and friends for their unwavering support at that time.

My present partner (whom I met after transition) is female, but I've had boyfriends too, so I guess I'd best classify myself as bi.

Feel free to say hello and reach out.

Hugs and abrazos
Julia

Hello Julia,

It's interesting to read about trans life and opportunities in Spain.  I hope that you have a happy and fruitful time at Susan's.

Hey Julia! Welcome back?
It's cool to hear everything ok for you

Hi Julia,

Welcome back!  I remember you fondly.  I read a great many of your posts.

What do you think of your results from body sculpting?  I have decided to get that done in November, despite my vow of no more surgeries.  I just don't fill out a dress as well as I like.  I need some more curves. Can you tell me more about your experience - pain, recovery time, and overall satisfaction?

Thanks,

Terri

Hi again Julia 

Welcome back to Susan's Place    Join on in the fun

Hugs

V M

Hi Julia,
I could only hope that the Hospital I work for is so understanding and supportive when I finally decide to come out. I have spent some time in Spain but that was courtesy of the military and Zaragosa. I absolutely loved the Spanish culture and people and if I could I would love to visit again. Maybe some day "Heavy Sigh". TTFN

Danielle

Quote from: Alice V on September 01, 2018, 07:51:49 AM
Hey Julia! Welcome back?
It's cool to hear everything ok for you

Hi Alice.  Thanks for the welcome!

Quote from: Danielle Rose Fox on September 01, 2018, 03:28:53 PM
Hi Julia,
I could only hope that the Hospital I work for is so understanding and supportive when I finally decide to come out. I have spent some time in Spain but that was courtesy of the military and Zaragosa. I absolutely loved the Spanish culture and people and if I could I would love to visit again. Maybe some day "Heavy Sigh". TTFN

Danielle

Hi Danielle.  A return visit to Spain is always possible, as you say, some day.

From what I've read, people who transition inside a healthcare organisation get good support generally, both because of the environment and also because there is a general sense of curiosity and support... Not sure how you see it...?

Hi Julia, I've heard of Dr Aslani/Cirumed in Marbella, but not Dr Kaye/Ocean Clinic. Do you know how they compare? How was your experience with Dr Kaye?

Hi Terri

Quote from: Maybebaby56 on September 01, 2018, 10:04:53 AM
Hi Julia,

Welcome back!  I remember you fondly.  I read a great many of your posts.

What do you think of your results from body sculpting?  I have decided to get that done in November, despite my vow of no more surgeries.  I just don't fill out a dress as well as I like.  I need some more curves. Can you tell me more about your experience - pain, recovery time, and overall satisfaction?

It's nice to see you again!    He he, the vow of no more surgery... that was mine as well!   

So, it's three months since I had the body sculpturing done, and the results are good.  I have no idea how long they will last, but I am satisfied.  To give you some context, I'm quite small - 162cm tall and around 55kg, and they harvested all my tummy/waist/back fat to get around 1kg to redistribute.  It was placed in my butt and outer thighs. Initially I had a lot of "curves", but that was partly due to inflammation.   Only around 50-60% of the fat tends to survive after being transplanted, and they advised me to eat more for around a month to "feed the fat".   I am now quite stable, and dropping a bit of weight so that I can minimise it coming back to ther areas where it naturally tends to accumulate.

The pain was intense, to be honest, both in the donor and receiver sites.  For me, almost as bad as SRS.  The skin around the donor areas becomes terribly sensitive, and you need to wear a compression garment for several weeks to keep things in place.  The pain in my thighs lasted around 6 weeks and felt like hot needles being inserted - it was not fun, and I needed analgesics for around 4 weeks on and off.   

You also need physiotherapy afterwards to remove the subcutaneous scar tissue from the donor area - I had around 12 sessions.   The surgeons don't tell you about this part!  Also, you are instructed not to put body pressure on the fat for at least a month, which means returning to the darn doughnut cushion, aaargh!  To sleep they advise you do this face down, but I cannot manage this, so I ended up with 3 pillows placed in such as way that I was minimising pressure on the receiver areas.

But go for it - I certainly like my results!

Hugs
Julia

Quote from: AnonyMs on September 02, 2018, 02:16:07 AM
Hi Julia, I've heard of Dr Aslani/Cirumed in Marbella, but not Dr Kaye/Ocean Clinic. Do you know how they compare? How was your experience with Dr Kaye?

Hi AnonyMs - nice to see you again!  I can't say much about Dr Aslani, but I have heard of him.  I asked Facial Team for a recommendation, and they have a cross-working partnership with Ocean Clinic.  I was very impressed with them, and I consider Dr Kaye a very competent surgeon. 

As you'll see from my post to Terri, after the surgery and back in Madrid I went to a physiotherapist who was in Marbella for many years and specialises in aesthetic rehabilitative physiotherapy.  He certainly told me some stories about cowboy surgeons in Marbella - it's a major aesthetic surgery centre.  But he commented that Dr Kaye was probably one of the best in Marbella, and, based on my results, I can't disagree.

Hgus
Julia

Thanks, I may get over to Facial Team and I can see I'll have to do some more research.

Welcome from a Blackpool girl

Quote from: big kim on September 02, 2018, 04:00:10 AM
Welcome from a Blackpool girl

Hiya, luv!  Thanks a lot!!

Hi Julia,

Welcome back to the forum😊