Just a quick update. I just got back from my tri-monthly follow-up visit with my Endocrinologist. I talked to her about changing over to Estradiol Valerate self injections. I went in armed with a very interesting read by Dr. William Powers that SassyCassie and Stephanie talked about in their threads. I talked to her about Dr. Powers findings on the imbalance levels of estradiol, estrone and total serum estrogen and there effects on MTF development, as well as his beliefs that estradiol should be closer to 300 pg/ml.

1: Kaiser follows the WPATH protocol for transgender health, so my doctor is bound to those standards. Which mean estradiol at 200 pg/ml max for younger patients, and in my case, (older patients) my doctor feels it's safer to be at 157 pg/ml or less and no progesterone. (She did say maybe on the progesterone after my GCS and I get off spiro).

2: Kaiser does not require my doctor to monitor estrone and total serum estrogen. They are only required to monitor estradiol levels, along with all the other important vitals. My doctor does agree with Dr. Powers but her point is that if the level of estrone and total serum estrogen were that high, my estradiol level would be very low, in which case my doctor would increase my estradiol. Since the amount of estradiol I take is in a normal range, and my blood levels of estradiol is where she wants it (cis female range), there is no concern.

3: My Endo is very happy to put me on estradiol valerate self injections. However, the Valerate seems to be in short supply so she would put me on MI? injections. The same results as Valerate. In her opinion, there would be no benefit to change over to injections, other than less wear and tear on the liver and kidneys. And since my liver and kidney functions are well within the normal range, she doesn't see the point of putting me through the extra pain of injections. (Valerate and MI is a think oil base and requires a deep muscle injection, which is why the needle is so long.)

So, not being convinced, or at least not sure that the injections would produce a better result, I guess for the time being, I will stay with the oral pill. I have always herd that the injections produce a better result, but as with progesterone, it depend on who you talk to and the fact that YMMV. Wandering through the dark, wanting nothing but the best for myself, I will continue my research and maybe in three months, I'll switch.

Oh ya! My Endo didn't let me get away without a mammogram this time. She just looked at me with this big ear to ear smile and said, "Welcome to the club Donica!".

Warm hugs,
Donica.

Quote from: Donica on October 15, 2018, 04:33:33 PM
Just a quick update. I just got back from my tri-monthly follow-up visit with my Endocrinologist. I talked to her about changing over to Estradiol Valerate self injections. I went in armed with a very interesting read by Dr. William Powers that SassyCassie and Stephanie talked about in their threads. I talked to her about Dr. Powers findings on the imbalance levels of estradiol, estrone and total serum estrogen and there effects on MTF development, as well as his beliefs that estradiol should be closer to 300 pg/ml.

1: Kaiser follows the WPATH protocol for transgender health, so my doctor is bound to those standards. Which mean estradiol at 200 pg/ml max for younger patients, and in my case, (older patients) my doctor feels it's safer to be at 157 pg/ml or less and no progesterone. (She did say maybe on the progesterone after my GCS and I get off spiro).

2: Kaiser does not require my doctor to monitor estrone and total serum estrogen. They are only required to monitor estradiol levels, along with all the other important vitals. My doctor does agree with Dr. Powers but her point is that if the level of estrone and total serum estrogen were that high, my estradiol level would be very low, in which case my doctor would increase my estradiol. Since the amount of estradiol I take is in a normal range, and my blood levels of estradiol is where she wants it (cis female range), there is no concern.

3: My Endo is very happy to put me on estradiol valerate self injections. However, the Valerate seems to be in short supply so she would put me on MI? injections. The same results as Valerate. In her opinion, there would be no benefit to change over to injections, other than less wear and tear on the liver and kidneys. And since my liver and kidney functions are well within the normal range, she doesn't see the point of putting me through the extra pain of injections. (Valerate and MI is a think oil base and requires a deep muscle injection, which is why the needle is so long.)

So, not being convinced, or at least not sure that the injections would produce a better result, I guess for the time being, I will stay with the oral pill. I have always herd that the injections produce a better result, but as with progesterone, it depend on who you talk to and the fact that YMMV. Wandering through the dark, wanting nothing but the best for myself, I will continue my research and maybe in three months, I'll switch.

Oh ya! My Endo didn't let me get away without a mammogram this time. She just looked at me with this big ear to ear smile and said, "Welcome to the club Donica!".

Warm hugs,
Donica.

Hi Donica, I have Kaiser also.  My endo is a bit conservative and tricked me into a dose lower than I thought.  Luckily I questioned it where a stand in endo replied with acknowledging that something was screwy and basically stepped in and set a proper dosage.  I will be requesting a change in doctors.

Hi Jessica. Yes my Endo started me on a low dose in the beginning but 6 months in she increased my dose to where it is today.

On another note, I requested a new Kaiser member card with my new name and gender on it from the My-Kaiser website. I even sent a message that read, "Please make sure my new card have my new name and gender on it." They even sent me a reply stating "Yes, your personal information has been updated and you will receive your new card soon." They sent me a card with my dead name and gender on it?? So, off I go to member services and try again .

Hugs,
Donica.

Tomorrow marks the 6th week since I filed my legal documents for name and gender change. The clerk told me my court order would be ready by then. I have been checking the local superior courts website for my case status and it is still pending.

On September 1st 2018, California changed the laws for name and gender change. We no longer have to appear in court before a judge and no longer need a Declaration of Physician. One of my support group sisters filed her documents on September 3rd and I filed mine 4 days later. She happened to be the first person to file under the new laws. Her court order was supposed to be done by Monday of this week, with mine being ready by tomorrow But,,,,,

There seems to be some confusion assigning the cases as they are no longer assigned to a physical courtroom but still have to be assigned to a judge for signing. Where to go? What to do? Since my friend and I are the first to begin receiving our documents, we are the first and only ones that have started calling and lighting the fires under the systems back sides. My friend has already been calling the courthouse trying to find out where to go from here. She was told it may take another 3 weeks to correct the issues .

I will check their website again tomorrow and then if nothing has changed, I will begin calling too. By then they should be getting a few more calls from confused petitioners.

And still,,,,, we wait.
Donica.

Yes bet nobody told the judges what was happening

Just a quick update. I had my second voice therapy session yesterday. It was like my first session except I met my permanent therapist. It was more of a meet and greet, getting to know my needs. I have been having trouble with hoarseness several times a week. I thought it might be from over practicing my feminine voice, but my therapist thinks it may be do to what she calls vocal hygiene. Less coffee, more water and using different methods for clearing my throat. Like humming and swallowing, sips of water and a few other interesting methods. I need to stop clearing my throat . Next session, in two weeks, begins my voice training exercises.

I called the courthouse last Friday about the status of my name and gender change petition and the civil clerk told me that my documents were sent to the judge earlier that day and to expect my court order to be ready by this Wednesday. I will call again tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be one month since my first consult with Dr. Kim for FFS. He told me it would take that long to get back to me and schedule my next consult. I will also begin calling him tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

On a happier note, we where invited to a LAPD Chief Of Police LGBTQ community outreach forum tonight. There will be a few speakers and some Q&A. The LA county LGBTQ events tend to be quite large. The whole thing is going to be streamed live on FB. My daughter is in town. I thought we would go together. It was very short notice. I just heard about it this morning.

Hugs,
Donica.

A while back I posted about some old friends that contacted me after coming out on FB. Our kids grew up together in school and scouts. They wanted to get together over dinner to catch up on old times. That dinner was last night and I'm glad we did. We all had so much fun. I want to thank everyone here for encouraging me to do this.

The women sitting across from me on the left is one of my old friends. Her SO had to work the night shift so he couldn't join us. Her lovely daughter is sitting next to her. My lovely daughter is sitting next to me on the right.



There was a colorful elderly (81 year old) gentleman with his wife that stopped by our table to compliment how lovely us gals looked . (There was alot of giggling and laughter going on). We asked him if he would take a picture of us but he misunderstood and thought we asked him to be in the picture. He replied, " Why yes! I'd love to!", and sat down next to my friend.

Our wonderful and very colorful photo bomber.


He was full of compliments but had to leave because his wife was giving him a bit of a stink eye lol. She was very lovely too actually.

We had such a wonderful time that we will be doing this again when my friends SO and her sister and her SO can all get together again. My friends sister grew up with Jessica Lynn and maybe she will join us too when she's not traveling the world Speaking on behalf of the LGBT community. She really gets around.

Big hugs everyone!
Donica.

Hi Donica,

  What a lovely group of ladies. Oh that poor man is in trouble for sure when they get to their car. Oh My! you naughty girls.

Hugs,
  Laurie

GOL!

Quote from: Donica on October 26, 2018, 12:21:06 PM
A while back I posted about some old friends that contacted me after coming out on FB. Our kids grew up together in school and scouts. They wanted to get together over dinner to catch up on old times. That dinner was last night and I'm glad we did. We all had so much fun. I want to thank everyone here for encouraging me to do this.

The women sitting across from me on the left is one of my old friends. Her SO had to work the night shift so he couldn't join us. Her lovely daughter is sitting next to her. My lovely daughter is sitting next to me on the right.



There was a colorful elderly (81 year old) gentleman with his wife that stopped by our table to compliment how lovely us gals looked . (There was alot of giggling and laughter going on). We asked him if he would take a picture of us but he misunderstood and thought we asked him to be in the picture. He replied, " Why yes! I'd love to!", and sat down next to my friend.

Our wonderful and very colorful photo bomber.


He was full of compliments but had to leave because his wife was giving him a bit of a stink eye lol. She was very lovely too actually.

We had such a wonderful time that we will be doing this again when my friends SO and her sister and her SO can all get together again. My friends sister grew up with Jessica Lynn and maybe she will join us too when she's not traveling the world Speaking on behalf of the LGBT community. She really gets around.

Big hugs everyone!
Donica.

@Donica
Dear Donica:  
Wow, thank you for posting your terrific update.... 
I will repeat what the older gentleman stated.... "What a lovely group of ladies."

It looked like that all of you and your daughters had a wonderful time....
.... and Donica, you do indeed look lovely!!!

Hugs and hugs,
Danielle

Oh my dear God!!! I just got the news a few minutes ago. My name and gender change has been approved. I am soooo in tears right now. Case Status: Post Judgment. Name change: Granted. Gender change: Granted. Issuance of new birth certificate: Granted. I am so happy!!! I am now legally Miss Donica.

Also, I got an email from Dr. Kim this morning. I have been approved for FFS!!! Yay!!!! He said he would call me today to go over all the details.

I want to take a drive out to Venture today and get my certified copies of my court order but I don't want to be on the road and miss Dr. Kim's call. The tears are too heavy right now to drive anyway. I'll just chill today and let it all sink in. I will update again after I hear from Dr. Kim.

These are just the things I needed to hear right now. <<SQUEEEEEEEESPLOSION!!!!!>>

Big hugs!!!
Donica.

Quote from: Donica on November 02, 2018, 01:29:42 PM
Oh my dear God!!! I just got the news a few minutes ago. My name and gender change has been approved. I am soooo in tears right now. Case Status: Post Judgment. Name change: Granted. Gender change: Granted. Issuance of new birth certificate: Granted. I am so happy!!! I am now legally Miss Donica.

Also, I got an email from Dr. Kim this morning. I have been approved for FFS!!! Yay!!!! He said he would call me today to go over all the details.

I want to take a drive out to Venture today and get my certified copies of my court order but I don't want to be on the road and miss Dr. Kim's call. The tears are too heavy right now to drive anyway. I'll just chill today and let it all sink in. I will update again after I hear from Dr. Kim.

These are just the things I needed to hear right now. <<SQUEEEEEEEESPLOSION!!!!!>>

Big hugs!!!
Donica.

@Donica
Dear Donica:
Wow-Whee and Wowzers.....   this is fantastic news and so affirming for you ...  I bet that you are on cloud 9 and overcome with emotion....   long awaited events that not too long ago you could only dream about.... and they all came today!!!

Thank you for sharing and letting your followers celebrate with you.
Hugs and hugs,
Danielle

Quote from: Donica on November 02, 2018, 01:29:42 PM
Oh my dear God!!! I just got the news a few minutes ago. My name and gender change has been approved. I am soooo in tears right now. Case Status: Post Judgment. Name change: Granted. Gender change: Granted. Issuance of new birth certificate: Granted. I am so happy!!! I am now legally Miss Donica.

Also, I got an email from Dr. Kim this morning. I have been approved for FFS!!! Yay!!!! He said he would call me today to go over all the details.

I want to take a drive out to Venture today and get my certified copies of my court order but I don't want to be on the road and miss Dr. Kim's call. The tears are too heavy right now to drive anyway. I'll just chill today and let it all sink in. I will update again after I hear from Dr. Kim.

These are just the things I needed to hear right now. <<SQUEEEEEEEESPLOSION!!!!!>>

Big hugs!!!
Donica.

I'm glad I was on the forums to read this. Congratulations!!!!

Relax, deep breathes, inhale slowly and hold
... go it? ...
Ok now .....
.
.
.
.
.
!!!!SCREAM!!!!

Oh Gezzz! I don't know what to say now. I can't stop crying. The last time I was this happy was 14 months age when I started HRT. We wait so long for our dreams to come true that when they do, there is a flood of overwhelming emotions. This is going to take the weekend to sink in.

Thank you Danielle and Faith for you warm thoughts. I need to regain my composure before I can SCREAM!!!. I'm going to bang around the forum and read and post. This should slow the water works down a bit.

Hugs,
Donica.

And I thought all the wizzes and bangs were the fire works ( its bonfire night Nov 5th and some have started early) but I could hear some earlier and non to be seen so it must have been that trans Atlantic SCREAM I heard. Congrats dear,XXXX

Thank you Davina! Yes the fireworks are definitely happening on this side of the pond.

I couldn't wait. Oh geeezzz! There goes the water works again. I thought I had it under control.



I haven't heard from Dr. Kim yet. I'm guessing it will be Monday. Never the less, I will call his office Monday morning to let him know I will be in the building for my VFT appointment that day. I'm going to try and head out early Monday morning for the court house  to get my certified copies and get back in time for his call.

Hugs,
Donica.

Dang! I missed Dr. Kim's call yesterday. He called right at the end of the day and left a voice message. His office was already closed when he left his message so I was unable to call him back . He said he would be in surgery all day Monday so it will probably be Tuesday before I hear from him.

I'm okay with this because it's only been 5 weeks since my first FFS consultation and these things some times take longer than that. I am curious why he doesn't just make an appointment to discuss the details of my surgery?

Anyway, I sent him an email letting him know I got his message and will be looking forward to discussing the details with him next week.

Meanwhile, I will be off to the court house bright and early Monday morning to get my certified copies of my court order. The picture of the court order I posted is just an uncertified copy I received in the mail yesterday.

It's going to be another busy week. As our northern star sister has stated, "A busy girl is a happy girl".

Hugs,
Donica.

Wow-Whee!!! Congratulations on the name change! I have seen it over and over, getting legal recognition of who you are, is one of the biggest and very emotional steps. I am so happy for you!!!!

Emotions are a double edged sword, for years I was considered emotionally challenged and having difficulty showing and expressing emotions. Estrogen changed all this, now I can cry over the silliest things, often just my kid being or doing something cute. It does take quite some time to learn how to handle these new emotions, I am still very far away from this point. I still never want to go back and I enjoy hoeing these emotions... now I am tearing up a little.

Feeling happy during transition is an interesting topic. We all have such a long way to go, and there are many steps and gates to cross. The first six months after starting HRT have been all exciting and full of joy. After I went full time, with had accomplished a few hurdles and I knew the next steps where far away, so I had plateaued. What followed was a lot less joyful. Now with the prospect of surgery my mood hs really improved and I am getting really happy again.

I hope soon you will feel better again as well!

Good luck with all the name change paperwork. I hope you get to have a longer discussion with Dr. Kim...

Hugs,

Sarah

Thank you for the kind words Sarah. I agree my name and gender change is a very affirming and emotional step forward in my transition. I put it up there with FFS and voice therapy as the three most important steps in our lives. GCS and the rest is the icing on the cake.

The emotions I'm feeling are happy ones that I would have never experienced had it not been for HRT. Like you, it is going to take me a long time to learn to control them. The learning process is such a wonderful feeling isn't it?

I did not know you were feel a bit down as all of your post around the forum, and your personal thread, have always seemed so upbeat and cheerful. I do understand how things can seem so far away and sometimes disappointing and stalled as I have been there myself.

I am very happy to hear that your new prospects for surgery has put you back in a joyful mood again. We all need to do your best to keep a positive attitude through all the long periods, steps and hoops we all must jump through an just keep moving forward. All these things WILL happen.

Happy hugs Sarah!
Donica.

It has been a busy week. I made it to the court house early Monday morning to pickup my certified copies of my court order and while walking up to the entrance, A women walking out looked at me and said "That's pretty!" (Flower skirt and matching blouse with black ballet flats and full makeup). Squeee!

I made it back in time to stop at the SSA office to change my name and gender for SSA and Medicare. Then to my PCP to pickup my physicians declaration DMV form and pickup a prescription. I made it home with an hour to spare before my voice therapy session. The rest of the week was filled with changing name and gender at my bank, work and utilities etc.... I have to wait for my new SSA card before I can go the DMV next week.

I finally got my second consult via phone call from Dr. Kim for my FFS. I am so happy I was approved for everything I wanted. Forehead and brow ridge recontouring, hairline correction, brow lift, rhinoplasty, mandible and chin recontouring. I don't need a tracheal shave. I was not approved for a lip lift and reshaping because my upper lip length is at the limit (18mm) of a cis women. I asked Dr. Kim for his opinion and he feels it will definitely give me a more feminine look. I wanted it anyway so it will cost an extra $1500 to have it done. SQUEEEHAPPINESS!!!

Dr. Kim has scheduled a CAT scan for next week and will schedule a pre-op consultation in few weeks to finilize all the procedures and sign all the forms. I'm sure he will need a downpayment for the lip lift. He told me he should be able to get me in by January or February of 2019, or as early as this December if there is a cancelation.

Hugs,
Donica.