I've waited about a month since seeing my doctor (and about 3 weeks since my visit to the crisis centre), and haven't heard anything back. I guess overall a month isn't exactly a long time, but it's more time that new facial hair grows in and any scalp hair falls out, and it's more money down the line.

What I need to know is if there is any Endocrinologists in Toronto that will let me book an appointment without a referral and if they will take informed consent.

I'm not exactly getting much support around here (Peterborough, for anyone who knows where that is), so I feel like if anything is ever going to get done, then I'll need to do it myself. 

You'd probably be better off going to Sherbourne Health Centre.  I had a real tough time finding an endo when I moved to Toronto.  I saw one who wanted to change everything then lower my dosage, and I believe I contacted him myself for an appointment--can't recall, though

TS are way down everyone's priorities...keep plugging away.

Quote from: Kristyn on June 22, 2010, 09:26:14 PM
You'd probably be better off going to Sherbourne Health Centre.  I had a real tough time finding an endo when I moved to Toronto.  I saw one who wanted to change everything then lower my dosage, and I believe I contacted him myself for an appointment--can't recall, though

I just called them today, the waiting list is a year and a half long, yikes. Do you know of any private gender specialists in the area? I'd be willing to pay for the therapy if it gets it done sooner.

Quote from: Hannah on June 24, 2010, 03:21:18 PM
I just called them today, the waiting list is a year and a half long, yikes. Do you know of any private gender specialists in the area? I'd be willing to pay for the therapy if it gets it done sooner.

YEOWWW!  Did you put your name on the list anyway?  Sometimes there are cancellations.  I don't know of anyone other than CAMH.  You could try Google--Toronto Gender Specialists therapists

Sorry   

Quote from: Hannah on June 22, 2010, 08:58:21 PM
I've waited about a month since seeing my doctor (and about 3 weeks since my visit to the crisis centre), and haven't heard anything back. I guess overall a month isn't exactly a long time, but it's more time that new facial hair grows in and any scalp hair falls out, and it's more money down the line.

What I need to know is if there is any Endocrinologists in Toronto that will let me book an appointment without a referral and if they will take informed consent.

I'm not exactly getting much support around here (Peterborough, for anyone who knows where that is), so I feel like if anything is ever going to get done, then I'll need to do it myself. 

Hi Hannah,

Rainbow Health Ontario (RHO) has an outreach program, they are strongly affiliated with SHC, you might try their web site, they have a resource listing there. 

www.rainbowhealthontario.ca

Take Care, and best of luck, I know how it is to be out in the "boonies" without support... then I moved to Toronto

They have an Outreach Worker that just started here in Durham region (which I don't think includes Peterboro?), but, if you wanted me to, I could forward your inquiry to her, or give you her contact info.  But Durham is much closer for you (say Oshawa), then Toronto, for sure.

*huggs*,
Melan

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Post Merge: June 24, 2010, 05:03:55 PM

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Searching RHO on "Peterboro" found this... good luck!

Vanita Lokanathan Family Physician/MD
Program Name
Peterborough Clinic
Contact
Vanita Lokanathan
26 Hospital Drive
Peterborough, ON
K9J 7C3
P: 705-740-6867
F: 705-740-6881
Send email
Provider Specialties
Family physician
Services Provided
Medical and nursing care, Pregnancy/parenting services, Trans health services
Description of Services
Family physician at Peterborough Clinic providing general medical care. Interest and experience in LGBT health care issues. My practice is currently full/closed, but I am open to seeing LGBT clients in the Ptbo area who don't have a physician.

^ Wow, thank you.  I'll try calling the local physician tomorrow and see how that goes.

Quote from: Hannah on June 24, 2010, 05:48:28 PM
^ Wow, thank you.  I'll try calling the local physician tomorrow and see how that goes.

Hi Hannah,

Did you have any success with finding your endo through RHO?

*huggs*,
Melan

Couple things about Sherbourne... first, they only deal with Toronto residents.  If you don't live in the City of Toronto, you're out of luck.  Of course, I just heard that some people go there claiming to be homeless, and get in that way, but then there's the waiting list, as was mentioned above.  I heard last night that it's two years long, and they're not even adding anyone to it anymore - there's now a waiting list for the waiting list.  So since I'm out in Burlington, my only option is what I've already done... ask my doc for a referral to CAMH, and wait, and wait, and....

Quote from: Colleen Ireland on August 12, 2010, 06:24:27 AM
Couple things about Sherbourne... first, they only deal with Toronto residents.  If you don't live in the City of Toronto, you're out of luck.  Of course, I just heard that some people go there claiming to be homeless, and get in that way, but then there's the waiting list, as was mentioned above.  I heard last night that it's two years long, and they're not even adding anyone to it anymore - there's now a waiting list for the waiting list.  So since I'm out in Burlington, my only option is what I've already done... ask my doc for a referral to CAMH, and wait, and wait, and....

Sherbourne has really gone downhill over the last year or so.  They used to be very eager to help and compassionate to our cause, but I'm finding that attitude to be waning.  On my last visit to have my pre-op tests done, I was greeted with surly, missearable people who looked like a bunch of cattle awaiting slaughter.  I got very little, if any, communication from the nurse and I had to remind her three times of the tests that needed to be done--shouldn't they know this already?  My current doctor, who replaced my all-time fave Dr Loukes, admitted he has absolutely no experience treating mtf clients and gets all his trans info from some dated website which he showed to me.  Given this sorry display it is no wonder Dr Loukes left.  I'm thoroughly disappointed with what has become of this facility and, in my opinion, you would be better off going with CAMH.

The waiting lists can be a real pain in the butt.  I recall that I had to wait 11 months for my first appointment here in Kingston but that was after my GRS.  At the time it seemed like a life time to wait but there's not much we can do about it as it's not a life threatening deal.  I learned early on in my transition that patience really is a virtue.  I used to get so ticked off with the medical community that they didn't seem to under stand the urgency of all this.

Another point is that one doesn't always need to see an endo if your doctor is competent enough to send you for blood work, request the appropriate tests and then is willing to consult with an endo to interpret the results.  That's what my doctor did and I still go by once a year to get things checked out.  (of course this only works if you have a family doctor as well)

Steph

Some familiar faces popping up in this thread, hi Steph, hi Kristyn!

I would add some of my own notes/opinions about Sherbourne Health Centre.  To be fair, the number of  patients have outgrown their resources, however, the care you receive there is as good as the particular health care professional you happen to be visiting.  Kristyn, we have the same doc, and I find that if you are patient with him, he will work with you, however green he is   ... it's pretty typical with healthcare for trans persons to have to sort of 'teach' the doctor how to treat us.  Part of getting quality health care from the Sherbourne, as it is with most of the Canadian health care system, is to learn it, and become your own strongest patient advocate.  Talk to the admin staff, befriend the admin staff!, and learn the intricacies of getting appointments that suit your schedule, this info isn't published anywhere.

I've evaluated in my head, the pros and cons of leaving SHC, to get a regular doc in Durham region, closer to where I live, and I just can't imagine, even with SHC's quirk's, getting the same level of care from any other health facility in Canada's overburdened health care system, especially in regards to trans-specific health care.  I'll stay with them, and I do find they really do care, just really busy at times.  Between my counselor,  the desk admins, my doc, and the nurses, they've gone out of their way to help me both pre and post op, dealing with writing letters for the legal aspects of transition (eeek gender marker change!), getting tests ordered, making sure hormone levels are good, even evaluation of some issues I had with my SRS, etc

To Colleen's point... Sherbourne will treat patients outside of Toronto, my address on file with them is from Durham region.   I did however start with a Toronto address, so perhaps that is why I'm allowed to stay on with them.   It might be worth asking.   Ohhh, and Colleen, not sure if it helps you, but my counselor just sent out a list of endo's, and one is in Mississauga just to the north/east of you.... email me on Susan's and I'll send the info to you if you want it.

Take Care,
Melan

Quote from: Melan on August 11, 2010, 08:22:47 PM
Hi Hannah,

Did you have any success with finding your endo through RHO?

*huggs*,
Melan

I ended up putting myself on the waiting list of a LGBT therapist in Toronto. I'm currently at the top, so hopefully soon I can get in and start sorting this out, and maybe get in to see an Endo shortly.

Quote from: Steph on August 12, 2010, 07:13:34 AMAnother point is that one doesn't always need to see an endo if your doctor is competent enough to send you for blood work, request the appropriate tests and then is willing to consult with an endo to interpret the results.

One good thing about Sherbourne is that they have their standards of care on their website, as a PDF you can download and take to your doctor, as a way of "teaching" them how Sherbourne approaches the topic of HRT.  If the doc follows that, it's my impression you can get the same level of care from your regular doc, as long as they're willing to follow it, and of course, as a smart girl, you've read it and know what's in it, too, right?  Right.  BTW, Steph.. you're gorgeous!

Quote from: Hannah on August 12, 2010, 10:40:12 AM
I ended up putting myself on the waiting list of a LGBT therapist in Toronto.

Any good advice (from anyone?) on finding a good trans-friendly (knowledgeable) therapist?  I think that's my biggest need right now.  I haven't had any luck so far.  My wife wants me to see a cognitive therapist (yeah, right)...

Quote from: Colleen Ireland on August 12, 2010, 04:55:19 PM
Any good advice (from anyone?) on finding a good trans-friendly (knowledgeable) therapist?  I think that's my biggest need right now.  I haven't had any luck so far.  My wife wants me to see a cognitive therapist (yeah, right)...

A few weeks ago I googled 'Toronto LGBT Therapist' and came up with this list:

http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/prof_results.php?city=Toronto&state=ON&spec=11

While a lot of them focus on LG issues, Jeremy Tomlinson was the only one I found that also specializes in dealing with trans issues. His waiting list was about 4-6 weeks long when I contacted him.

His website: http://www.alternativehorizon.com/index.htm

THANK you, Hannah!  That looks well worth following up on.  I just had a very difficult conversation with my wife, who broke down crying more or less out of the blue, and told me how she's feeling - helpless,  hopeless, devoid of joy, as if life is happening around her, and she has no part in it.  Definitely a hard, hard conversation.  She's still hopeful that something OTHER than transition will be the ultimate path, and says she still wants to be intimate with me, although we haven't yet talked about 'what if' transition...

I will see if I can get in to see him.  Thanks.

Colleen,

I just got off the phone with Jeremy Tomlinson and he said that he can't write letters for HRT. He gave me a couple of names of therapists he believes that can:

Hershel Russell (an FtM himself)
Nicola Brown

He said my best bet is to go to Sherbourne, but I really can't bear waiting a painfully long time to deal with this.

Thanks, Hanna, but I'm not really thinking of HRT at the moment, I need to get things straight (so to speak, lol) with my wife, and get some counselling first to make sure I know where I'm headed and what I want to do when I get there.  I think I'm probably at least 6 mo away from starting HRT yet... things to put in place first.  But thanks!  I will keep these in mind.  I am also waiting for an appt. at CAMH to go through their assessment process, and I don't think I'll be starting HRT until I've done that...