99% sure this is a good decision, age mid 50's, good health, resuming HRT soon, lifetime of needing body changed to more normal/female, have a good physician close by, seems a nice step forward to help my body change easier & quicker from HRT, plan to have scrotum left for GRS within a year or so.

I would appreciate any advise from real life post orcie friends before I schedule the surgery.

Thank you,

Francis

Yeah, save the bucks for SRS! :-)

HRT cost will stay the same in the near future, so why bother?

I give you my reasons here as I also considered orchie when SRS started to look like a non-option.
Hey, but ONLY for THAT reason.

The other reason was that the local SRS version, free of charge though,  looks just too unacceptable. I rather look down on a 'dangle' then what they think is a female genital.

But as I said, that's purely my personal take.
Axelle

Additional background. I was at this identical position one year ago. Therapist had approved HRT easily & schedule with new Physician to start HRT. I thought then & discussed with Therapist to have an orcie first to help remove the wrong T stuff & allow the estrogen the change my body easier. I did not follow through & now another year has slipped away somehow.

Surely it is past time I move forward & stop wasting my life/time.

Thanks again for any advise from post orcie friends. You are the ones I'll rely on most for any real life experiences.

Francis

Dear Axelle, Thank you for your comments however money is not an issue. Please have a nice pleasant weekend.

Adequate reduction of testosterone production can be done easily with spironolactone.  An orchie is not necessary for that task.

      An orchie is a needless expense and the resulting scars just might interfere with the GCS (Gender Confirmation Surgery). 

      If this is the direction that you determine is right for you, the only way I'd do this would be to have it done by the same surgeon who is going to do the GCS.    Being a post-op myself has helped me understand how incredibly complex this whole thing is and how the whole operation is an artistic creation.

      It appears that each GCS surgeon has their own little way of going about this creation.  I know that Dr. McGinn considers each person to be a separate creation and approaches each one slightly differently.  According to her site, she does perform orchies and says that it is for those who can't have GCS.  It's not a recommended step in the GCS process.

      If you're going to mess with the canvas, it's best to let the ultimate artist do that job.  They'll know best where to make the adjustments so the final outcome is the best for you.

      I believe your best source of information as to whether this is right for you to do or not,  will be an in-person consultation with the GCS surgeon of your choice.

      I wish you the best. 

Joyce, thank you for your post & help. Please have a nice wekend.

Joyce, you have put this into some more profound words. Very good.

Reading your post with interest and: My Milage Doesn't Vary, MMDV

Francis, this is not against your idea of wanting orchie, but maybe more for the benefit of who all will get ideas from that post also.

However, ...if she wants it, she gets it. (Cool hand Luke :-)

I also go along with the choice of surgeon , but here again, when SRS is planed... hm.

OK, "It is the prerogative of a woman to change her mind"

Nice weekend to all,
Axelle

I had an Orchidectomy in 2009, for purely personal reasons.  I figured I might not ever get to SRS and wanted them gone.  There are medical reasons to have one done.  Pain in the testes, cysts, need to reduce medications.

Spriolactone does help to reduce testosterone, but it does nothing to reduce the size, for years.

My advise> If you want one, get one.  If you need one, get one. 

Mentally, saving the money for SRS can lead to suicide thoughts.  I should know, it did for me. 

OK, "It is the prerogative of a woman to change her mind"

Damn straight, Sis. Damn straight.   

I'm on the fence about this one.  Spiro may or may not work for me (which is to say that my doc said it didn't, but she may have been hasty in her assessment).  The only other AA open to me is depo provera, which is making me suicidal.  Doc's told me that if I go off the depo, spiro is the only option, and she reminds me that it didn't work on my body.

I'm unemployed, sending out tons of applications and getting nowhere, going bankrupt, and not a penny saved up for SRS.  And the jobs I'm finding don't pay enough to save money toward SRS.  So how long is it going to take?  How long will I have to live being suicidal?  I'm not sure I can live out the year on depo, much less five, much less 10.

So do I get the orchie despite the risk of SRS complications, given that SRS is in the unthinkably distant future?

I'm with Janet... thinking of it makes me think of suicide too.  It's the last thing I need right now.

Honey,
you may recall it was me to say: "how about orchie?".
In your present situation it seems a good thing to do. As it needs to be considered case by case and in your case it make sense to me.

Though, you mentioned you where on lowest dose Spiro, = 1 tab/day and we know that is the lowest that works --- if it works.

There are folks that take 3 to 4 tabs a day (some 6!), now your liver may start complaining and it's no more banans, figs, plums, potatoes, and on and on... you know then: Potassium sparing...

So, if 2 max. 3 tabs a day don't cut it, orchie it is, if it was me.

I hope this makes sense.

Axelle

I recently had an orchi with a local doctor who has some knowledge of what a MTF surgery entails.

Soon after I had the orchi I had Dr. Nguyen in Lake Oswego take a look at the scar and tell me if it would interfere with SRS should I finally find the wherewithall to get it.
He said the scar would be of no consequence at all. So I had an orchi with a surgeon who is not an SRS surgeon and he did a perfectly fine job of it.

note: I was able to get my insurance to cover the orchi, but then I had some medical issues above and beyond being trans that required their removal.

Personaly I am happy I got it done. I am not likely to be able to afford SRS in any forseeable future.

As for spiro adequetly doing the job....
It did for me. Just fine and dandy, but I hated the stuff. I bloated allot.
Also spiro doesn't work for all of us as well as it does for the majority. One of my friends is taking an ungodly amount of spiro. When she told me her dose and her current T levels my jaw litteraly droped. If I was in her shoes I would be getting an orchi yesterday!

Quote from: Zoë Natasha on August 06, 2011, 09:51:46 AM
I'm on the fence about this one.  Spiro may or may not work for me (which is to say that my doc said it didn't, but she may have been hasty in her assessment).  The only other AA open to me is depo provera, which is making me suicidal.  Doc's told me that if I go off the depo, spiro is the only option, and she reminds me that it didn't work on my body.

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, but have you thought about finasteride as an AA?

Quote from: Zoë Natasha on August 06, 2011, 09:51:46 AM
I'm on the fence about this one.  Spiro may or may not work for me (which is to say that my doc said it didn't, but she may have been hasty in her assessment).  The only other AA open to me is depo provera, which is making me suicidal.  Doc's told me that if I go off the depo, spiro is the only option, and she reminds me that it didn't work on my body.

I'm unemployed, sending out tons of applications and getting nowhere, going bankrupt, and not a penny saved up for SRS.  And the jobs I'm finding don't pay enough to save money toward SRS.  So how long is it going to take?  How long will I have to live being suicidal?  I'm not sure I can live out the year on depo, much less five, much less 10.

So do I get the orchie despite the risk of SRS complications, given that SRS is in the unthinkably distant future?

I'm with Janet... thinking of it makes me think of suicide too.  It's the last thing I need right now.

I can't take spiro, myself, so my doc has me on a higher dosage of E, which I guess is the old school method of HRT anyway.

It's a tricky subject for sure. But it's good for us to share so maybe each of us knows the best avenue to go down since it is a one way street. I'll be talking with a new therapist Monday that is experienced with a lot of other MTF so her opinion might help some. My previous HDT was just very high levels of E from as you say ol school GP doctor. I do not know if Spiro will work for me, maybe?

I'm in the "orchi is a needless expense" corner.  And if you have an orchi and plan on GRS later, you have to make sure the scrotum remains in tact.  And even then, you have to have GRS within a certain time frame after the orchi or the scrotal sack will shrink.  That skin is used in the GRS procedure.

Medical castration is the better alternative.  And if for some unforeseen reason you decide not to proceed with full transition, you have an exit strategy.

Thanks Julie, I trust your experience.

Julie Marie for President!!!!, pass the word.

Lucy is on TCM if you want to have some fun girl friends

Quote from: Julie Marie on August 06, 2011, 11:53:52 AM
Medical castration is the better alternative.

And in the US, that's depo.  The very thing that makes me an emotional train wreck.   Sure wish we had androcur here.

Quote from: regan on August 06, 2011, 11:18:03 AM
I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, but have you thought about finasteride as an AA?

Had it recommended by others, and I'll bring it up with my doc on the 17th.

Lucy is on TCM in the long long trailer. It's a lot more fun than the subject I worried about & posted last night.

Have fun girl friends, life is too short.

Kind of apologize for even posting this.

Medical castration doesn't have to be complete in order to be effective.  All you need is to reduce T to a normal female level.  Estradiol alone can do that to some degree but when coupled with spiro or some other anti-androgen it is more effective.  According to my doctor, estradiol is the primary hormone in effective reduction of T.  I had thought it only raised E. 

Also, gonads are not the only hormone producing gland.  The pituitary (I think that's what he said) also produces sex hormones.  Maybe one of our medical experts can explain it better.

Quote from: Julie Marie on August 07, 2011, 10:07:22 AM
The pituitary (I think that's what he said) also produces sex hormones.  Maybe one of our medical experts can explain it better.

Adrenal glands, I do believe.   One on each side, sitting on top of the kidneys.  The pituitary is like the master control gland, telling others what to do.  It works closely with the hypothalamus to direct many involuntary bodily functions.  Of course, that's just the very basic explanation.