Hi, y'all. 'm 30, just passed 3 years on hrt and have spent a fair bit of time doing stuff for the community although I really haven't done anything on here (I think I may have had an account on here years ago, but it's been a while). In the past 3 years, I set up a trans group in my city of Kelowna and run it to this day, set up a PFLAG group, etc, etc.

I had a pretty crummy time before that (was one of those "foreveralone" types), had the realization that if I didn't, I'd end up dead of suicide or health problems pretty soon, so I started looking into transition and, well, here I am today.

I don't know if this is helpful to those who are coming out and struggling, but I was one of those people who was completely scared, a mess of stress and tears. But as cliche as it is to say, things eventually got better.

That's not to say my transition has been easy. Aside from all everything I did to myself while in the closet, I've dealt with medical malpractice, docs who "didn't believe" in GID, driving 4+ hours over mountain passes in winter to see doctors, parents offering to "fix" me with priests, prayer and sex workers, having holy water thrown on me, watched a friend try to kill herself, had my parents give me a knife and tell me to kill myself, was homeless and dirt poor for a while, started existing with some prior mental health concerns (some ptsd from suicide attempts) then eventually got back on my feet with a fair bit of help, was the first person to transition in my city as a business owner.

It's really cool being in a place where I can look back with hindsight and just go "meh, it was a tough time, but I got through it" I never thought I'd get here. I credit a lot of that to some really great people in Vancouver that really helped me get through the process and were friends at the time I needed them most. 

I know I was both lucky and privileged to have those people there and because of that, I'm trying to pay that back. I know this can be scary as hell when we sit at the bottom of a seeming endless stream of steps and look up towards something - some goal that you can sort of see, but not really, way up in the clouds, so far up that it seems unattainable.

I also know that it's a lot easier to start walking up when you have someone with you.

I like gathering resources - I compiled the largest informed consent provider list on the internet (52 providers in north america), created a list of summer camps that are inclusive of / limited to trans youth, spread around a document on how to get the best price on hormones in the USA (and BC) and have done some other writing that has yet to be published. A fair bit is going to go up soon, but if you want to see the documents I have right now, take a look at this link
http://catherinecc.tumblr.com/post/10446237165/documents-ive-written

Right now, I'm working with a few folks to create a resource list of all friendly docs, shrinks, etc in British Columbia to put on a public website to help trans people living in the middle of nowhere, BC, to get access to medical resources (the Transgender Health Program in BC has done a fairly crummy job of that lately, so a few of us just decided to make a better version - I'm hoping some of you BC folks can help with that.

If you do have questions about British Columbia resources, by all means, please feel free to ask. I do know quite a bit about the trans health care system in BC (and to a lesser extent, other places as well)
c.

Hi Catherine,
A warm but wet welcome to Susan's from your namesake. Nice to have another around. Thank you for shareing this most remarkable part of your life with us. I'm forever amazed at everyones unique resilience to get through some how. You have certainly climbed some high mountians and been in some deep valleys. And just look at you now. A shining example of what happens when you put one foot in front of the other with someones arm round your shoulder.

There are plenty of people here, just like you, and the friends that helped you through your darker times. I hope you enjoy your time here. It is a most rewarding time in your life.

Be safe, well and happy
Lots huggs
Catherine

Quote from: Sarah7 on March 08, 2012, 06:01:08 AM
Awesome work your are doing! We really need a damn database of Canadian trans-health professionals so, so badly. It's such a bloody nightmare finding anything out online. Tracking down therapists and whatnot for people has kinda become a hobby of mine.

You probably already know this, but the Trans Health Program is basically dead. They are down to a phone with one person answering it 10-20 hours a week. That's it. I wasted months at the beginning of my transition calling them and waiting uselessly for a response (during a period when they didn't even have someone to answer the phones). I wish they would post a sign on their VCH website saying "we suck and can no longer help people" so folks would stop trying to get a hold of them.

Anyway, welcome Catherine, glad you are still breathing after all that.

Yeah, I'm on the "advisory group" of the THP, it's been a gong show since Lukas resigned and the manager refused to replace him (and then, when the community criticized her for doing so, she stopped going to the the AG meetings for the first time since 2003) - that's when a few of us got the media involved and we had this "hiring" of people. That was the second time the phones had gone unanswered for months. The manager clearly does not view staffing the phone lines adequately as a priority and unfortunately there is no internal tracking of call metrics, etc, and no oversight. Absurd.

There is a tiny bit of chance that the review of the THP that the current president elect of CPATH did might result in some kind of positive changes. I spent a day with him in late august talking about the level of care in areas outside of greater vancouver and I get the feeling he's a great guy. But at the end of the day, the decision making process as to what recommendations are adopted will likely have absolutely no involvement from the trans community (although there is a small chance that the AG will be able to make somewhat of a statement by getting involved with the process via VCH's community engagement team.

Even if the possibility exists of change, it will be a slow process - and the few of us starting this new group aren't interested in waiting a year or whatever for it to work out. So we're going to essentially undercut the THP and do a better job at distributing resources. Given the lack of service available in the past several months, that's honestly not that hard. We'll have a website up in the next week or so and already have a fair number of resources. If we're unable to direct people to nearby resources, we already have a document describing financial travel assistance, etc (something the THP never had)

Robena (the manager) has refused to publish a list of trans resources around the province, claiming that the THP could take on liability in case someone had a bad experience - yet they are willing to give this information out piecemeal. It's a joke. So we're going to just build it ourselves, hopefully with local community members assisting with their cities, etc.

Seeing how I talked my way out of a psych ward and then drove to vancouver to find resources or kill myself in 2008, I feel rather strongly about this issue. I did find both resources and support in both Lukas and the THP thursday group. Lukas is gone, 1 on 1 support has effectively been eliminated and the THP is "re-evaluating the future of the thursday group" meaning likely no dropins, pre-registration, pre-approval, etc.

So that's the bad news. The good news is that "all genders wellness clinic" is doing well, helping people from around the province and we finally have an informed consent provider in BC. Several support groups have started in vancouver as a result of the uncertainty regarding the thursday group. Corneil is in Kelowna and is advocating for some resources within interior health and we're slowly getting doctors into seeing trans people for primary care and then moving a few into a role where they are comfortable prescribing hormones. I have no problem with the community taking over roles that weren't adequately served by the THP.

It sounds like it's been a while since you were looking, but if you're still looking for resources (or even a decently cheap laser place in metro vancouver or a really cheap place in the okanagan) let me know. I have a fair amount of resources outside of BC as well, but have tightened the scope of the plans to actually get stuff finished. Other provinces can come later.

QuoteA warm but wet welcome to Susan's from your namesake. Nice to have another around. Thank you for shareing this most remarkable part of your life with us. I'm forever amazed at everyones unique resilience to get through some how. You have certainly climbed some high mountians and been in some deep valleys. And just look at you now. A shining example of what happens when you put one foot in front of the other with someones arm round your shoulder.

Heh, I'm still a screwup pretty often I guess a polished turd does shine sometimes And writes really long posts, lol

Welcome to Susan's, Catherine. I'm so happy that you are doing well. You have done some wonderful things in the community and I applaud you. Thank you for sharing your encouraging story.

Welcome, infidel

Good to see you again ^.^

Hi Catherine, it's nice to meet you! I am near Boston. You have a lot going on, I'm tuckered out reading your post! See you around, hugs, Devlyn

Quote from: Kelly J. P. on March 08, 2012, 01:32:12 PM
Welcome, infidel

Good to see you again ^.^

Yo!

Quote from: Sarah7 on March 08, 2012, 10:24:49 AM
Oh that's awesome that you are getting stuff started back up. I moved from Vancouver a year ago (back home to Ottawa), so the wellness clinic was just starting to take off. Fin Gareau is part of it and told us about it - he was the organizer for the youth group I went to; he was really cool. And neat that Gwen Haworth is working there now. Meeting her at the youth group really helped me out back at the start of things - made it okay to be my own kind of girl.

I eventually contacted Melady Preece, who did my hormone assessment, sent me to Dr. Dahl, and got me in touch with the youth group. She was expensive, but really nice. I can't imagine how much harder it must have been out in Kelowna.

I'm pretty close to done with my transition now. I still have to finish the last of my electro and decide if I want to do anything about my chest in another year. But I just got back from Montreal last week. Very glad I didn't succeed in offing myself in the bad times before I came out.

I didn't meet you at the youth camp, did I? I've been there the last 2 years. And yes, it's a great group. I did the Melady / Dahl route as well, it wasn't too bad - it was really nice to not be in your own city when you were paranoid about being found out, nice to have support when there wasnt anything locally, etc.

And yeah... ditto on the last bit...

(Captcha - Fire Engines are not always red!)

Hi Catherine 

Welcome to Susan's 

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