Now that I'm 7 hours from my primary provider I've had somewhat of a difficult time finding a nurse to do my IMs (no- not instant messaging
). I don't have a vehicle of my own and the clinic I was going to withdrew from administering my IMs. The doctor herself called me and basically felt that she felt that HT was very experimental and she didn't feel comfortable with the whole HRT therapy for me.
Seriously.
I was a little upset to say the least. She provided a number for me for a local LGBT clinic. I was referred to campus health. I don't have insurance so I knew I was going to have more dollar figures added the remainder of my school bill. The thought of reverting in levels to pre-HRT scared me enough to set up an appointment with the doc here on campus. They assigned me to women's health which was appropriate bc dammit I'm a woman!
The doctor turned out to be very sympathetic to everything that I had a question about. She did a breast examination, had me request my labs that my previous healthcare provider had done, and asked many questions about how I was doing. She then asked how I wanted to do the injections. I had told her that I was very very limited in finances as classes consume way too much of my time for me to work. I also told her I wanted to learn how to do my own injections on my own at some point. This was important because I am sure that clinical visits which include everything from syringes to alcohol wipes used will be billed to the patient. The doctor set me up an appointment with an RN in the clinic who would teach me to do the IM injection.
The day came and instead of impending fear I felt eager. Part of it was most likely because I just have a very curious nature- hence my major in the sciences. The needle is over an inch long and the fear of causing some kind of embolus freaked me out! The important thing- I feel- was to make sure you withdraw the needle before administering the hormones. Perhaps so you don't inject the solution directly into a blood vessel?
It was very surreal sitting there and pushing the needle into my quads. The insertion of the needle did not hurt but seeing a needle in my leg by my own doing was just freaky! The initial surreality of it was done as I withdrew the needle and was finished. The nurse commented on my lack of fear and technique. Perhaps previous years of work as a nurses aide and nurse technician paid off
Now I get to save time and money by doing my own HRT administration. I am wondering how many others have gone the route I have and said "screw it" and decided to take control of their HRT therapy? I almost feel like the saying "if you want something done right- do it yourself" comes into the picture. Of course the supervision of a doc is necessary for labs and their repository of medical knowledge. I do feel that many times the people who are trained to help us just place personal beliefs into practice. Okay enough of my soap box. I just thought I'd like to share a little bit of exciting developments in my transition. Have a good weekend
