transgender swimming orchiectomy

[sportyspice]

Hi my name's chelsea I'm 34 from Australia.
I've been on hrt for 6 years going ok
A month ago I had an orchiectomy in the hope it would reduce the bulging so I could go back to swimming but sadly it's no different.

Can anyone tell me what happens after an orchiectomy say in the coming months does the ball area shrink. The another thing is still big and I hate it so much i can't afford srs surgery in Australia we have to pay for it even Thailand i can't afford it....

Before I transitioned I swam in squad training it was my thing I love it and sadly I can't swim anymore, over here shorts aren't what girls in squads wear they wear swimming costume like one piece speedo.

I'm not coping very well with this in fact I'm at my wits end tbh I just want to go swimming training again its my happy place.

Before transition i swam in Australian national championships when I was younger and state and pan pacific selection trails.

I really need help please thanks

Chels

[Jill F]

Hi sportyspice,

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I had an orchi in July, and the swelling did not go away completely until almost 3 months later.  Now its completely smooth down there.  The lack of spontaneous erections did shrink the remaining junk a little bit.

Hugs,
~Jill

[sportyspice]

Hi I hope so it's horrible I wish I could get srs again in Australia no help is available and I have no job.

All I could afford was an orchiectomy it cost me $6500 au and I really want to wear swimming costume.

We have a centre here called the gender centre but they don't understand me they think about sex when I said I wanted srs so I can swim again in squads they thought I was crazy.... I've been living full time for 5 years I reckon I'm due to enjoy my chosen sport of open water swimming again

Thank you for helping and understanding me regards chelsea

[Cindy]

Hi Hon,

Most of the GRS in Aus is covered by medicare and your private insurance. Look at Andrew Ives web site. He does virtually all GRS in Oz.

[sportyspice]

Hi
Medicare doesn't cover srs surgery most Aussies go to Thailand to get it done.
I don't have private health cover it was too dear.

I used my superannuation to pay for it unfortunately there's not enough to cover srs even in Thailand.

I really need to swim it's driving me crazy literally I'm so stressed over this and wearing shorts just doesn't work I am fast enough to swim in the elite squads still.

I had a dream as a child to swim the English Channel but also I'm transgender and I am doing well at being a girl yet I can't enjoy my love of swimming still.

What I would like to find out after orchiectomy has anyone had the area go small and been able to wear tights and gym tights swimming costumes? 
It been a month and still looks like I've got them there, my doctor stopped Spiro and said my "t" levels are normal female range apart from my hair falling out which is a stress thing (I hope) I haven't seen any benefit yet of the operation and all I can think about is srs and swimming again.

Any help advice would be good
Thanks regards Chelsea

[Cindy]

Hi
Medicare doesn't cover srs surgery most Aussies go to Thailand to get it done.
I don't have private health cover it was too dear.

I used my superannuation to pay for it unfortunately there's not enough to cover srs even in Thailand.

I really need to swim it's driving me crazy literally I'm so stressed over this and wearing shorts just doesn't work I am fast enough to swim in the elite squads still.

I had a dream as a child to swim the English Channel but also I'm transgender and I am doing well at being a girl yet I can't enjoy my love of swimming still.

What I would like to find out after orchiectomy has anyone had the area go small and been able to wear tights and gym tights swimming costumes? 
It been a month and still looks like I've got them there, my doctor stopped Spiro and said my "t" levels are normal female range apart from my hair falling out which is a stress thing (I hope) I haven't seen any benefit yet of the operation and all I can think about is srs and swimming again.

Any help advice would be good
Thanks regards Chelsea

Covered mine.

I think maybe have a chat with your therapist. It sounds as if you have a bit of post op depression.

Remeber all surgery takes a few months to get over.

[sportyspice]

The thing is swimming training I want to swim it's a depressing that I can't cause I have a bulge...... Unless the therapist is an athlete they won't understand that swimming is not only my sport its a passion of mine and I just want to train again.

No one seems to understand where I'm coming from its a totally different thing for me srs means swimming orchiectomy was meant to mean I would be able to wear girls swimwear but it hasn't turned out that way I've still got a bulge of junk there unlike other girls who swim.

I'm obessed with swimming i want to swim the English Channel and I'm capable of it to, I raced 25km open water at national level I'm into swimming

[sportyspice]

Sorry just to clarify something I'm not interested in sex depth or sensation couldn't care less I've never had sex never want to.
This doesn't mean my body shouldn't match up with my gender! I'm a very different person to any other person in the world i am happy with my own company happy being single and not really interested in sex or anything sexual.
My interests are swimming, cycling tour de France, Makeup, clothes, hellbunny, vintage and swimming open water pool swimming marathon swimming

I have been living full time for nearly 6 years I'm over all this needing to prove I'm a girl and why cause I live as a girl and for a girl who is a girl to get questioned why she wants to be a girl It's kinda stupid that's what we ask someone who hasn't lived as there gender.

What I am dealing with now is swimming wanting to swim in squads again and dealing with the downstairs problem and unless you have private health insurance or enough to go to Thailand it's not going to get fixed so I spent money on a orchiectomy in the hope I could get some flatness in the swimsuit department also be able to wear tights and tight skirts.

My life is a lot less messed up then people make out i know what I need and know how to achieve it just looking for others who experience an orchiectomy and wanted to know results
Thanx

[Jenny07]

I really know how you feel.

I want to get back in the pool badly but cant.
Always loved tearing up and down the squads leading the fast lane.

Sadly I have to wait. It hurts bad.
I made the Olympic trials finals so I do understand.

Loved the ABC and North Sydney pools.

Hugs J

[sportyspice]

I really know how you feel.

I want to get back in the pool badly but cant.
Always loved tearing up and down the squads leading the fast lane.

Sadly I have to wait. It hurts bad.
I made the Olympic trials finals so I do understand.

Loved the ABC and North Sydney pools.

Hugs J

Hi thank you heaps and heaps finally someone who understands I still cycle and happy cause I have pretty good knicks which hide it good. But swimming i crave it so badly like a drug but it's a good drug ;-)

Thanks chels

[mac1]

The thing is swimming training I want to swim it's a depressing that I can't cause I have a bulge...... Unless the therapist is an athlete they won't understand that swimming is not only my sport its a passion of mine and I just want to train again.

No one seems to understand where I'm coming from its a totally different thing for me srs means swimming orchiectomy was meant to mean I would be able to wear girls swimwear but it hasn't turned out that way I've still got a bulge of junk there unlike other girls who swim.

I'm obessed with swimming i want to swim the English Channel and I'm capable of it to, I raced 25km open water at national level I'm into swimming

Have you tried tucking that thing back for a smoother appearance?

[Skier]

Yes agreed to those above, gender centre is useless in advocating for our biggest needs.  It seems that being government funded they don't want to upset the apple cart by appearing critical of government.  It serves to create the illusion we have support here.

I understand the frustrations here in this thread.  We are neglected by our own health system and surgeons abroad, they're not concerned about the patients welfare as it's the patients money that decides access to surgery, not who needs it more or will benefit more.

These others mostly don't "get" us.

[Lady Smith]

I had my orchi 17 years ago and I can report that everything has shrunk down very nicely to where the presence of the 'wart' is of no real concern to me at all.  I don't swim, but I am a keen cyclist and it's great not having the poison glands still there and getting in the way.

After surgery it took a while for the swelling to go down and my mood was all over the place for a while until the changes in my HRT settled down.  I'm surprised that you aren't prescribed spiro anymore because I'm still on it, but at a lower dose than I was before surgery.
You might need to wait some months for changes to happen, but they will happen.