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Thread: Starting down this exciting path!

  1. #26
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    I'm very happy for you, especially entering the VA health care system as you are. I restarted my transition almost 3 years ago with the VA and the support has been nothing short of sensational. As far a the distance to the hospital, I understand, I was 1 1/2 hours away and it was a pain at times. Check with your providers and see if you can schedule telehealth visits. They send you an email link to access your appointment, and it's the next best thing to being there. I've found the Ipad works better than a laptop or phone for some unknown reason. Congratulations and best wishes, by the way I'm closing in on 68 and consider myself fortunate that I found the VA supports the LGBT.

  2. #27
    Member Kevyn53's Avatar
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    Patty B. I do use Telehealth a lot for the therapy end of things with the VA. With covid that's what the entire Fargo Va system is doing unless they actually need to touch you, drawing blood, etc. My endocrinology appt is Aug 13th IN FARGO!!! My speech therapy and mental health appts. are all telehealth.

    My one other note is that I joined the Transarmy site on Facebook. If you haven't checked it out, it's pretty normal Facebook, but I volunteered to mentor a young gal in Iowa. She's 23 and still hormonal in a teenager kind of way. She's adead of me on hormones, but I've got 40 years on her with life experience. Also, a friend in town has a grandchild who is coming out MTF and they are visiting this weekend. They want her to meet me, I think to prove to her that she's not alone. So I'm theoretically, mentoring 2 young people and I've just started transiti0oning myself! I'm getting to be a busy girl!

  3. #28
    Member Kevyn53's Avatar
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    So I've got pretty much all my paperwork in my new life done, EXCEPT my car registration is coming up this month and it turns out In North Dakota you can't just change the name on your registration, you have to "sell it back to yourself." So Kevin has to sell the car to Kevyn for $0 and pay handling fees. It's just fricking weird. I talked to a woman about new glasses and she said when she got her divorce and changed her name back to her maiden name, she had to do the same thing. Government is weird.

  4. #29
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    Hi Kevyn. Sorry to hear about your troubles. I called my local DMV (NY State) and thankfully they said I can change the car registration at the same time I will change the driver's license and it didn't sound like it will have to be a sale, just the name update. I have two cars in the family, so need to do for both.

  5. #30
    Member Kevyn53's Avatar
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    So yesterday I met with my Endocrinologist at the VA. I'd heard some complaints about her but if you ask questions she's very responsive and has a sense of humor and she's thorough. I'm starting on Spiro, and my estradiol patches arrive in the "mail" (thank you Mr. President for scaring the crap out of all of us) because they were out and were supposedly arriving in stock today, so I should see them in the mail probably Tuesday. My Endocrinologist says I have a high T count and that many of her older patients would love to have my levels. Well they can have them, I don't need them any more.
    Anyway, I'm happy that my body now gets to try catching up to all my paperwork where my name and gender are changed. Whew!

  6. #31
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    I like how we all take different paths towards the same place of happiness. I was on hormones for few months shy of 3 years before I changed my name and the gender marker on my documents, to catch up where my body and my mind already were .

  7. #32
    Member Kevyn53's Avatar
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    Katya, I'm having a little dysphoria in the morning and at night before bed, because I got ALL of my identity changed to on paper I'm female. Then before getting dressed I'm looking down and don't come anywhere near looking female, so getting started on hormones has been a relief.

  8. #33
    Member Kevyn53's Avatar
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    So here's an interesting thought. My mother told me once that I was going to be Kevin (or now Kevyn) whether I was a boy or a girl. Here'sthe thought. I don't get to be offended if somebody dead names me. Should I be offended that I can't be offended?

  9. #34
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    No, you don't have to. My new name is a shirt version of my full name, which makes it gender neutral. My close family and friend never called by my full name, or the shirt one in one-on-one conversations. They use more gentle version, which is still male, but I never get bothered by it. My close family and some of the closest friends get a pass and I don't feel like I am making any effort.
    I do correct people right away when they use my old full male name.

  10. #35
    Member Kevyn53's Avatar
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    Katya, the only thing that happens (rarely) is I have been mis-pronouned a bit lately. The funny thing is it's happened when I'm being introduced to new people and then I say I'm trans, and they jump on it like it's a carnival ride that's going to be fun. I get questioned and complimented.

    Two other things... Last Thursday I started Spiro and today I started estradiol. Last Thursday I met with my endocrinologist for the first time and we got along really well. And she's looking at my labs and goes, WOW. I ask what's up and she says my testosterone level is 943, and she's got older patients who would kill to have levels this high. Well they can have it. She want's my T level at 55 or under.

  11. #36
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    Hi Kevyn,
    These days, my total Testosterone varies between 20-50 ng/dL depending on the part of the 5-day cycle of IM Estrodial injection. Before hormones, my T was at 464 ng/dL. From the start, I was following the monotherapy approach, no androgen blockers. It relies on the approach that if you maintain estrogen at sufficient levels (minimum 200 pg/mL), your endocrine system will regulate the production of testosterone way done on its own because in assigned male at birth, E is converted from T. The key is to achieve consistent high E levels. I couldn't achieve it with patches but achieved almost immediately on 5-day injections (my level varies between 200-500pg/mL also depending on when measured in the cycle). It has been stable this way for over a year. Also, after 15 months, I started taking Progesterone which helped to make breast more full. The bottom line, you may look into it. I am not saying it is always possible to achieve low T without anti-androgens but worth trying to avoid exposing yourself to additional side effects. I also read that Bicalutamide has fewer side effects than Spironolactone and may be a safer choice if anti-androgen is needed. Talk to your doctor but do your homework. That's the name of the game in trans healthcare.
    Katya

  12. #37
    Happy New Year! Renee_B's Avatar
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    Good luck!!

  13. #38
    Member Kevyn53's Avatar
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    Katya, thanks for the information. As always we have to be our best advocates, reading and double-checking everything just to make sure. I asked about tarting with just estradiol, but she's one of those nervous about heart problems. My mom had a heart attack in her 60, but she was also a heavy smoker. My only cigarette was when I was 16 51 years ago. I'll check up on Bicalutamide.

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