53 weeks since starting HRT. I went to court today, and my name change and gender marker change are legal now! I was a wreck last night, so much excitement and anxiety combining together. Last night it felt so surreal, this strange desire that I didn't think was ever possible was actually happening. Now I just feel relief that this big step is accomplished. I was also able to go to the social security office to change my name, so two of the three big hurdles are complete. The third one, driver's license, is proving to be more difficult. The Department of Motor Vehicles in California has a specific form that my doctor has to fill out. This would be all well and good if it wasn't for the VA, because their policies make me wait forever. The last letter I needed my doctor to write for me took a month. So I am stuck waiting for that at the moment. Changing my bank information requires a photo ID, so that will probably have to wait until my driver's license is done. What I can do is request my DD-214 change, change my information at the VA, get my passport updated, and request an amended birth certificate (Texas is apparently known for not approving these requests). If everything goes well, I should be able to get these done next week! Changing everything will most likely be a continuous struggle, and I expect it to take years before I won't see any reference to my old name again.
I also had my surgery consult on Monday, and it went extremely well. Trained by Dr. Crane, a well known surgeon in the field of sexual reassignment surgery, Dr. Satterwhite appeased a lot of the concerns I had. Essentially he makes an incision down the middle of the scrotal sack, removes the testes, seals off the ejaculatory ducts, then sews it back up. He said it takes about 20 minutes! Holy crap that is fast! He said complications are highly unlikely, and that I would be sore for about 10 days. After a month I would have no physical limitations so long as everything heals up okay. He also said that he has had no instances of reduced sexual functioning from having this procedure done, which is a pretty big deal! He has not had any issues with performing a full vaginoplasty following an orchiectomy, so I will still have that option open to me in the future. I can't wait to not have to take all this medication anymore, it will be so nice to be back to normal. My orchiectomy will take place on April 12th.
University of Phoenix was able to get my schedule figured out, so I will be starting next week. I also got offered more hours at work doing some accounting, and feedback from colleagues and the director were very positive. I made a couple more videos as well, and they turned out to be pretty good and I had a fun time being creative and working on them. I need to figure out how to get a good camera angle for when I am running downhill, because the steepness of the trails does not seem very apparent. I went to this trans employment visibility photoshoot for TEEI on Tuesday which was a lot of fun and met some new people. I am talking to a reporter on Sunday about transgender veterans, and I am participating in a panel at UC Berkeley in April for the social worker program to talk about gender and sexuality. I find myself staying very busy and engaged in a lot of different activities, which is a welcome change. I attribute this to having more confidence in my self and my abilities. If I can reach this point in one year, I can't wait to see myself in year two!
I also had my surgery consult on Monday, and it went extremely well. Trained by Dr. Crane, a well known surgeon in the field of sexual reassignment surgery, Dr. Satterwhite appeased a lot of the concerns I had. Essentially he makes an incision down the middle of the scrotal sack, removes the testes, seals off the ejaculatory ducts, then sews it back up. He said it takes about 20 minutes! Holy crap that is fast! He said complications are highly unlikely, and that I would be sore for about 10 days. After a month I would have no physical limitations so long as everything heals up okay. He also said that he has had no instances of reduced sexual functioning from having this procedure done, which is a pretty big deal! He has not had any issues with performing a full vaginoplasty following an orchiectomy, so I will still have that option open to me in the future. I can't wait to not have to take all this medication anymore, it will be so nice to be back to normal. My orchiectomy will take place on April 12th.
University of Phoenix was able to get my schedule figured out, so I will be starting next week. I also got offered more hours at work doing some accounting, and feedback from colleagues and the director were very positive. I made a couple more videos as well, and they turned out to be pretty good and I had a fun time being creative and working on them. I need to figure out how to get a good camera angle for when I am running downhill, because the steepness of the trails does not seem very apparent. I went to this trans employment visibility photoshoot for TEEI on Tuesday which was a lot of fun and met some new people. I am talking to a reporter on Sunday about transgender veterans, and I am participating in a panel at UC Berkeley in April for the social worker program to talk about gender and sexuality. I find myself staying very busy and engaged in a lot of different activities, which is a welcome change. I attribute this to having more confidence in my self and my abilities. If I can reach this point in one year, I can't wait to see myself in year two!