14th March 2018 – 2 years and 8 months on Testosterone
I need to apologise to those that read my posts as I am running quite a bit behind on keeping you all up to date on whats been going on. There’s been lots happening transition side and personal, so grab a coffee as I share with you everything that’s been happening over the last year.
Dr’s appointment at the Laurels – 13th January 2017
I had my appointment with my doctor today it went really well we discussed about being switched over to having the injections but he needs to see more blood work first. I have to have a blood test every month till I see him again so that he can make sure that everything’s OK before I start on the injections.
I also asked him what the chances would be to being put forward for my top surgery, as I have managed to lose 2 stone since I last saw him and with being on the list it will give me more incentive to lose the rest while I wait. I know that there is at least a 6 month waiting list for surgery which gives me time to lose what I need. If I was to lose the weight first which could take me six months, if not longer I would then have to wait a further six months on the waiting list which would make it around the end of 2018 before I had my top surgery. I know i’m patient but not that patient.
My Dr has agreed to put me forward for my referral for top surgery as long as my therapist is in agreement.
Therapist appointment – 18th January 2017
My therapist rang me, she asked me how everything was going as she hadn’t seen or spoken to me in a long time, we chatted about family life, how me and Nic were doing and if I was struggling with anything. The only thing that is letting me down now is my chest and because it is on the large size its not very easy to hide and wearing a binder doesn’t give me a flat enough chest that I am happy with, I’m really conscious about it as I have gone back to college (which I will make another blog about that). Which led me onto what I had discussed with my Dr about top surgery and she has agreed that I can be put forward for top surgery…YEAH!!
Now that the referral process has started there’s a couple of things that need to happen before I have top surgery. Firstly I have to choose a surgeon, the Laurels have their own list that they prefer to use, one of them being Mr Yelland.
Then comes applying for funding, as I live in Wales all funding is done by WHSCC and I was hoping that being at the Laurels they would fund for Mr Yelland but unfortunately that is not the case. I had been told at the beginning of that I would need to get back in touch with them when I was ready for top surgery, I did try to contact them and explain what they had previously said but they weren’t having none of it. I could have stood my ground with what they had originally said but by the time it would have been sorted it, I could have had the surgery so I picked one of the surgeons from their list.
I took some time to research my options and have chosen to go with Mr Kneeshaw who is based in Hull. I rang his secretary that deals with NHS referrals back in November to find out if they had received my referral as I hadn’t received any confirmation from them. It turns out that they had and that Mr Kneeshaw was just starting to get to the referrals that had been sent in July, so hopefully in the next few months I get an appointment.
Dr’s appointment at the Laurels – 16th October 2017
You may be wondering why it took me 9 months before I had my next appointment with my Dr, when they are usually 3 or 4 months apart. I did get one before but unfortunately I couldn’t make it as money was a bit tight as its a fair way to travel as it’s nearly a 600 mile round trip.
I didn’t know that my Dr had changed until I met him, he was really friendly though. We spent a good hour going over things, I did have to give him a brief run down on my history. I explained to him that my previous Dr had agreed to top surgery and that we had also discussed about going on the injections, I’m pretty sure if anything was going to go wrong it would have shown up by now. He had to check with one of his colleagues to make sure it was OK to start me on the injections, he has no problem with me moving onto testosterone injections.
The last blood test I had done when I was on the gel showed my T level at 7. Thinking about it as I write this it makes you wonder why did my previous Dr at the Laurels leave me for 2 years on the gel without increasing the dosage so my T level never increased, maybe I should have said something.
Below is a breakdown of the changes so far:
What Type of Testosterone am I Using
My last dose of using Tostran gel was the 6th November, the day after I had my first Nebido injection. The first injection was on the 7th Nov and then the next one 6 weeks later on the 19th Dec. The third injection at week 18 is due on the 13th March 2018 and the 4th injection would be due at week 30, which would make it the 5th June 2018 and then every twelve weeks from there.
In between the injections I also had to have blood tests done to check my testosterone and haematocrit levels (which is the amount of red blood cells in blood). The first blood test was at week 4(5th Dec), week 12(29th Jan 2018) and then at week 30(5th June 2018). I had the results back from my first blood test and my testosterone level had doubled to 14.4.
Facial Hair
Over the last two years my facial hair has come on slow and steady, covering my upper lip and in patches on my chin, after starting Nebido my facial hair is coming in faster. although it is still patchy it is getting longer. The growth started on my upper lip then onto my chin and then down my neck and is now starting to spread out sideways. My sideburns are slowly starting to come in now too.
I have noticed that when it starts growing that it does get really itchy, I have also bought myself a beard trimmer so that I can keep it short when it starts to look straggly so I don’t have to shave it. I also have a few grey hairs coming through, I could end up with a grey beard for Christmas.
Body Hair
The hairs on my arms are a lot darker now, after being on testosterone for some time. but I haven’t had anymore new hair growth. My leg hair is a lot thicker and darker, especially the tops of my legs but I still can’t seem to grow hair on the outside of my legs. I also have hair growing on my stomach now. My hair line is receding but I don’t think it has moved any further back. I have also noticed that I have hair growing on the edges of my ears.
Body Changes
Since being on testosterone (Nebido) my arm muscles have got a lot firmer and that I have got a lot more strength. I am still losing weight, a few pounds a week and it shouldn’t be too long before I get back down to my ideal weight. I still think that all redistribution has gone on my stomach.
Voice Changes
My voice is getting a lot deeper and seems to be staying, all though I do still have moments when it gets a bit squeaky.
Mentally
I feel really good in myself and how I see everything. I feel so much more relaxed and whole. I can’t even remember the last time I got mis-gendered.
If you have any questions for me or Sarah feel free to comment below or you can use the Contact Us page to send us an email and we will be happy to answer you.
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