Monday was a complete circus of comedy where my shrink was concerned. I won't even go into the details, it was so bad. I didn't hear from her until Wednesday morning, when she told me the letter was waiting for me at her receptionist's desk. To be honest, I'd gotten tired of chasing her and given up on ever obtaining the letter. I've already made an appointment with another psychotherapist who regularly works with my gender therapist. At the very least, I'll attend that first session with him, simply to review the shrink's letter and insure it should satisfy the WPATH expectations. It's my personal feeling it does, but he's more experienced, and I owe him the courtesy of keeping my appointment.

I sent a Fed Ex Envelope overnight to Dr. Reed this afternoon. It's got both my referral letters, a cashier's check, a cover letter, and my recent blood test results. They should also get my EKG/cardiac stress test results by FAX today or tomorrow. Hopefully, Anne or Dr. Reed will be contacting me Thursday morning to finally schedule a date for surgery.

Caith721 (imported) wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2011 5:00 pm I sent a Fed Ex Envelope overnight to Dr. Reed this afternoon. It's got both my referral letters, a cashier's check, a cover letter, and my recent blood test results. They should also get my EKG/cardiac stress test results by FAX today or tomorrow. Hopefully, Anne or Dr. Reed will be contacting me Thursday morning to finally schedule a date for surgery.

Congratulations! This is wonderful news. I'm so happy the learn that, after some major frustration, you were able to send your documentation and test results to Dr. Reed. Hope to read some good news tomorrow night about a surgery date. You may yet make it to Miami in April.

Danya (imported) wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:33 pm You may yet make it to Miami in April.

Thank you, dear lady. It is my sincere hope there is still an opening or two in early April. I'll definitely post as soon as I'm finished talking with them.

So, I received a courtesy e-mail notification from Dr. Reed today saying both referral letters were acceptable. Unfortunately, the cardiologist never faxed the EKG and stress test results to them. I called the cardiologists' office and they claimed they would fax the documents to Dr. Reed's office immediately. That's when I remembered he's always out of the office the last week of every month, either speaking, lecturing, or studying something new. So, I can't expect to hear anything more, this week. Damn it.

I know how disappointing these delays can be and I'm sorry to learn you'll have to wait until next week to get your surgery date. Hang in there, sweet one. You may yet learn that you will be traveling to Miami well before the end of April. I certainly hope so.

Hugs,

Danya

Thank you, Danya.

I suppose it's absolutely no surprise in this day and age that so-called medical professionals simply don't provide the services expected of them. First it was the shrink, now it's the cardiologists, plus Dr. Reed's regular monthly schedule. If I was any kind of conspiracy theorist, I'd be going nuts right now.

Hi Caith...Looks like it's only a matter of time...Everything seems to have been done...(or will be, shortly)...Lucky you...smooches dragonfly

Thank you, Jack. It's Saturday now and I've received hints this week from both Anne, Dr. Reed's office manager and Cristina at the Baltic Hotel, that he usually returns home on Sundays from these monthly retreats and catches up on e-mails and other things before returning to work Monday morning. In this case I'm hoping for a phone call from him late Sunday afternoon. If he doesn't call, I'll be on the phone with them early Monday morning to confirm a definite surgery date. It may not be this week, but hopefully sometime next week at the latest. I'm off work for two straight weeks, so whatever date I get should be okay, as long as it's not late in the second week.

I'm surprisingly calm at this point, mostly because I know everything necessary is in place. What's been really strange is waking up with a serious erection the last two or three mornings, about 3am or 4am. I believe it's simply a full bladder after taking medications with lots of water at 8pm or 9 pm each evening. I'm taking antibiotics for an ingrown hair / sebaceous cyst that arose a week ago and finally ruptured one night at home. I already had an appointment scheduled with the dermatologist for the day after it burst, so I drained and flushed and disinfected it as best I could. It was a great relief having all that pressure finally released, and the swelling and inflammation went away quickly. He said it was not abscessed and it appeared I had done a good job cleaning it out. He advised I take the antibiotics for two weeks and keep the area clean and dressed daily with antibiotic ointment.

I really like the idea of taking this course of antibiotics a week or two before surgery. It insures I won't have any nasty staph or other low-level bacterial infection when Dr. Reed operates, and that means I should heal quickly. I'll have two days of rest/recuperation in Miami after the orchiectomy, but the compression dressing over the incision won't come off until at least three days have passed.

Much like the relief of having that cyst drained and gone, I'm expecting a similar relief having my testicles gone. I won't be troubled by them ever again. No unsatisfied sexual desires, no shifting back and forth when I sit down or get up, nothing to tuck into my groin, either. And the best part is, I won't have to take anti-androgens daily, ever again. That's one less pill, and less stress on my liver. It also means the estrogen I take every day can work almost completely unopposed. There's still the matter of adrenal T being produced, but hopefully that will be a very small amount.

I wouldn't worry about the adrenal testosterone. Women have T in their bodies too, just as men have estrogen naturally.

Good Luck!!