I've been asked to write about my 1 year anniversary that occured today. I was castrated June 3rd 2005 by Dr. Kimmel.

I'll just hit the highlights.

From June to I suppose August I was adjusting to the new hormone levels (or lack thereof). I was irritatable. During this time, my best friend and I went through a lot of issues together. I hated him for a while, I loved him for a while. I would get angry with him for sometimes no good reason. Then for a while I would be complacent with him. June through august was an emotional rollercoaster for me.

By time midaugust came, I settled out. By this time, my friend had pretty much broken off contact with me because he couldn't handle my constantly changing emotional state. Oddly, it was around this time that things settled for me and I just became more humble.

My friend knew I was castrated. In fact, he went with me to Philly to watch over me for the few days after the surgery.

Then, unless you have been in a hole for the past year, you know that hurricane Katrina came. My house got damage, insurance was slow to pay and my job opted to leave the area I lived to take residence in Memphis, TN. So, things got wild again until November. I was unsure what was going to happen with my job and the only jobs available in the area after Katrina was construction and I can barely operate a hammer. So, I wasn't fit for that.

November came and the work finally got straightened out, and I got uprooted from my home state and moved to Memphis, TN. I moved here, away from friends and family. I had one coworker that moved with me to keep me somewhat in reality during the touch transition.

For the next several months, I was still broke even though I had a newly relocated job because I still had a mortgage for my house and now rent on top of that for living in Memphis, TN. In April I sold my home and since then I'm been home free in the stress area. BTW, just to give you guys some idea, my insurance didn't pay off until March '06 on my house's damage.

Now, we're in April and May... well, I didn't say really what I have been doing since November after I moved here. My friends kept me active where I use to live, and here in Memphis, I have been very unactive. Since november, most of my time has been using Netflix way to much and working. I do helpdesk tech support for a casino, so I'm not mobile at work or at home.

Since november I've gained about thirty pounds. I'm sure this is contributed more towards the lack of activity than it is being a eunuch.

Here we are, today, my one year anniversay. It was a rough ride, emotionally in the beginning and then it turned to crude because of hurricane Katrina.

I hope to beat the laziness out of me and get back in shape. Doing that without friends to keep me active has been hard and even with the size of Memphis, I haven't been able to find any new friends and while I keep in touch with old friends by phone, that surely doesn't take much activity to do.

So, there you have it. My first year as a eunuch.

Ohh, just to throw something into the fire to make conversation... I never admitted it, but I'm 'James' in the March issue of Details magazine. I'll let you all get angry with me before I go explaining that monster of a misinterpretated article.

Let the flames and praise begin.

I'm long past getting angry about the Details magazine article. Even when it was fresh I was sure that the author was much more at fault than any of the subjects of the article. At one time I had friends in Memphis that were associated with the Memphis Queen boat line. Good luck, get out more and enjoy the fine surroundings of Memphis. --FLO--

I don't fault the characters in the Details article. I fault the writer.

Congratulations on the 1-year mark!

Incuse,

When I read Bart Blasengame’s article in Details, I had serious doubts as to whether or not “James” was a real person. I have talked with Bart too many times and know people who have interacted with him. I would not put it past him to create a character out of whole cloth to fit his agenda for the article. I assume you were as badly misquoted as the others that Bart interviewed and hope that you will share some of the reality of your situation with the rest of us here. In the meantime, I stand by my evaluation as stated in my original review of the article as posted on the Archive:

My own feelings about the Details article fall somewhere between those of Paolo and Losethem. The first paragraph is extremely bad and incredibly negative but, if the reader persists, there are some postives in the article. Overall, it's much worse than I had hoped, but better than most of the press to date.

If you ask anyone in the “general public” about who is most likely to be castrated today, by far the most common answer would be “pedophiles and convicted child molesters”, especiallly molesters of little boys. Even though most pedophiles are attracted to little girls.

The use of “James” as the first example in the Details article plays straight into that prejudice. If James is honest in his statement that he was voluntarily castrated (by Dr. Kimmel) to reduce his overactive libido BEFORE he molested a child and caused permanent damage to him, he should be treated as an honorable person. All of the prison time and psychotherapy out there seem to do very little to deter repeat offenses by those who have molested small children. James may have taken the most effective route to prevent his someday committing a crime. It's important that it was (1) voluntary, (2) done before he had committed any criminal act, and (3) done with full knowledge that he can probably never take any testosterone supplements in his life.

Congratulations on your anniversary (or, maybe, birthday into the new you). I wish you well as you adjust to your new life in your new location. I hope that you can find some good friends in the Memphis area. You will always have a support group here on the Archive.

Jesus

Congratulations on your first year. I think the first is always the toughest. I am also glad you survived the danger and destruction of Katrina. I hope you find some good friends in Memphis and I look forward to more postings sharing your experiences.

Paolo wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:56 am I don't fault the characters in the Details article. I fault the writer.

Congratulations on the 1-year mark!

and you're right to do so.

In the interview, I spent a good bit of time detailing my struggle with the thoughts that haunted me about hurting children. I had a lot of depression, which I believe was directly related to the thoughts I had.

I made the mistake of giving him one experience that was particularly emotional for me. He twisted that experience and downplayed my reaction to how I handled that situation. He gave the impression that my friend is the one who convinced me to leave the store -- it was my decision to leave. I told my friend I was upset and we left. (My friend knew of my issues)

If another interview comes along, I'll do it. I believe the more articles that are written, the better we will be known and better chance for people to build positive opinions of us. The people that read these articles closely can see through the spin that writers put in to it, then again, maybe I have to much faith in people.

Anyhow. Thanks for the congrads.

Congrads on the first year. I know it can be very hard for I have two great friends that I was with durning their time and recovery. Being close to then I know that being an eunuch is not a cake walk. I am happy that you made out as good as you did. The first year is the hardest with I can tell. May all of your coming years be great! You are amoung some very special people.

Bobbi

Fellow Eunuch

For Incuse, I am curious if you regret the castration or not. I have read and reread your posting several times, and come away with the same question each time.

tugon (imported) wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:25 am Congratulations on your first year

and yesterday being your birthday as well.

BudleyBare (imported) wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2006 1:32 pm For Incuse, I am curious if you regret the castration or not. I have read and reread your posting several times, and come away with the same question each time.

Sometimes, but infreqent, I believe relationships would be easier to create had I not been castrated. Then, soon after, I remember how haunted I was by the fantasies and thoughts that I had for many years leading up to my castration.

Those now missing thoughts are now something I am very happy to be rid of and allows me to overcome the infreqent thoughts I have that I shouldn't have had the surgery.

In retrosept, when I had the 'equipment', relationships were easier -- but that was because they were based around sex. Now, I am looking for a mate that is based around love in a much different manner. Nonsexual relationships, while harder to find, are much more worthwhile I believe. I just hope I find my partner in the next few years and live a happy and full life.

For now, I believe strongly that I made the right decision.

So, I would say I am very satisfied and have no regrets.

The best analogy I can come up with, is my testicles are much like the brain tumor I had. Neither were doing me any good, both harmed me.