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My mom: Did you eat breakfast?

Me recalling B12 vitamins and a Monster Zero: Yes.

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just relapse who wanna validate me

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Hmm. Maybe trans folks *are* superheroes!?

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Trans Rights Signs from the 2018 Glasgow Pride march

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Could you make an ftm thinspo board?

💙 FtM Thinspo 💙

(the three guys on the top row are ftm, but idk about the bottom row)

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My ed when I don’t go to uni lectures BC my body issues make me hide at home

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Second Opinion w/ Dr Kennedy at YourGP

Appointment date: 22.03.19

After seeing Dr Myskow, I was referred for a second opinion appointment with Dr Kennedy. I was contacted by email (though there was a mix up with my contact details) on the 15th March, offering me an appointment for a week from then with a couple of choices for time. It was overall, another positive experience, although Dr Kennedy did seem somewhat unprofessional/scatterbrained.

This appointment was pretty smooth sailing, with most of the questions that Dr Myskow asked, plus some more questions that could seem a bit more personal. Dr Kennedy had a great, warm manner and was relaxed, and before we even talked about transition things she had recommended me a documentary to watch. 

The discomfort came with being asked my sexuality, which quickly flowed into asking about my dysphoria during sex. However, Dr Kennedy dealt with my obvious bashfulness by suggesting things to help me along (i.e. “Some guys say they can’t take their shirt off...use a strap on...keep their binder on” etc.) which did help a lot.

There was a lot of the general what was your family like/what’s your support system like/how did you know you were trans stuff, but Dr Kennedy seemed to get the vibe that since I have been out for 4 years and at least partly stealth for 1.5 of those, I wasn’t into dwelling on that and was more into getting things moving with T. 

She did make a comment or two that made me feel a bit iffy, although they definitely were well meaning, about my appearance - basically that I “passed remarkably as a pre-pubescent male”. Although this is the truth, it felt a bit awkward although affirming. She also made a comment when dictating her final report (which she did with me in the room as we had time to spare) that “he never get’s misgendered” which is not entirely true, but that’s me being a little pedantic.

Dr Kennedy also informed me that she could only take cash, cheque or bank transfer as YourGP would no longer take payments by card on behalf of her, which is something to consider for the private route. She also seemed obviously on the fence about having to take payment in general, I guess coming from her work on the NHS.

I also used the extra time I had to get some information on NHS top surgery in Scotland (with Dabritz and her team at the Manchester breast clinic, where they now have several surgeons trained in masculine chest recontouring, if you were wondering). This was pretty helpful, as since Dr Kennedy works for the Chalmers clinic, she knows the system pretty well.

I was told by YourGP staff that the report would take 1 week to come back, and that I could book my next appointment with Dr Myskow for after that.

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Appointment #1 w/ Dr Myskow at YourGP.

Appointment date: 05.03.19

I had my first appointment with Dr Myskow at YourGP in Edinburgh last week, after finding the Sandyford GIC waiting times extortionate, and wanting to move forward with my transition. Although quite pricey, my overall experience of the first appointment was very positive and I feel confident that YourGP will help me move on with my transition quickly.

I got the train to nearby Haymarket, where the clinic was about a 10-15 minutes walk. There was car parking outside, and although I got a bit lost trying to find the door to the clinic, Google Maps managed to navigate me there fine. 

When I went into the clinic, I spoke to the receptionist who was lovely, where I filled in a new patient form (name, address, email, past medical history and reason for the appointment) and was offered a drink. I was sitting there for around 5 minutes, and Dr Myskow saw me a little before my appointment was scheduled. 

Dr Myskow was lovely, overall, and very respectful which was contrary to some information I had read online talking about extreme gate-keeping and invasion of privacy. She started by asking what my situation was like now (about my year and a half living as male and name change), and the appointment made quite natural progress. 

We talked about my family and early experiences, my physical and mental health (I have a history of anxiety and asthma), what puberty was like for me and what support systems I have right now. There were no questions asked about sex, and I wasn’t forced to talk about personal things I was clearly uncomfortable with (I mentioned I was dysphoric about periods/chest growth) more than necessary. 

I was then asked about what I was looking for with my transition. I explained that I wanted to get on T as soon as possible, and was definitely interested in top surgery but would probably go through the NHS if the Sandyford waiting list wasn’t extotionate. Dr Myskow was happy with this, and then advised me that T can cause infertility and asked about if I want kids/pregnancy (which makes me feel very uncomfortable, so was a no). 

One thing I will mention, is that Dr Myskow said she was suspicious of trans men who want to be pregnant due to it being very “female”. I would perhaps advise against talking about wanting to be pregnant to Dr Myskow if you don’t want to be slowed down in your process.

After we talked about this, Dr Myskow outlined her approach, which is as follows:

- Appointment 1 with Dr Myskow (1 hour) - Second opinion with Dr Kennedy (1 hour) - Blood tests (which Dr Myskow wrote to my NHS GP about getting to save me the private cost) - Appointment 2 with Dr Myskow (1 hour) plus T prescription/administration if required - 3-monthly checkups with Dr Myskow (30 minutes each)

An hour with Dr Myskow costs £250 at time of writing (March 2019), plus travel to the clinic which costs me ~£15 return from Glasgow.

I was advised that Dr Kennedy would contact me in due course, and on average saw people within 3 weeks of correspondence with Dr Myskow. Dr Kennedy can travel to the YourGP clinic at no extra cost to save extra travel. Dr Myskow then advised me to book another appointment with her as soon as possible, for about 6-8 weeks away.

My understanding is, that providing Dr Myskow has a second opinion letter and a copy of my blood test results, I can be prescribed and administered T at my second appointment with her, as soon as April, which is exciting!

More to come as soon as I know more!