Starting T injections, tomorrow

Over the summer, I decided I wanted to try injections, short-term.  In September, I started working toward making that happen.  It has taken this long, because it took a very long time to even make an appointment.

Why is it so hard to make an appointment?

Once I got in, though, things progressed super quickly.  A lot faster than I envisioned.

I had an appointment with an endocrinologist on January 10th.  It went super well.  I recall going to therapy a couple of times this past May, and talking about my plans for going on T injections.  I told my therapist that I wasn’t sure what to tell the endo; I might resort to white lying just so I could be guaranteed access.  You know, feign being into being binary and things that I am not.  She replied, “Why would you do that?”  She was being fairly forceful too – like, please, give people some credit!  I replied, almost yelling, “Because it wasn’t all that long ago that you couldn’t be somewhere in the middle, there were such strict guidelines about how to transition.  I don’t know who is where, within that thinking!”  We continued discussing until I was convinced, and agreed to proceed in an authentic way.

I hadn’t forgotten that.  When talking with the endo, I was nothing but honest.  I will say though:  A) it helps that I am 35 years old, which means I have been an adult for a while now.  B) it helps that I have legally changed my name.  C) it helps that I’ve had top surgery.  D) it helps that I have a support network.

I still hear plenty of stories about people being denied or being put on hold or having to jump through hoops they don’t want to go through, etc.  It is a reality.

This endo was super open though.  She seemed to have a checklist, basically of questions to go through.  They were all fine, until she got to my childhood.  “How did you feel as a child?  Did you feel like something was wrong?  Who were your playmates?”  I cut her off and said, while smiling, “I find these questions interesting, but I don’t see how they are pertinent to the here-and-now.”  She replied that, well, for some people… and trailed off.  And then we changed directions.  It was awesome.

She told me that the next step is bloodwork, then she will prescribe the T.  Then I go pick it up and come back and learn how to inject myself, from a nurse practitioner.  I figured all this could take around a month.  I got the bloodwork done the next day.  I got a message that the endo filled the prescription 6 days later.  I got a call that the pharmacy will have it in stock the next day (today).  Then I got a call from the endo’s office saying we could schedule an appointment tomorrow at 8am.  Whoa.  Whirlwind!  After all the time and effort it took to make the appointment in the first place, this was so super speedy and efficient.

Am I ready?  I’m not sure!  Like, I am definitely ready because it’s something I’ve planned on and talked about for a long time now.  And because it is a big part of my ultimate goal, which is to present in such a way that people really cannot tell whether I am male or female.

But to enter that space is super scary.  I’m generally viewed as female, and it feels safe.  I use women’s public restrooms, I am legally female, and I am not viewed as threatening / I don’t feel threatened.  That could change.  I’m not sure where I will feel most comfortable – I guess going on T-injections is one of the ways of finding that out.

This definitely feels different from the time I started Androgel, which was 4 years ago.  At that time, I was soooo excited.  And once I started, the excitement only increased.  BUT, at the same time, I was hyper-vigilant about not physically changing; I didn’t feel comfortable with that at all at the time.  When my voice sounded only the slightest bit different, I freaked and lowered the dose even more.  And I hit a sweet spot, where I stayed for almost 3 years.

That sweet spot has shifted, and I’m not sure where it is now!  And I’m not all that excited about it either!  Who knows, I may hate it and stop after 2 or 3 shots.  Or I may end up loving it more than I anticipated, and staying on it long-term.  My guess is I’ll want to stay on for 6-8 months or so.  …Let’s see if I’m right!