If you're a MTF transsexual and have been taking chemical castration for a while, you probably could get a better surgeon than Kimmel to operate on you. No offense, but his track record is inconsistent, and he's really only a good option for those who can't progress toward SRS through mainstream medical community.
I would check with Dr Marci Bowers in Trinidad CO
Hey Gang,
How about a little help or sharing of some knowledge. I received the results of my first hormone test an am having a little problem interpreting the testosterone level. My level is currently 70.4 pg/ml (244.5 pmol/L). Does this sound kinda high? Just wanted to get a second opinion on this one. Any advise?
But then again, it really doesn't matter all that much considering my appointment with Dr. Kimmel is just 3 short weeks away!
Thanks,
Last edited by EricaAnn; 03-04-2006 at 02:54 AM.
Hello EricaAnn
I'm no expert but what I read is less than 85 ng/ml testosterone is typical for MTF and females. Your reading said Pg/ml is this a typo? I will be off line for next 10 days going to vist relatives. Did you go to a Dr or mail in kit? if so which one did you use and what was the cost? I need to have mine checked again.
In a prior post you said you are much calmer, less aggressive and more loving. Are there any other (good or bad) effects?
My spouse is finally (after about 15 years of denial) coming around to accepting my feminine side. The other night I said I needed to be female and aked if she didn't mind. She blew me away and said ok and thanks for asking.
Lindaleah
ps very injoyable evening infem. Didn't want to go to bed that night
Dear Lindaleah,
No, the pg/ml is not a typo. That is the way my test results were returned to me. The female hormone test kit I used I obtained on line from caigmedical.com. They're normally $65.00 each, but by purchasing 3 at a time the cost per test kit drops to $60.00 each. The cost includes the test kit materials, which is a saliva test, the packing materials to return the samples, lab processing costs and the next day air delivery. Not too bad of a deal.
As far as good and bad effects, I haven't found a bad one yet and to be quite honest, I even like myself a little better without the testosterone!
My wife too is coming around to thinking more of me as female rather than a male. We have even discussed the possibility of some day going through with the SRS and completing the process, but we'll have to wait to see what the future holds in store!
Last edited by EricaAnn; 03-16-2006 at 01:58 AM.
There are a few good GP's in the Philly arae who deal with TG and you can get bloodwork done there.Are you self medding?
I am more or less self medding based on my own research and my discussion with the good Dr. Kimmel. In my 20-30 minute telephone conversation with the doctor we discussed my current HRT regimen and he confirm that I was pretty much on the right course. In fact, he even mentioned that he could prescribe a more effective form of estrogen from what I'm currently taking that would be produce quicker results in the feminization process. It was at the doctor's suggestion that I added the 325 Mg. of an enteric coated aspirin to my daily medications.
I'm planning on having another discussion with the doctor regarding my HRT during my pre-surgery conference, which by the way is only a week and a half away an needless to say I'm getting pretty excited!
Oh, and by the way, welcome back to the community.
Last edited by EricaAnn; 03-16-2006 at 02:04 AM.
patch as it is great..and you should really see a Dr....Basic puberty is 3 years
rushing that is not always agood thing..Not trying to throw a wrench into yer dreams,,but after 8 years in transition,,I have learned a few things
I do appreciate the sharing of the experiences and the knowledge of others who have traveled this path ahead of me. Especially eight years of experience! Thank you!
I do agree with you that going the slow but steady route toward feminization is the best method of achieving my goals. That's one of the many reasons I have elected not to take Dr. Kimmel up on his offer. Some of my other reasons is to give myself and others, like my spouse, time to adapt to the changes that I have already begun to experience.
So no, you haven't thrown a wrench into my dreams, but rather, confirmed what I was thinking all along. Thanks again!
Hey Gang,
This will be my last posting before my appointment with the good Dr. Kimmel on Friday morning (March 24th). Won't be around a computer until I get back.
The spouse and I are flying out tomorrow night and plan on doing some sight seeing on Thursday and then....it's Friday morning and the day I have awaited oh so many years. The transformation of a dream into reality!
I'll post up sometime over the weekend and let you know how everything went.
Wish me luck and be thinking about me on Friday morning, for by Friday afternoon, there will be one more eunuch in this world!
Good luck and Godspeed. Please keep us posted and take care of yourself.
TO: EricaAnnOriginally Posted by EricaAnn
You won't get this untill after your transformation into the new you. I'm very happy for you and wish the very best. Keep us posted.\
To everyone else that have posted here I want to give you a hearty thank you.!!! This forum has been very very helpful
I went to my first group session and it was very helpful. because of confidentiality I can't really share anything with you but it was wonderful to be able to share and hear others experiences with people like me (US).
Lindaleah
Last edited by krister; 03-24-2006 at 01:01 PM. Reason: Fix quote
Hi Gang,
Well I'm back from my trip to Philadelphia and my appointment with the good Dr. Kimmel.
Arrived in Philly late on Wednesday night, the flight was late in departing, but what's new with that. Got a good night's sleep, had breakfast and then spouse and I went out all day on Thursday and did some extensive sight seeing of all the historical places located within this fair city. One of the very first sights we went looking for that morning was Dr. Kimmel's office, just to make certain I knew exactly where it was for Friday morning. Found it without too much difficulty.
I prepared myself on Thursday night for the surgery by sitting down in a warm bath and my trusty triple headed razor. I found it much easier to sit in the tub so I could get a real good look at the shaving situation. I shaved myself from my butt hole forward all the way through the "tant" area. In the process, I found a mole I never knew I had. What do you know, considering I've been clean shaved throughout my genital area for several years.
I surprising slept very well on Thursday night, probably from all the walking on Thursday. Got up about 7:30 on Friday morning, showered and went down to the hotel's restaurant for a light breakfast as per the doctor's instructions. We were in the middle of eating when I was paged for a telephone call. My first thought was "who the hell could be calling me at this hotel". I picked up the call at a house phone in the lobby and much to my surprise, it was Dr. Kimmel.
He was calling to make certain we had arrived in town and insure I was having a light breakfast before the surgery. I told him I had and he informed that he was in his office and that I could come over any time between now and 9:30 AM. This was pretty frick'ng exciting!!! The wife and I finished our coffee and made our way one block north on 22nd Street to the corner of Pennsylvania Ave.
We entered the building and much to my surprise the entire interior of the building is undergoing remodeling. There was a temporary sign on the corridor wall directing you to Dr. Kimmel's office. Upon entering we were greeted by Mary, the doctor's receptionist. She apologized for all the construction and that the contractor was running behind. They should already have been in the new offices on the second floor. We then meet the good doctor and we introduced ourselves. He is a gentlemen in what I would say to be his late sixties. Very sharp and very lucid and very gentle in his mannerisms and bed style manner. We discussed the surgery one more time and he once again explained that this very permanent and not reversible. He explained the procedure in great detail. I gave Mary the cashier's check for the final $1250.00 and signed the consent form with my wife as my witness. We got up from his office and he asked my wife to wait out in the waiting area.
We entered a room about the typical size of any examine room I've every seen in any other doctor's office and it was equipped with the usual examination table, a portable surgical light, an instrument table and some type of an electrical surgical instrument. He instructed me to remove my pants and underwear which I placed on a chair in the corner of the room. He asked to bend over to expose my left butt cheek. He explained that he was going to give me a "good slap on my ass", that way I would not feel the sting of the needle as he gave my an injection of an antibiotics.
I then climbed up and laid back on the table and the doctor asked me to spread my legs. He proceeded to examine me and complemented me on my shaving thoroughness. He also informed me that what I thought was a mole was actually a wart, nothing to do with genital herpes, but more like the kind that one would get on their finger. He volunteered to remove it and did as well as a couple of other things. LOL!
He washed the entire area within a good 12" on my genitals with betadine to throughly sterilize the area He then injected me first in the scrotum area with a local anesthesia using a very fine needle and then injected me again on either side of my penis. We waited a few minutes while we placed a grounding pad on my left thigh. He explained that this was necessary for the electric scalpel. We talked about transgenderism and he was very sympathetic and understanding of people like me. He poked me a few times with a needle to insure everything was numb and he proceeded to make the incision in my scrotum. He slide the right one out first and and I felt a pretty good tug on the old cord as he pulled it tight and placed a clamp on it. He then begun using the electric scalpel to cut through the mucus membrane that envelops the testicle. That process produced kinda of a nasty burning oder. I even remarked "is that me smoking or you"?! He got a pretty good laugh out of that! He then explained that he was through the membrane and took his hand scalpel and cut through the cord, blood vessels and everything else that connected this wretched thing to me. He sutured the end of the cord, released the clamp and I felt what was left slide back up inside me. He then duplicated the procedure on the left one. THEY WERE FINALLY GONE!!!
He sutured me up using 6 stitches to close the incision. He waited a few minutes and just observed everything down there to make certain there were no problems. He placed a 4x4 gauze pad on the incision and asked me to hold it in place while he placed a larger pad over it and then slide a black colored athletic supporter over everything. The whole thing took about 40 minutes according to my wife. I got up off the table and redressed. I rejoined my wife and the doctor in his office and was presented my "goodie bag" by Mary. This plain white colored plastic bag contained a great quantity of 4x4 gauze pads, larger pads for me to place under me in bed, in case of drainage, a velum, stool softeners, pain killers and directions on how to care for the incision. He also gave a script for additional antibiotics to be filled at the local pharmacy.
We also discussed my HRT and offered me several options to consider. I'm going to think them over very carefully and agreed to call him in the next two week with my decision on which regimen to proceed with.
Spent the rest of the day and Friday night with my feet up and an ice bag on my genitals to relieve the normal swelling. The anesthesia wore off around 3:30 in the afternoon. I was really surprised that I didn't have any real pain or discomfort. Just a minor burning sensation in the area which the ice bag pretty much took care of.
Dr. Kimmel called me on Friday night to make certain I was doing okay. I assured him I was and he even asked me if it felt good to finally have them off. I told him I couldn't be more excited! He wished us a good flight home.
Got up this morning and felt pretty good. Once again, no real pain or discomfort. Changed my gaze pad, had breakfast and flew home, where up to the time of making this post, I've been lying back with my ice bag.
Had to get up as I was starting to get frost bite! LOL!
I'll keep you posted as to my progress, but so far, so good!
Thanks for your support!
Last edited by EricaAnn; 03-26-2006 at 07:03 AM.
Erica,
Congratulations! Thank you for your detailed description of your time with Dr. Kimmel. It's a scary thing to fly to another city and go to a stranger for surgery. Accounts like yours help others build up the courage.
Your experience mirrors mine. Dr. Kimmel has a great bedside manner.
Terri
Terri Briana, born July 15th, 2006, at 12:35am. 157 pounds. Healthy baby girl with a whole life ahead of her. "Transition or bust!"
Kimmel class of 2005
EricaAnn
Congratulations. Very glad all went well. My thoughts were with you Friday.
Would you mind sharing the different HRT options as I am probably going to start HRT very soon and can never get too much information. Thanks to all on this site I'm planning on going slow. Chemical castration first before the real thing. I was on small dose of self administered estrogen and progesterone for about a month and loved the effects but am now going the smart way with professionals.
Love to all
Lindaleah
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