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Orchid's Intersex Expedition

We finished a bit of Mo Yan's bibliography and I think it's time we moved on to serious lit again, our friends keep raving about John Brandon so we're going to pick up his book Citrus Country next. We're taking our trip to Portland early in September, we'll pick up our Lumacaftor/Ivacaftor from them before we leave. I'm so goddamn excited it hurts.

In awesome news: Oregon reached a great decision, the state healthcare has to cover a variety of transcare - including many forms of SRS and vocal therapy. It's a step on our journey to gain civil recognition and respect.
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
That's fantastic to hear about Oregon! I just hate when people say TG/IS medications and surgeries are cosmetic. It's not a choice, why would anyone choose to be so miserable in their biological body? Gender variant people have existed since the dawn of womankind and it's about time the medical community stop pathologizing and making it hard for people to live healthy and productive lives! I don't know why I'm ranting here but I know I'll get agreement and I'm sick of making this argument to so many cis people who just can't or won't grasp it.
 
I think if my state started to cover trans surgeries that would really quite possibly be one of the best things ever.

Although ousting our transphobic Secretary of State and allowing us to change gender markers on our drivers' licenses without needing SRS would be nice too.
 
Orchid, thanks for sharing your story. :)

As a cis-female who has some experience with grooming, bras, and knitting, I have a few tips for you.

1. Laser hair removal works best on people with light skin and dark hair. The way it works is that the laser is tuned to zap melanin, the dark pigment in hair/skin. The more melanin in the hair shafts, the more the hair gets zapped. The more melanin in the skin, the more the skin gets zapped (ouch!). It sounds like you not only don't have much melanin in your hair, but you also have a low contrast between your hair and skin. In other words -- it would be major pain, minor gain if you even tried it. So don't worry about not being able to afford it -- it wouldn't be appropriate for you anyway.

2. If your sports bra chafes, it's the wrong size/cut for you. See if you can find a proper lingerie store that does fittings. (Check online to see if there are any that have reviews indicating if they're trans-friendly, and/or go with a friend or family member who has gone for many bra fittings herself and can make sure that it's tight in the right spots and looser in the right spots).

3. Definitely do take up knitting/crocheting! I find it stress-busting and a great way to fidget in a socially acceptable manner, especially in hospital waiting rooms. . .. Knitting groups also provide welcoming communities where it's fine to talk if you want to talk or just sit and listen if you feel like doing that. Many are explicitly LGBTQ-friendly. Also check out ravelry.com -- the biggest online knitting/crocheting site -- it's free to join and there are tons of groups for any experience level, interest, location, etc., many of which are only marginally related to knitting, including groups devoted to finding the perfect bra (I'm not kidding at all).

Hope that all the hormones don't give you too much PMS!

Good luck! :)
 
Oh god my emotions have become a raging storm I barely know how to control and I am super glad I have a wonderful fiancee whose extremely supportive of my emotional needs/wants to play drunk Borderlands, eat pizza and thinks thats a Good Day. She's the bestest woman ever :3
 
FUCK YEAH WE'RE GONNA EAT CAKE AND DRINK LIGHTNING

I am officially a year older and not a moment wiser. R is obviously planning something because she's grinning more than usual, which is pretty hard for her. I'm not really sure if I should be excited or afraid. :p In non-birthday news, I just got a new tarot deck for my collection, the Wildwood Tarot. A lot of my tarots are explicitly very modern imagery and I feel I'm lacking a bit in my classical influences. It's a wonderful collection of pagan influences and I really dig it.
 
I collect tarot decks, I have a complicated relationship with the tarot's actual use. I don't think there's any divine or supernatural breath in it, it's the shuffling of cards and a bit of luck/intuition. There's nothing spiritual about it to me. However I very much like using them as a means to approach problems from alternative perspectives - they force you to think of things a new way.

On a more aesthetic level I like seeing the evolution of the ideas within. It's come from being a deck for card games (and still is in Europe to a large degree) by and for Italian noblemen to attaining this sort of mystical status in North America. The way people reimagine these ideas through different lenses fascinates me.
 
Ah. I'm kind of a skeptic on tarot as well, much like horoscopes or fortune cookies, but that doesn't mean they aren't all a little bit fun to think about. Maybe you could do one for me sometime, if you're up for it? Heaven knows I've got plenty of complicated situations I could use a new perspective on.

And I also agree that the interpretations of the different cards and such is very interesting. The particular example coming to mind being Death and how it's very different from what most would expect from the name alone.
 
sickofcrohns, thanks for the advice. I was a total ditz and forgot to be thank you. Sorry! :p I don't plan to get laser treatment even though my marriage has opened up a lot of doors with the extra money because I'm getting my testicles removed soon - that'll stunt the growth of facial hair, well what little I have now anyway. And I wasn't used to wearing a bra at that point honestly, now it's comfortable enough to wear that I don't mind. I'm waiting a while yet before I get an actual set of bras because the women in my family usually have large chests for their frames and my growth breast growth has been pretty aggressive, so at this point I'd just outgrow whatever I bought. And I do knit a lot with fiancee now, it helps with my clumsiness and it's an excellent shared activity when she's too sick to get out of bed. I'm knitting one of Tom Baker's oversized scarves because I'm a big nerd. :3

This will be my first Halloween presenting as a girl and I'm super duper excited! I'm going to be Red from Transistor since I have the frame to pull it off - and even red hair! I might post pictures if I get up the courage, the costume I'm working on is going to be the shortest cut dress/skirt I've ever worn so that makes me super duper nervous. One of my friends has been seriously trying to drag me into the world of cosplay and honestly it's hard to resist - I love making things and I think I could enjoy wearing them, I guess how Halloween goes will be the real test.

R's just started taking her possibly Lumacaftor/Ivacaftor (for future reference I'm going to call them Luma and Iva) possibly sugar pills and it's wayyy too early to tell but I swear she's coughing less and that excites me quite a bit. I'd be amazing if she didn't get placebo. She's already one of the brightest, most energetic women I've ever met and the idea of her having all the energy she's using up hacking herself to death everyday or battling severe respiratory infections (and giving them to me) could lead to so much for her, for us, for her career, not mention extend her projected lifespan by decades. Hell, there's so many little things too, sleeping through the night consistently, all the inhalers and pill bottles off the nightstand so we don't have to worry about Lithium knocking them over, or not having a random ten minute hacking fit when we snuggle.

Gonna miss her skin tasting like salt though, maybe she can get it in lipstick. :p
 
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dave13

Forum Monitor
Location
Maine
Wow,Orchid.Can't help flinching a bit reading about removing the teticles.I hope each step is a step closer to your happiness and who you really are.Forgive me if I say something a bit clumsy at times.

Placebo or not,hopefully R will continue to benefit.You write so affectionately about her,your love for her comes through in your posts.It brings a smile to my face.

A Tom Baker scarf is big enough for two to wear on cold nights:wink:,good luck with the knitting.I like knitting mittens and hats,they are fairly quick.I tried a sweater once and it was just taking s,o,o,o long to finish.I unraveled the whole thing about a third of the way through.Will you be Red with a Dr. Who scarf?

You have some time to get your costume right for Halloween.It is exciting this will be your first Halloween presenting yourself as a girl.Kinda ironic,Halloween is full of people going out as something they are not.Under your costume will be the young woman that you really are.Hope that came out o.k.,sounded good in my head.

Thanks for being so open on this thread.Perhaps a crohnie who is lurking in the weeds,too shy to open up,will read your thread and it will give them some courage.Crohnies helping crohnies.

Good luck to you and R!
 
PS: Sorry for party flocking.

PPS: I don't do this often enough but I seriously need to thank TheOcean for encouraging me to say the two hardest words I've ever uttered.

"I'm sorry."

None of this would be happening without her making me to do the right thing. I'd never have told R how sorry I was about how our relationship ended and we wouldn't have tried to pick things up again. Seriously, thanks girl.
 
Almond milk is p dope. Esp. with a little vodka.

Also thanks dave13, you're a sweetiepie. You are vastly more polite than most people your age who somehow instantly jump to something weird like what's between my legs. R and my doctors are pretty much the only people who have any goddamn business caring. And no, I won't wear that scarf with my Halloween outfit but sharing a scarf sounds cute. Probably wouldn't work very well given our height differences though, I'm 5' 11" and she's 5' 3". :p I was rather fond of the metaphor's general idea, I think I'll steal it! :p
 
I am now almost sure she got the real thing, she had an entire day where she hasn't needed one of her inhalers and barely coughed, she even smells less salty now. Even on her best days in the past she'd need her inhaler once or twice a day and have at least a few coughing fits. Her raw energy for life is great to be part of, she's going to be an amazing architect. :3

I'm thinking of going back to college myself and doing something a bit more chemistry focused this time. Azide chemistry is fascinating to me now and Rose is strongly encouraging me to do it. Mad science, ho!
 

dave13

Forum Monitor
Location
Maine
An architect and a mad scientist...h,m,m,m...could be trouble brewing. :smile:

Very happy Rose is doing better.Seeing our loved ones heal is a wonderful thing.

I meant to thank you for the sweetie pie comment,but people my age can be so forgetful..I think..I can't remember. :)
 
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