Prior to seeing the Consultant Endocrinologist and commencing the Hormone treatment, I am required to work through a sizeable chunk of medical protocol. The GP in Busselton seems to be across the detail and is making progress on my behalf, but it is going to be a complex process.
A fairly major component of the procedure appears to be a “Sign Off ” on the proposed Hormone treatment, and subsequent procedures by a Psychiatrist who has undertaken a suitably rigorous assessment of me.
With this goal in mind, today I had my first session with a suitably experienced Psychiatrist and hopefully kickstarted this assessment process.
The weather was a very warm 34 degrees according to the dashboard of the Indian. A pleasant day for a ride to the medical centre in a Perth Suburb, but I was more than a little nervous and not fully relaxed, so perhaps didn’t enjoy the ride as much as I should have. If I am completely honest I resented being compelled to further expose a history I am working hard to move on from. However if it is a box that needs ticking, I need to shut up and look happy.
I was somewhat frustrated by the one hour delay in starting the appointment, I had to juggle a couple of afternoon meetings from my work phone to accommodate the delay, but even though this was frustrating, I was beginning to embrace the idea that this was another step in the right direction, and a positive event.
The Dr. had a manner that put me at ease, and she appeared to be very easy to get along with. After delivering a brief overview of her approach and methodologies, we got straight down to business. I walked the Dr. through my history and she posed a couple of interesting questions along the way.
During the conversation the Dr. exhibited a noticeable degree of scrutiny on my experience of Puberty, and the lovely Dr. seemed to want to come back to discussing this on a couple of occasions. Puberty was along time ago, however I tried my best to give her a general flavour of my experience and state of mind at the time. We also talked about my failed attempts to suppress my Feminine aspirations, and touched on how closely my family was integrated into this aspect of my life.
The session concluded swiftly and with the request that Jane joins me at the next appointment, and that I “present” as Suzanne. This presents me with a huge problem. After last weekend I really don’t think getting out of the house is the problem anymore. The big challenge is, what does one wear to make a good impression on ones Psychiatrist. I’m not sure shoulder pads and power dressing would cut it with this lady. I think I feel a shopping trip coming on….
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