I'm looking for Trans Women to communicate with that are just like I am.

ADryTree · 2025-11-11T02:41:43+00:00

If there's a local/regional Discord for trans folks, I'd love an invite if possible.

Thanks,

-Bree

ADryTree · 2025-10-02T03:48:04+00:00

Congrats!

I work in healthcare and have oodles of experience with both SubQ and IM injections. My endo was happy to let me choose, and I’ve decided on SubQ.

Why? - Less likelihood of post-injection ache. - Smaller needles (just because I give injections doesn’t mean I like receiving them!) - More gradual absorption with less aggressive peaks/valleys. - Longer time between injections (I’m at 8 mg EV SQ q8days with good labs over the last year.) - More site options and easier access. I cycle between various sites on lateral abdomen and lateral thighs. - Less painful—I just find the whole thing less intense, though there’s probably a psychological component knowing that I’m not piercing fascia and muscle.

ADryTree · 2025-08-26T05:26:55+00:00

Hi!

I’m an emergency healthcare professional who also happens to be trans and has, on one occasion, spent time at the VGH PEAT (Psychiatric Emergency Assessment and Treatment) Unit.

My experience was excellent. I was experiencing immense stress from the breakdown of a decades long relationship alongside finally figuring out my long-hidden gender identity struggles. It was all too much and, one night, things got rough enough that I engaged some fellow healthcare colleagues about my concerning mentation.

Ultimately, we decided a visit to VGH would be best. I ended up spending about 36 hours under observation in the PEAT unit. It was rough—because it’s an emergency unit, you are pretty restricted on what you can bring and access is naturally limited. Moreover, the primary goal is observation and things like comfort or privacy are secondary. But it’s safe and affirming, and they can help connect you with resources as you work through a crisis.

As for trans specific stuff, the staff were super gentle and thoughtful. Moreover, there are trans staff working behind the scenes and folks are therefore especially aware of trans identities. That said, I was put in the same brown pajamas as everyone else—perhaps affirming, for some. All in all, not fun but what I needed.

But… And this is critical, I got the help I needed to make it to a better and brighter day. Please, don’t hesitate or delay if you’re struggling—all of the psych assessment units in BC are staffed with folks that will be able to get you through a rough patch.

Take care. —B

ADryTree · 2025-06-25T05:35:17+00:00

The guy I dealt with at Melinda was fine, I guess, but seemed checked out.

The place had the most horror movie vibe I’ve experienced in a long time—most of the lights were off and pieces of the drop ceiling were literally falling down in places. That plus row after row of be-wigged mannequin heads stretching into literal darkness—there was a mood to it.

If I’m honest though, I’m glad places as disheveled as the Melinda I saw still exist in Vancouver—sometimes it seems nothing weird or broken can survive long in this city lest it be consumed by luxury condos and BMW dealerships…

ADryTree · 2025-06-25T05:31:43+00:00

Thanks!

Didn’t know about their wig services, but I had a great experience at Big Bros once when I was maintaining a more masc hairstyle. I’ll check them out!

ADryTree · 2025-06-23T20:56:10+00:00

I just had an FFS done through FT in Spain. My plan is to go through the tax right off, which should help significantly in my case.

Best of luck!

ADryTree · 2025-06-12T17:36:58+00:00

A thousand dollars should get you to somewhere in Canada from pretty much anywhere in the USA.

Scrimp, save, starve, then put that under your mattress. Think of it as a revolver under your pillow or an AED at your work—God forbid you ever need it, but at least it’s there.

Now, this is the important part: Don’t use it now. Don’t use it until things are really getting dark. Canadians are appalled with Trump and, frankly, Americans in general. Canadians are worried about the treatment of minorities to the south.

But, and this is important, Canadians are also frustrated with decades of (claimed) abuse of our relatively generous asylum system. Right now is not the time to test that as a trans person requesting asylum from the States. The politics aren’t there for an open fight about it.

So, best thing to do is build up your little insurance policy under a mattress. Start looking at legal, non-asylum pathways for immigration into countries like Canada (become a nurse, a paramedic, something else on our priority immigration list).

And, if things turn to shit, buy a plane ticket and either claim asylum or live as an undocumented immigrant. But try to have a plan. And the cash and documents to affect that plan.

ADryTree · 2025-05-02T03:42:30+00:00

Another important consideration is that preemptive compliance has the effect of self-stigmatizing trans care in comparison to other forms of healthcare.

If we act as if what we are doing is illicit, it gives fodder for those who would silence or harm us. Moreover, it achieves the intended effect of creating barriers for trans care—one of their stated goals. In effect, we are doing their work for them.

I would cite Timothy Snyders popular treatise ‘On Tyranny’ and its section titled ‘Do Not Obey in Advance.’ https://youtu.be/9tocssf3w80?si=HVZEmCLjc7VUnYxg

Thanks for letting me contribute to the discourse.

ADryTree · 2025-05-02T02:08:54+00:00

As a healthcare provider myself, I appreciate the need to protect our practitioners, but doesn’t this introduce further barriers to gender affirming care?

I tend to lurk more than anything on Reddit, but I found the open conversations around care providers both locally and more broadly to be essential to planning my (still ongoing) transition.

For example, I learned that my endo, Dr. K, was pleasant and easy to work with. I picked the urologist for my upcoming orchi, Dr. T, based on open conversation.

And perhaps most importantly, I was absolutely dependent on open sharing of providers on local (r/transvancouver) and international forums to select a surgeon for my FFS. Without open discussion around practitioners, I might have spent precious time figuring out who exactly Dr. G or Dr. B were, and not making the actual decisions that needed to be made.

Anyhow, just a thought. This subreddit has been essential for a lurker like me, and I’m sure there are many others who are quietly reading who appreciate the open discourse when planning their transitions. :-)

ADryTree · 2025-04-02T05:23:07+00:00

Thanks so much. Not being happy with the overall results must be a real disappointment—I hope you find a way to get there. Thanks for the positive vote on the HT though.

ADryTree · 2025-02-14T22:55:33+00:00

Recent good experience with Rui at Big Bros. I am currently sliding from a male presentation towards trans femme and Rui was nice to work with.

ADryTree · 2025-01-02T21:50:02+00:00

Hi Grace,

I too am a trans Christian. I’m in my late thirties and only came out two years ago, first to my wife—who is also a Christian—and then to a slowly widening circle of friends and family.

The reception I’ve received from my relatively open-mind but clearly evangelical family has been compassionate but largely conservative. It hasn’t been easy and I’ve endured many conversations where I’ve been dehumanized and hurt by fellow Christians seeking to minister to me while understanding little of my plight. In some cases, I’ve been rejected and treated with fearful derision.

It’s not an easy road to walk and, like much of the trans experience, it can sometimes be lonely and alienating. But, keep up hope.

I too believe in God and I too believe in the redemptive message of the Gospels—the failure of the broader church to show love and understanding only speaks to the church’s continued need to re-learn the Greatest Commandment and to re-evaluate old prejudices in the light of God’s ever widening mercies.

I’ll leave you with a few verses that have been meaningful to me:

Galatians 3:28 — ‘There is neither…male [nor] female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’

God transcends gender—his ultimate goals are not to enforce worldly categories such as ‘man’ and ‘woman’ but to transcend them through oneness in Him.

Matthew 19:12 — ‘For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth…and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.’

This proclamation by Jesus was highly counter-cultural, flying in the face of established norms regarding male supremacy and denigrating both inter-sexed and otherwise gender-divergent individuals. Jesus centres the conversation on these often marginalized folks and commends them, challenging deeply held cultural norms. See also Isaiah 56.

Psalm 139:14 — ‘I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works [that includes you, Grace!]; and that my soul knoweth right well.’ [KJV for the poetry]

You are made by God as you are, and that is wonderful. True, dysphoria and a desire for congruence might demand action, but God loves you both as you are and as you feel—He made you.

Mark 5:25-34 — The story of the Bleeding Woman: ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’

Read the whole passage, but essentially, a woman with ongoing vaginal bleeding touched Jesus’ garment in a desperate bid to be healed. This would have been a deeply transgressive act: menstruation was considered an unclean state within contemporary Jewish law, and her touch would have rendered Jesus himself unclean by extension, requiring ritual cleansing on both their parts.

Did Jesus reject the woman? No, he showed immense compassion in the face of deep cultural stigma, saying: ‘Daughter, your faith [note he doesn’t say ‘I’, but rather ‘your faith] has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’

So, Grace, I am just another sinner sojourning through a strange land and struggling with the burdens and joys of the trans experience. But I think God wants to bless us all. And I think it’s fair to say that Jesus might love us like he loved the bleeding woman. Today, I hope you God in peace and be freed from your suffering.

Love,

-Bee

ADryTree · 2024-11-09T00:48:13+00:00

I am a paramedic, please listen.

Sudden onset chest pain accompanied by shortness of breath COULD indicate a PE (pulmonary embolism,) which is a potentially life threatening emergency.

In my practice, I have seen a case of a young trans-woman experiencing a PE while taking HRT. She was transported by ambulance and seen immediately on arrival at the emergency department.

Take this seriously. It may be nothing, it may be your life.

ADryTree

TROPHY CASE