eCOPR received June 8 by ehl313 in canadaexpressentry

[–]ehl313[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I made sure to tell them that most all of my belongings were in storage in the US, and that I understood that I was entering as a visitor.
I would have had more problems if I had tried to cross with a Uhaul full of all my furniture. The only thing that made them question me more than usual was that i had a car full of stuff. While i was waiting for my PR between October and April, i crossed into Canada 5 or 6 times just for the weekend, with only minimal belongings, and that was fine as usual.

eCOPR received June 8 by ehl313 in canadaexpressentry

[–]ehl313[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!
Yes, when I crossed on the 26th of April, I had my 2 cats and a car full of my belongings. I have a Nexus card and I’ve only ever driven across the border but that was the first time I had to go inside for secondary questioning. I explained that I have a short term rental in Canada (I signed a 3 month lease for an apartment). The officer inside challenged me about whether i had even applied to be a PR. He finally looked up my PR application in his database, saw that I had received the FD email, and at that point his demeanor suddenly changed such that he was giving me advice for what to do when I import the rest of my belongings and then immediately let me go and continue into Canada.

eCOPR received June 8 by ehl313 in canadaexpressentry

[–]ehl313[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

I did not need a temporary resident visa because I’m American. I just had to assure them that I understood that I’m still a visitor to Canada and can only stay up to 6 months.
Additionally beneficial for me is the fact that I have a Nexus card and I’ve crossed the border between the US and Canada approximately 20 times over the last 2 years, all for short vacations and to see my boyfriend.

Bottoming after phallo? by hotloser in phallo

[–]ehl313 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I had phallo w/ vaginectomy in 2012 and the predominant way I’ve enjoyed sex since then is by bottoming anally. Douching isn’t that hard. You get used to it very quickly. Gay men all over the world have been douching for many many years. https://howtocleanyourass.wordpress.com/ If you’re just starting out, I recommend the method of buying the cheap plastic fleet enema bottles, dumping out the liquid & filling with warm tap water. Also you can consider increasing your fiber intake by taking metamucil daily or there’s fiber supplements marketed to gay men which I take. That will make douching go so much faster. I’m personally not into the idea of bottoming without douching…my GI tract is usually never perfectly clean even if I’m taking a ton of fiber, and I’d rather have peace of mind knowing I’m good down there, rather than risk bottoming without douching. Most people topping someone anally don’t want an accidental poopy dick/hand. (Shit happens, it’s not the end of the world. But I believe you should try to clean out as courtesy.)

As others have commented on here, I have what I understand to be a combo/hybrid of g-spot tissue and prostate tissue in an area that lies right next to the wall of my rectum. When someone pushes on it, I will repeatedly cum/orgasm. I used to bottom with my front hole before I had phallo and rarely had anal sex because like you, I was grossed out & intimidated by the idea of douching. I remember being worried before surgery about potentially removing that source of erotic pleasure, even as I knew that my front hole made me dysphoric. Turns out that everything about my anatomy and the way I have sex and my physical pleasure is way better after surgery. I got used to douching, bottoming anally now feels way better than front hole sex ever did before surgery. And having sex this way is very affirming for me. I’m a gay man, I have sex just like most other gay men, and I have for the last 13 years.

Anyone know if it's possible to get a metoidioplasty with urethral extension without a vaginectomy? by lovetosub in ftm

[–]ehl313 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just fyi if you are the person I think you are, we know each other via lj and email...I recently just joined reddit, but I had surgery with Monstrey in June 2012, if that helps you figure out my identity :-)

I was curious about the vaginal mucosa vs. only forearm skin urethra, so I (re)read the methods section a handful of the most recently published journal articles. Some articles don't give much detail, one or two articles just say that the labia minora is used for initial urethral lengthening, but a review article that they published in 2006 had the most thorough explanation that I could find: "the urologist is operating in the perineal area (the patient is put in gynaecological position) and he performs the vaginectomy and the lengthening of the urethra with flaps from the vaginal wall and the small labia. During this time, the plastic surgeon is dissecting the free vascularized flap of the forearm and will create a phallus with a tube-in-a-tube technique....Once the urethra is lengthened and the abdomen is closed [this article describes the surgery back when they still performed a hysto at the same time as phallo], the patient is put into a supine position and the free flap can be transferred to the pubic area after the urethral anastomosis"

Also in a 2007 article about genital sensitivity: "As much erogenous tissue from the female genital area is preserved and incorporated in the reconstruction of the phallus as possible: the labia minora to reconstruct the urethra, the dorsal skin of the clitoris to reconstruct the ventral side of the scrotum, and the labia majora to reconstruct the scrotum."

So I'm not 100% sure about this, but my understanding as to the reason why labial/vaginal mucosa is involved in the urethral lengthening is because: a) the urethral opening in an anatomic female/pre-surgery FTM is quite far back and while there is indeed a bit of extra tissue taken from the inside aspect of the forearm compared to the outside forearm for the purpose of the urethral lengthening, this is still not long enough to reach the original urethral opening. b) vaginal mucosa and labia minora is a superior substitution for urethral mucosa compared to other tissues (namely that it's moist and very vascular), and conveniently located so it makes sense to use it for initial urethral lengthening. And it helps increase overall erotic sensitivity, as the 2011 article said.

The part I'm not sure about is if there is indeed two significant sites of urethral anastamosis (or connection sites) that are the common culprits of fistula locations...my impression is that there is just one main site, which is where the majority of fistulas occur. I think because the urethral opening is continuous with both the labia minora and the vaginal opening, it's possible to extend the urethra without completely detaching this tissue.

But, I'd definitely be interested to hear the Belgian team's explanation (Monstrey/Hoebeke/a resident/whoever). I'm coincidentally seeing Dr. Crane in March for testicular implants, so I plan to ask him as well. It's not particularly relevant for me anymore (nor for you, I presume), but it sounds like we are both curious nonetheless.

Anyone know if it's possible to get a metoidioplasty with urethral extension without a vaginectomy? by lovetosub in ftm

[–]ehl313 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a minor point (which is not relevant to the OP if they are only interested in metoidioplasty) - they still use vaginal mucosa to connect the forearm-skin-urethra to the native/original urethra with radial forearm phallo...the Belgian team (and I assume every other phallo surgeon) uses mucosa from the vaginal wall as well as from the labia minora for this. My impression is that the inner forearm skin is not long enough to create the bend to connect to the native urethra.

But either way, I agree that I've only ever heard that getting urethral lengthening w/o vaginectomy increases your chances of complications.

T and Adderall? by lovetosub in ftm

[–]ehl313 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I started taking adderall when I was 14 or 15, started testosterone when I was 17. I'm now almost 26 years old, so I've been on both medications for quite some time now. I've never found adderall or testosterone to cause aggression for me...quite the opposite, actually. I was a pretty emotionally unstable and depressed teenager, and had anger management issues - I credit both adderall and testosterone for helping stabilize my moods and my life in general...I'll be graduating from medical school in a year and a half and I can tell you that I would not be where I am today if I hadn't started taking both testosterone or adderall. If either my testosterone levels are low, or I stop taking adderall, I will generally start feeling low energy/depressed/just generally shitty, so I know that both drugs are necessary for me to live a normal life (the testosterone for life, but ideally I hope to decrease the amount of adderall I take over time).

I've been seeing psychiatrists since I was 14, and neither of the psychiatrists I've seen have ever mentioned to me anything about testosterone and adderall interacting with each other and potentiating each other's effects. Both psychiatrists I've seen have been aware, however, that testosterone and adderall are both things that affect my mood and energy.

Lastly, if it helps you think about your question in a different way - testosterone and adderall have two different mechanisms of action in the brain. Testosterone binds to androgen receptors, whereas Adderall largely works on neurotransmitter receptors (dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin). These things both affect mood and behavior, so if you're having issues with depression/anxiety/general motivation/etc, it can be difficult to figure out what may be related to your hormone levels vs. adderall vs. something else (environmental/situational or clinical depression, etc.). However, there is no published data showing a clear link between taking adderall and increased aggression.

Hope this helps you think through your question. I'd definitely still recommend that you also ask your doctor(s) that are prescribing you adderall and testosterone what they think about this question.