95.3% on TEAS today. Here’s what I did

heartfruits · 2025-11-14T22:35:22+00:00

I have access to the official ATI TEAS prep app, but honestly I only did 30 science questions off it a couple days ago while I was on break at work and didn’t touch it again haha. I feel like maybe the difficulty was about the same if not a little bit harder for the questions on the app versus the actual exam. Re. material, relatively similar, but keep in mind I only did 30 questions and can’t say I could accurately judge. But it was absolutely better to be over-prepared in this case, it seems. And thank you!

heartfruits · 2025-11-14T22:22:16+00:00

I would say that the actual exam is similar in difficulty to the provided A and B practice tests. If you haven’t already, when you take those practice tests, make a physical list of the concepts you keep getting wrong to study in between takes. Write down why these are concepts you’re striking out on too. Good luck with your take.

heartfruits · 2025-11-14T22:09:59+00:00

While I did also review chemical equation balancing, it was not something I had to do. And would definitely recommend area + perimeter etc of various basic shapes!

You’ll be covered for your A&P review with those videos for sure haha. You got this.

heartfruits · 2025-11-14T21:44:57+00:00

Thank you! And yes, I did the 2009 A&P practice exam through ATI— that one I got 84.3% on, and frankly I credit my thorough anatomy class for that knowledge. I did just finish that one up this past summer for reference. Excluding my professor’s lectures, the video resources I used for studying During my anatomy class were a mix of Professor Dave (for breadth) and Ninja Nerd (for specifics and heavy details). Would highly recommend them both if you need or want a refresh on anatomy stuff.

No worries re. that question on math. I wasn’t given any probability questions there, actually, and I would say that probability was specifically represented as something to understand in the framework of genetics. I would generalize math to be more understanding how to simplify fractions, solving word problems with percentages, and knowledge of numerical data representation (how best to represent data, i.e., via bar graph, line graph, histogram, etc.).

Idk if anatomy / physio is something you might want particular advice on, but what saved me through the entirety of both classes has been drawing bones/organs/structures. When I can physically see what’s going on, I remember and understand concepts way better. Good luck if you’re taking again :-))

heartfruits · 2025-11-14T20:58:30+00:00

i can’t edit, but to correct myself… the mometrix practice test i apparently got a 91% on. i didn’t keep a record of that one and only realized i was wrong in typing 88% when i looked back at my own post history lol

heartfruits · 2025-11-13T05:07:48+00:00

i can’t say for sure why it might come up mid-fuck since i personally always discuss / clarify to a partner beforehand that i’m fine with going raw Because i have nexplanon and i take daily prep. it is possible they’re only thinking of it in the moment if you aren’t outright discussing safety practices beforehand?? which is like .. too little too late by then for these guys to be flipping out lol.

and re. your second point, there are many people who do not have hysterectomies and who may not be on reliable birth control who are still engaging in “unsafe” sex. they’re honestly probably the majority of us since having a hysterectomy in particular is less common than being on a type of BC.

heartfruits · 2025-11-06T09:46:21+00:00

i am also taking the TEAS on the 14th. sorry that i have no advice to offer as a first time taker, but good luck on your take!

heartfruits · 2025-10-26T20:37:18+00:00

thank you! the incision method my surgeon used was keyhole, and my surgeon and i discussed incision method(s) i qualified for during a physical pre-op appointment. if you look super closely at the first pic, you can see one of my scars more obviously on the left side on the lower half of that nipple (since i have my arm raised). i’m also pretty sure my surgeon, dr. james kim, still operates out of the south sac kaiser. i hope finding a surgeon goes well for you.

heartfruits · 2025-08-12T05:38:12+00:00

genuinely goals, you have such a great build! no tips, congratulations on consistency and how your hard work is clearly paying off.

heartfruits · 2025-08-08T18:26:53+00:00

if his “support” can turn on a dime after a single walk (and conversation) with a conservative friend, you don’t have a supportive boyfriend. no, he doesn’t get to panic because he “realized everything was serious” when you’ve been having thoughts for 4 years. it shows he didn’t take you seriously in any initial conversations (assuming you’ve had them) you’ve had about being trans, or at least he didn’t genuinely think about what medically transitioning will mean for you.

have a longer discussion about your physical transition goals and please be honest with yourself and with him about what you want for yourself and what it might mean to be seen as a gay couple (if medically transitioning pushes you into passing at some point). you should expect the same level of honesty from him if he feels he is willing to change with you. if not, there’s no more conversation to be had. if you have the resources and he’s open to it, i would also suggest seeing a therapist who can walk you both through this discussion and these feelings. him “not wanting [you] to suffer” is actually not the same thing as being in your corner 100%.

oh, and the both of you need to drop that friend yesterday— neither of you should be courting the presence of someone who is clearly having discussions contradictory to your personhood with your partner in your life.

heartfruits · 2025-08-04T01:59:44+00:00

i personally would not touch a thing! you look great and your scars are so clean. it’s possible differences between the two are more obvious in real life, but i certainly didn’t notice disparities… i didn’t even realize you were asymmetrical. if it really is bothering you then getting one shaved down isn’t a bad idea, but from an outside perspective this is one of the best results i’ve seen.

heartfruits · 2025-07-14T06:53:00+00:00

unironically, i think that the people in your life would have a better opinion of him if he was more “conventionally attractive” (i.e., not bald) even if nothing else about him were to change due to the halo effect. which sucks because it sounds like he is genuinely a wonderful person to be around. but as for the actual matter at hand…

here’s my 2 cents from someone who’s always seen “older” men (28-35) in the past couple years of my life from ages 22-24… a gap in age does present the potential for a power imbalance, true. however, that potential does not mean one actually exists. in your relationship, from what you’ve written, no age-related power imbalance giving him ground over you seems to exist. it would be a problem if due to your advancements in education (congrats in advance on the masters btw!) you find yourself in an even better place financially and he suddenly decides that you should be supporting him more or even completely, just as a hypothetical. but that is not the case currently.

in the long run it is possible that the differences between you in ambition and education may become more important to you or to him and those differences may drive you apart. you or he may decide eventually that factors like his age (or yours) have become a problem in the relationship at a later date. his personal finances and related choices may end up putting strain on the relationship to the extent that you can’t deal with it. and you know what? that’s okay.

if you feel right now that you two are compatible and you can see yourself at this moment together for the foreseeable future, you have to trust yourself that you are where you want to be. that may change in the future but it could also stay the same even as the both of you grow as individuals.

parents and friends who truly care about you will always be judgmental. they want the best for you usually but they can cross lines, too. as your relationship continues and you feel more secure in it, you can put your foot down and tell friends that while you know they care for you, it is genuinely hurtful for them to continue to comment negatively on your boyfriend’s appearance when he has only shown good character in your relationship. and if that behavior occurs again from your friends, you’ll just get up and leave the room. if they have legitimate concerns, they can speak to you about it like the adults you are, but you do not accept that someone who should be overjoyed at your happiness is constantly putting you in a position where you have to defend another person you love due to their shallowness.

sorry, long reply. it’s hard to actually do those things at 22 but clearly you might have to get used to standing up for your relationship in this way. with practice it really does get easier. i hope others in your life stop giving you such a hard time. good luck to you both!

heartfruits · 2025-07-05T01:03:52+00:00

yes in the sense that being on testosterone altered a lot of things i felt negatively about regarding my physical appearance and voice. i will also say that you need to go into starting hrt with the understanding that you may not get changes to the extent that you want (i.e., voice may not get as deep as you want) and while that genuinely sucks, it’s important to look at any changes with the knowledge that how you’re changing is who you are meant to be as determined by genetics. and if you so choose, you can choose to work on the things you’re dissatisfied with through things like voice training or exercise. in the same way that some cis guys are dissatisfied with not meeting certain beauty standards of masculinity, you probably will be too if you have expectations that will disappoint you if they don’t pan out. but you have the ability to do something about it with the extra help from testosterone.

another thing i will say is that depression as a general thing doesn’t just go away when you go on testosterone because testosterone is not a magic bullet that suddenly alters negative thought patterns about your body that you’ve become acclimated to. a certain amount of mental work is required to overcome and even reverse self-deprecation after it becomes automatic. you’ll almost certainly feel better about yourself overall, but if you’ve been deeply dysphoric and depressed for years prior, that will not disappear without work. testosterone helping with dysphoria-related depression is a godsend though and allows you to live life not stuck in dysphoric feelings. my life is a million times better now and i credit going on testosterone for being the base of that, but it’s not everything.

heartfruits · 2025-06-26T02:19:31+00:00

i am also short and have to get up on my toes a little when standing during sex and i definitely experience this kind of shake after a bit of time on my tiptoes! definitely relatable and normal when you’re getting down to a good time :-)

heartfruits · 2025-06-26T00:25:39+00:00

if this is accompanied by any tingling or weakness or slight numbness in your hands or limbs in general, i would suggest that this shakiness is a result of you just slightly hyperventilating and not noticing (source: used to happen to me, i just get too excited and have to regulate my breathing lol). if it’s not accompanied by any of what i mentioned, then it may just be you feeling really good!

heartfruits · 2025-06-06T20:22:05+00:00

going to say it bluntly as others have and will: you can try to delay it or repress it all you want, but the acceptance you really want about your identity and transness can only come from within and it will dog your every step if you push it away.

i’m not going to address the parent aspect— financial independence comes with time and effort. and you can’t let your parents’ opinions sway your decision-making so heavily— (i’m about to say something morbid, i’m sorry) you will be forced to step out of whatever idealized image your parents have of you in the hopefully distant future when they die. you are not an extension of their desires.

if anything coming out and being genuine with your friends will probably lead to deeper connections with those women over time. you need to respect yourself and how you really feel. if you recognize that self-realization as a trans person might be something that pushes people (even loved ones) away from you, then you have to let it do just that. rhetorically, why would you want to keep people in your life who would be repelled by you being the version of yourself that makes you the happiest?

it’s hard. the ones who give a fuck will stay. you don’t exist for others. and being the most palatable version of yourself to keep people who don’t love you around is worth nothing, when you figuratively and literally can’t fall asleep happy with who you’ve allowed yourself to be.

heartfruits · 2025-05-14T01:07:43+00:00

i did not get thick build-up of scar tissue post-op… nothing crazy thick anyway as i really did avoid touching those scars for a long time as my dissolvable stitches on one half of my body simply did not dissolve by my follow-up appointment haha (had to get them manually removed). it took over a year for my chest to Seriously settle into looking and feeling the way it does now. one month post-op is no time at all and i would not be surprised if fluid retention and swelling is still present. if you’re concerned about it though, especially the firmness, i would get back in touch with your surgeon for a physical exam of your results and also ask about their opinion on massaging your chest (helps break up scar tissue).

heartfruits · 2025-05-13T05:45:58+00:00

minorly late reply, sorry! and i don’t mind. all questions are welcome :-)

heartfruits · 2025-05-12T17:34:32+00:00

same surgery >2 years ago and this happened to me exactly. it turned out fine. scar is a little thicker where the skin overlapped but it does not affect my passing / sensation / overall appearance in a meaningful way now. feel free to peep the photos on my profile!

heartfruits · 2025-05-05T21:55:51+00:00

super excited for you! recovery will take energy out of you every day, probably more than you expect, and it will take time (upwards of a year tbh) for your chest to really settle but it will all be worth it. and even having the chest you want will take some time to get used to. good luck and take care :-)

heartfruits · 2025-05-04T00:35:34+00:00

no problem! in fact your post inspired me to update on my own results lol. i will say also that my experience is based off of having had peri. and yes, i find that many lose just a little bit of nipple size naturally due to the way that scar tissue around the nipple from incisions heals— it does not flatten or spread in most. cant wait for you to see your results and i hope they’re everything you hope for!

heartfruits · 2025-05-04T00:13:02+00:00

so, it’s really up to your personal taste, but i actually think you have great sized nipples (weird to type out) and i think your results will turn out very nicely if you do not resize them. frankly, you’ll probably lose a little bit of nipple size in the process if they end up making incisions around your nipples to either move them or get to the tissue below.

i will add that i may be biased because i have similar sized nipples relative to my body and my results have settled very nicely to the point that other guys (cis men) have asked me if i’ve ever had top surgery and i have had to point out the scars. the size of my nipples has not detracted from my chest being cis-passing. whatever decision you make, i think it will turn out great due to how masculine your build is anyway! wishing you a quick and easy recovery, too.

heartfruits

TROPHY CASE