It was AWESOME!
I got to meet people I have been talking to online for years! I also got to catch up with some friends and acquantances.
The workshops I attended were awesome. I am proud of the turn out for the workshops I did.
I officially am planning to do a lower surgery show and tell next year and plan to start drumming up guys willing to participate from NOW. I plan to be able to have something to "SHOW" by then. ( I will talk about that in another blog).
I realized how much I impact peoples lives. I met several guys for the first time who I have helped via the net. One guy got emotional which made me get emotional but I held back my need to get teary eyed due to there being over 1000 random people walking around (and probably because T makes it almost impossible for me to cry anyway!)
I am excited that the "To Be stealth or not to be stealth" workshop had a HUGE turn out. By huge I mean over 94 people were in ONE ROOM! It was crazy and beautiful at the same time.
The "Finding affordable ways to transition" workshop also had a good turnout despite being put at 8:30AM.
I left feeling like it was the best PTHC I have ever been too. This weekend did give me a sense of "community" and I think that had to do with the people that were there.
Showing posts with label conferences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conferences. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Empire Conference May 22nd, 2010- Day 3
Day 3 was far better. Some guys showed up and we did have a good conversation during the "Ftm Sexuality" discussion. It was really interesting how things worked out. Though the workshop only had about 6 men of trans experience I feel the discussion was awesome and enlightening.
I have been networking and meeting new people. To be honest when I first got to the conference it reminded me a lot of SCC. Some of the reasons why were:
1) Predominantly organized and attended by (Self Identified)Crossdressers
2) Held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Scc is held at the Crown Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta and this conference was held at the Crowne Plaza Albany).
3)People shocked to meet a transitioned man
I will say that though there were NO other POC and very few men I felt more comfortable getting to know the caucasian Crossdressers. Everyone I spoke to was nice, friendly and respectful. While at SCC the past 2 years I went there was definitely a lot of "separation".
I feel that this conference gave me the opportunity to be in a trans/gender variant space and be a provider. I only disclosed to the transmen in the workshop about FTM sexuality and everyone else knew nothing of my trans history. Though there was opportunity for me to disclose to different individuals in the context of conversations that it would be relevant I still found myself feel fine not disclosing. I felt like it would be weird not to disclose because I have been tyring to find a way how to balance my "stealthness" and being an activist. I feel like this gave me the opportunity to practice that balance and I feel I was successful.
I have been networking and meeting new people. To be honest when I first got to the conference it reminded me a lot of SCC. Some of the reasons why were:
1) Predominantly organized and attended by (Self Identified)Crossdressers
2) Held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Scc is held at the Crown Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta and this conference was held at the Crowne Plaza Albany).
3)People shocked to meet a transitioned man
I will say that though there were NO other POC and very few men I felt more comfortable getting to know the caucasian Crossdressers. Everyone I spoke to was nice, friendly and respectful. While at SCC the past 2 years I went there was definitely a lot of "separation".
I feel that this conference gave me the opportunity to be in a trans/gender variant space and be a provider. I only disclosed to the transmen in the workshop about FTM sexuality and everyone else knew nothing of my trans history. Though there was opportunity for me to disclose to different individuals in the context of conversations that it would be relevant I still found myself feel fine not disclosing. I felt like it would be weird not to disclose because I have been tyring to find a way how to balance my "stealthness" and being an activist. I feel like this gave me the opportunity to practice that balance and I feel I was successful.
Empire Conference May 21, 2010- Day 2
Day 2 was better than Day 1. There is still not many men of trans experience. To be honest I can count on one hand the number of guys here on one hand. I did a presentation today which had little attendance. I did manage to go to 2 presentations/ workshops today so I guess I would call that progress. Dinner was surprisingly good though the entertainment "Trannies got talent"- A talent show did leave me with mixed feelings. I didn't like the name especially the use of the word "Trannies" However I will say the show was entertaining with people showing talents such as juggling, actual singing (which was really good I might add),different tricks and comedy.
I will see how the rest of the Conference works out.
I will see how the rest of the Conference works out.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Quick - 5/6/10 update
Lower surgery and Insurance
I called the insurance office today and surgeon hadn't called yet. I called the surgeon's office and surgeon was in surgery BUT surgeon had it in top of the desk to do first thing when out of surgery.
I will follow up tomorrow.
Education
I got all the financial aid stuff finished for my Master's progam *Does happy dance".
I was able to accept my financial Aid package and now I am OFFICIALLY registered for my first course which starts soon. I already got a head start on the reading!
Conferences
It looks like I will be going to the Empire Conference, Philly Trans Health Conference AND SCC this year.
If any of you readers are going to be at any of these let me know so we can meet up and hang out!
I hope I can post tomorrow about my insurance response and hopefully I will be celebrating having booked a surgery date!
I called the insurance office today and surgeon hadn't called yet. I called the surgeon's office and surgeon was in surgery BUT surgeon had it in top of the desk to do first thing when out of surgery.
I will follow up tomorrow.
Education
I got all the financial aid stuff finished for my Master's progam *Does happy dance".
I was able to accept my financial Aid package and now I am OFFICIALLY registered for my first course which starts soon. I already got a head start on the reading!
Conferences
It looks like I will be going to the Empire Conference, Philly Trans Health Conference AND SCC this year.
If any of you readers are going to be at any of these let me know so we can meet up and hang out!
I hope I can post tomorrow about my insurance response and hopefully I will be celebrating having booked a surgery date!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Productive day!
Education/Loans
I resolved a mistake that was made with an old student loan I had. The loan people were very apologetic since it was their error and they let my MBA program know that the error was corrected. I also was able to successfully get everything in for my Financial Aid for my Master's program so soon everything should be set!
Conferences
I am going to the Empire conference in Albany and The Philly Trans Health conference . So I had to finalize my arrangements related to both of those. I also had to start thinking about whether or not I would be going to SCC this year and submitted the appropriate stuff for that. Chances are I will be there too. Those are my 3 conferences for the year. I may try and squeeze in Gender Odyssey BUT that all depends on surgery stuff.
Lower surgery
I called my insurance today since I was told the surgeon would call yesterday for the "peer to peer medical review". My insurance said that the surgeon's office and them have a conference time set for Tomorrow! *Does happy dance* When I asked the guy how long it takes for them to make the decision he stated "peer to peer medical review" is fastest and the decision will be given to the surgeon at the end of the conversation and within 7 days both the surgeon's office and myself will get the decision officially in writing for our records.
So tomorrow is a BIG day!
I Got mail... AGAIN!
I opened the mailbox and once again there was a letter from my insurance. I took a deep breath and opened it. It was a statement regarding my hysto saying that they paid the anesthesiologist. That made me smile because though insurance can say whatever they want when it comes to paying stuff it is never final until they actually PAY!
I resolved a mistake that was made with an old student loan I had. The loan people were very apologetic since it was their error and they let my MBA program know that the error was corrected. I also was able to successfully get everything in for my Financial Aid for my Master's program so soon everything should be set!
Conferences
I am going to the Empire conference in Albany and The Philly Trans Health conference . So I had to finalize my arrangements related to both of those. I also had to start thinking about whether or not I would be going to SCC this year and submitted the appropriate stuff for that. Chances are I will be there too. Those are my 3 conferences for the year. I may try and squeeze in Gender Odyssey BUT that all depends on surgery stuff.
Lower surgery
I called my insurance today since I was told the surgeon would call yesterday for the "peer to peer medical review". My insurance said that the surgeon's office and them have a conference time set for Tomorrow! *Does happy dance* When I asked the guy how long it takes for them to make the decision he stated "peer to peer medical review" is fastest and the decision will be given to the surgeon at the end of the conversation and within 7 days both the surgeon's office and myself will get the decision officially in writing for our records.
So tomorrow is a BIG day!
I Got mail... AGAIN!
I opened the mailbox and once again there was a letter from my insurance. I took a deep breath and opened it. It was a statement regarding my hysto saying that they paid the anesthesiologist. That made me smile because though insurance can say whatever they want when it comes to paying stuff it is never final until they actually PAY!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
So much on my mind and so much to do!
HYSTO
As I have been talking about my hysto is coming! Only 6 days left! Totally ready for it to come so I can be finally rid of these parts I should have NEVER had.
LIVER
After that I have to see if they could figure out those "mystery spots" on my liver. To this day my labs are perfect. Liver function- fine. Liver enzymes-Fine. ALL labs- Fine. I feel perfectly FINE! Just these random spots. They think they are only liver "birthmarks" (The medical term is Focal Nodular Hyperplasia). They aren't dangerous they dont grow they are just there. They just have to check again to be sure they are definitely this and not something more serious. 10 days after my hysto I have to follow up with the liver doc. I am glad that he was willing to clear me for surgery. I used my powers of pursuasion but he was already pretty for it anyways. I did point out that if I had to stop T how it would be great for me to not have those parts making me sick both physically and emotionally. I hope to get this out the way so I can continue down the road to my lower surgery. Having continued concerning liver issues would delay that and maybe even hault lower surgery if they feel I am not safe enough to undergo anesthesia BUT I am optimistic and sure that all is fine. It has to be!
*Just a side note the liver issue was not caused by me being on T they issue I am having is more linked to estrogen and they feel it may have to do with when I was pre-T Docs giving me all sorts of estrogen and birth control pills to try and deal with "reproductive issues" as well as "feminize me".
My Forum
I have my forum coming up in May for guys in my area so while I am home recovering from my hysto I plan to do more outreach for that and solidify plans regarding the food and stuff.
Clinic
I need to make some decision regarding the future of the trans clinic I have started. Though it has been great for all the trans people it has helped it has been a major headache for me lately. I plan to meet about some issues and have a few needed "conversations" to hopefully alleviate some of the headache. I am proud that we just celebrated our one year mark and are doing REALLY well way better than anyone expected. Then again I have high expectations so I expected nothing less that is why though it is "good" I want it to be better and I see areas of opportunity where it can be made better.
Conferences
I am presenting at 2 upcoming conferences. One in May and One in June so it is time to prepare for those.
Lower surgery
I discussed this like 50 million times since I started this blog so basically I just need to move forward so that I can set a date and do what I need to do in that area.
Social life
I have some dudes that I need to hang out with. I have been better lately about finding time for QUALITY time with guys I want to build meaning full friendships with instead of spending Quantity time with a bunch of guys who I have nothing in common with other than medical transition.
I am looking forward to Soccer/ football/Social in the park starting back up. This will be the 4th year we have done this and I love it! We go from April to August having fun every Saturday that it isn't raining. This is SOOO much fun. Just getting out of the house. Not worrying about work or any other obligations but just relaxing having a good time with some good guys!
Family life
I am enjoying the fact that I have found a way to balance time with my AMAZING wife (she occassionally reads, lol) and my new sweet daughter. I enjoy being a family man.
DAMN I have a lot I am doing. I need a REAL vacation!
That's all for now!
As I have been talking about my hysto is coming! Only 6 days left! Totally ready for it to come so I can be finally rid of these parts I should have NEVER had.
LIVER
After that I have to see if they could figure out those "mystery spots" on my liver. To this day my labs are perfect. Liver function- fine. Liver enzymes-Fine. ALL labs- Fine. I feel perfectly FINE! Just these random spots. They think they are only liver "birthmarks" (The medical term is Focal Nodular Hyperplasia). They aren't dangerous they dont grow they are just there. They just have to check again to be sure they are definitely this and not something more serious. 10 days after my hysto I have to follow up with the liver doc. I am glad that he was willing to clear me for surgery. I used my powers of pursuasion but he was already pretty for it anyways. I did point out that if I had to stop T how it would be great for me to not have those parts making me sick both physically and emotionally. I hope to get this out the way so I can continue down the road to my lower surgery. Having continued concerning liver issues would delay that and maybe even hault lower surgery if they feel I am not safe enough to undergo anesthesia BUT I am optimistic and sure that all is fine. It has to be!
*Just a side note the liver issue was not caused by me being on T they issue I am having is more linked to estrogen and they feel it may have to do with when I was pre-T Docs giving me all sorts of estrogen and birth control pills to try and deal with "reproductive issues" as well as "feminize me".
My Forum
I have my forum coming up in May for guys in my area so while I am home recovering from my hysto I plan to do more outreach for that and solidify plans regarding the food and stuff.
Clinic
I need to make some decision regarding the future of the trans clinic I have started. Though it has been great for all the trans people it has helped it has been a major headache for me lately. I plan to meet about some issues and have a few needed "conversations" to hopefully alleviate some of the headache. I am proud that we just celebrated our one year mark and are doing REALLY well way better than anyone expected. Then again I have high expectations so I expected nothing less that is why though it is "good" I want it to be better and I see areas of opportunity where it can be made better.
Conferences
I am presenting at 2 upcoming conferences. One in May and One in June so it is time to prepare for those.
Lower surgery
I discussed this like 50 million times since I started this blog so basically I just need to move forward so that I can set a date and do what I need to do in that area.
Social life
I have some dudes that I need to hang out with. I have been better lately about finding time for QUALITY time with guys I want to build meaning full friendships with instead of spending Quantity time with a bunch of guys who I have nothing in common with other than medical transition.
I am looking forward to Soccer/ football/Social in the park starting back up. This will be the 4th year we have done this and I love it! We go from April to August having fun every Saturday that it isn't raining. This is SOOO much fun. Just getting out of the house. Not worrying about work or any other obligations but just relaxing having a good time with some good guys!
Family life
I am enjoying the fact that I have found a way to balance time with my AMAZING wife (she occassionally reads, lol) and my new sweet daughter. I enjoy being a family man.
DAMN I have a lot I am doing. I need a REAL vacation!
That's all for now!
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