Day 330 – Eleven to One
Candy & Popcorn
Howdy Folks!
It’s been a while since I last did an update so I thought I would talk about what I’ve been doing recently. Last week I went in and got my lab work done again, I should have my results back by next week at the latest. I am excited to see if my testosterone levels have dropped at all. Once I get them back I will do another round of measurements and update my breast development timeline. I know you’ve been waiting for that! (You filthy buggers) I go in to see my endo on the 6th of September, which happens to be the day before classes start. It was a total coincidence I swear! It is hard to believe that I just hit the 11 month mark of being on hormones. One thing I noticed recently is that my skin is extremely smooth and that my leg hair feels a lot softer and lighter than it used to be.
I am up to 6 hours and 15 minutes of electrolysis treatments, things are going good as always. After shaving 24 hours ago I can’t really feel any stubble at all, it’s nice to not have to shave every day.
Last weekend we put on a family reunion and we had about 50 relatives over that I probably haven’t seen since I was a baby (or never). It went surprisingly well and no one seemed to have any problem with me being trans (if they even noticed). And there was lots of food to be had.
This weekend me and my family are planning on going up to New Hampshire for a small vacation. It should be a nice little break before classes start up again. I will try and make an update or two while I am away!
Abbey
Day 320 – Vinegar Hair
My girlfriend and I have been busy doing some major cooking lately. On Thursday we cooked for 4 hours and made 2 lasagnas and some italian bread. For the second lasagna we used gluten-free noodles because my brother has celiacs disease, meaning his body has an intolerance to wheat gluten. It was extremely delicious and totally worth it. Each lasagna had a whopping 4000 calories and there are still leftovers! The recipe we used came from allrecipes.com, this website has a ton of great recipes if you want to try something new! Just last week we made a filling beef stew.
I’ve also started washing my hair with baking soda and vinegar. Why you ask? Because the shampoo we use is full of chemicals that strip all of the oils out of our hair and cause the scalp to produce even more oils to compensate for the loss. So the more often you shampoo, the more often you will have to!
Shampoo is basically detergent, and a strong one at that. Baking soda is a much milder Alkaline that will still clean the dirt and grime from your hair. Baking soda is a common ingredient in toothpastes for this reason.
Because vinegar is an acid, it will neutralize the baking soda. (An acid canceling out a base, brings you back to high school chemistry doesn’t it?) This acts much like a conditioner would.
Some of the obvious benefits of not using shampoo is that your head will produce less oil and will be needed to be cleaned less often. No more over-dried frizzy hair! You will also save a lot of money on hair care products, I have become addicted to shampoo that costs $13 a bottle and I will save hundreds of dollars if I no longer need it.
How do I wash my hair with baking soda and vinegar?
It is very simple, first you need to make a solution of 1 tablespoon baking soda, to 1 cup of water. I put mine in a sports water bottle that fit about 3 cups so that I could easily squirt it over my hair. Next, do the same thing in another bottle with the vinegar, 1tbsp/cup of water. Apple cider vinegar is suggested but I only had white vinegar on hand, both will work just fine.
In the shower, squirt the baking soda solution over your hair and massage in for a few minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Then, spray the vinegar solution over your hair and do the same, you may need more or less depending on your hair type. I always comb it through when I take a shower to get out all the tangles.
After a good rinse you are done! It has been nearly a week since I used shampoo and I used this combination for the first time last night and my hair came out surprisingly clean. There is a transitional period where your body gets used to the lack of shampoo, oil production should decrease once it realizes it does not need to overcompensate for the oils the shampoo removed. This can take a few weeks to a few months, it all depends on your hair type.
There is no reason not to try it out for a few months to see if it works for you, and if it doesn’t, you can simply go back to your shampooing ways. Here is a blog that goes a lot more in-depth into the process. http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/
I’m going to finish things off with a recent AA question, I will get another post up in a few days after my next electrolysis appointment.
Until next time,
Abbey
Q: I was wondering how easy it is to start hormone therapy in Mass? I’m around the same area you are, and I want to start hormones a.s.a.p. I might be able to start them in like October, but they told me I have to get all these tests done first, which I hope to do in a few weeks. And I was wondering if there were any trans stores around eastern Mass, I know nobody in real life who shares these feelings.
-Ashley
A: Hi Ashley,
It can depend a lot on who you are going to see in order to get your hormones. For me it took about 4-5 months from the time I started therapy until the time I took my first hormone pills. The general rule of thumb is 3 months of therapy before they will give you a letter for hormones, but some will do it only after a few visits. I got my letter at around the 3-4 month mark but it took a while longer due to the time between my lab work appointment and my follow up. (This is heavily dependent on how busy your doctor is) The actual test itself is pretty basic blood work, it should take no more than a week or two to get the results back. From what I have heard clinics tend to prescribe HrT faster than a private therapist would but it is important to make sure they are professional.
There is one trans-friendly shop that I know of in Wakefield, MA. It is called Florence’s Fashions and is a small boutique store that has a variety of women’s clothing, wigs, and breast forms. The owner is heavily involved in the trans community and is happy to give you advice help with your outfits. Shopping at a big department store can be extremely intimidating for the first time, Florence’s provides a safe place to start learning what to look for when shopping for women’s clothing. They do not have much casual wear like T-shirts and shorts but they have a decent selection of dressier clothes. Here is a link for more information about Florence’s Fashions.
Day 315 – 45 and Life
Greetings and salutations!
Today I had my 6th electrolysis appointment. In 45 minutes we treated most of the regrowth, it was mostly light hair anyway. In the 6 days since I last shaved It had grown about as much as it would have in 24 hours before I started treatment (Much thinner though). I am really happy with how my my beard removal is going, I feel as though I am really lucky with how much progress I’ve made. I spent all evening working on my electrolysis timeline and got half of it done. I will be adding a second set of photos showing under my chin as well as two more to show today’s treatment. After this point I think I will only add new pictures every few treatments or else it will become an extremely huge file.
Tomorrow I am going to a support group that my therapist put together for the second time. It is a pretty small group (5-6) and we are all around the same age range so it should be fun. Out of all of the people who attend I am one of the farthest along but that isn’t to say I won’t be able to get anything out of it. At the very least I can help some of the others with any questions they have about transitioning.
I still haven’t sent in my name change petition yet. My mom is insistent that I at least consider a middle name of her selection. The problem is that she is so busy and stressed out dealing with one of my uncles who has a drinking problem, and now has a blood clot in his lungs, that she says she can’t deal with me changing my name right now. It is pretty frustrating and part of it has to do with the fact that she is still holding onto what remnants of my past self still exist. I will have to sit her down and talk it over.
P.S. My skin is unbelievable soft!
Abbey
Day 309 – The Beardless Lady
My lovely face after 45 minutes of electrolysis.
Yesterday I had another electrolysis appointment and we finally treated all of the dark hairs on my face! There are still a lot of white hairs but they are much softer and grow a lot slower. Even if I were to stop when all I had left were white hairs, it would still be much easier to keep my face smooth compared to when I first started. It is hard to say if the one laser treatment on my underarms did anything. It has been 7 days since my appointment and my hair is still relatively short. We will see how it turns out.
Lately I have been wondering if my odd post titles are a good or bad thing so I decided to make a poll. Are they entertaining? Or do they make it a pain in the ass to find what you are looking for? Let me know!
AA: Cutting and genitalia
Here is a quick update with some Ask Abbey questions. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!
Abbey
Q: Have you always been attracted to just girls and never boys throughout your life, and have you dated females before your current girlfriend?
I’ve always been attracted to girls, so much so that I turned into one. Before my current girlfriend I had 2 other relationships that I would consider serious. One was when I was 18 before I really understood that I was trans, and the other was when I was 21 and starting my transition. The second was transgendered like myself. What really attracts me to people is their appearance/figure, and their personality, NOT what is in their pants. I am attracted to girls regardless of their genitalia.
Q: You mentioned self-harming in your post explaining your period of depression. Had you self-harmed in the past, and did involve cutting, burning, or some other method of injury? Is this something you are concerned about happening the future, or was it a one-time desperate kind of action?
A: Before I had my issues of depression there were a few unrelated instances in the past where I had harmed myself. When I hurt myself I would cut or scratch myself with a knife or a pointed object. I cut mostly on my arms or hand. The only real visible scar left is one on my hand but it blends in pretty well. I have had thoughts of self-harm since my hospitalization but they are much less frequent and only occur during times of heavy emotional stress or trauma. I think the tendency to look toward self-harm for relief is partially ingrained into my psyche, but with proper coping techniques and a more effective method of release those tendencies can be overcome. It is like unlearning a bad habit or impulse, we come to fall back on them and it takes time and effort to develop healthier habits.
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