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Christie, Similar to Karen when I dressed androgynously I used the male toilets, but if I dressed female I used the womens loos. There's an almost protocol over here that if you dress female and are reasonably convincing you use the womens. Anyway it reminds me of my first time out dressed as female, my boobs were nothing more than mole hills at that time, so I didn't have much confidence at all. Anyway two of my full-time trans friends decided that it'd be good to take me out shopping in Birmingham city centre............. I was nervous as hell. Anyway out we went and it came to pass that I needed the loo for more than a pee, nervousness I guess. Anyway we went into the Bullring (really large new shopping mall), and I nervously went into the ladies, and darted into the first cubicle available to me, conducted my business and reached for the toilet paper.....................which wasn't there, so that's why there were queues for the other cubicles and not this one , Eve you're such a Jackass! I couldn't ask next door for some paper because my voice is not very female, and I envisaged screams of there's a man in the ladies loos, and security guards coming in to remove me...................oh shit what will I do? I then remembered that my wife had made me put two packs of paper hankies in my hand bag. Anyway you might be able to imagine my relief............and it makes an amusing story now. Point of the above parable is to be prepared and keep paper hankies in your handbag! Cheers, Eve

Oh & you look good by the way, sort of girl next door look....................

Warren, I can understand your frustrations to some extent and wish there was someway the system (thinking about say Medicare) could get you this surgery either for no charge or a greatly reduced charge. If you don't mind me asking, what state offers this for half the price?

All great suggestions! I think the hang-up for me is figuring out how female I am presenting. Chances are good that it's more than I think. I met an old friend for lunch last week (we were friends since we were 3 or 4 years old), we went to a restaurant in a small town near where we grew up (so very suburban). Each time the waitress came over she referred to us as "ladies." What made it nicer was that I hadn't done much as far as make-up, so even with fairly minimal effort I seen to present fairly female.

Eve, I totally agree about carrying paper hankies, in my case I carry tissues and several pantie liners.

Congratulations on moving forward!!! From personal experience dressing androgynous before surgery before actually publicly announcing my gender change I had a discussion with my boss then HR about changing gender. HR when I asked about restrooms said there was no policy so i was free to use either or. Since dressing androgynously I used the men's room. Now mind you I was not wearing skirts or wearing makeup (and pretty much 99.99 percent of the time don't wear makeup to this day). I thus was fine using the men's room and told HR once I had my surgery a public statement would be given by me which included I would be using the woman's restroom. Guess what I am saying is that my recommendation is use the restroom which fits how you are dressing rather than how you feel. If you do this most likely others will feel comfortable which should mean you will be more comfortable. If you do decide to use the woman's restroom I would recommend sending a company wide email out alerting others of your intentions so they are properly prepared.

Monica, In regards to medications being prescribed locally, I guess this may be possible but things like the poop extraction formula (bowel prep) would be difficult to pack if travelling. For EKG they are required a month prior to surgery. I had an EKG done locally, the doctor faxed the results to Marci and was confirmed by her assistant Robin. Morning of surgery they said "we can't find your EKG so we must do one now" and now is less than one hour before scheduled surgery thus not a time to argue the matter. So with that said one can be totally be prepared but the unexpected may happen as it did with me. Concerning bottom surgery + tracheal shave + top surgery. That should provide a discount but one must also consider their tolerance for pain. I had the shave and bottom surgery done and looking back would had been fine with top surgery also considering I do extremely well with pain. During my recovery and exiting the hospital I was told many times I was in a one percentile for dealing with pain. Now if someone were to do all three they must be totally honest with themselves in how they deal with pain. After surgery between the legs has been totally remapped and been told many need all the meds that are allowed. For top surgery it's best to be in a incline position while bottom surgery it's best to be laying down, the two contradict each other. The shave for me was zero pain so no comments there. So again, honesty is paramount else be a big girl and big girls don't cry as the song goes. PS By no means the above is to scare others from doing the three surgeries but to educate.

Karen, Is there any way women can have things done LOCALLY, prescribed by their internal medicine/family practice doctor, to reduce costs, hopefully covered by their insurance, including prescriptions for medications? Have had EKGs done a week before surgery by my internal medicine/family practice doctor. Think it behooves a woman to do as much in advance, if the surgeon cooperates. Also, is it important that the doctor that performed the bottom surgery also performs the tracheal shave and the top surgery? Thank you for an excellent post! Monica

Almost pre-ordained! That's what happens when the genie comes out of the bottle, especially when you throw the bottle away! Good Luck Christie! Eve x