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KarenPayne

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  1. KarenPayne
    Last year was my first interview, today was my second. 
    Last year they did the interview in Microsoft Studio were nobody sees this until pushed to the web. Big difference this year, they brought all their equipment to the main Microsoft building where there are thousands of people walking by and the camera is hotter without the AC of the studio. During the prior video you heard a question being asked then I would answer. This year they ask a question which is masked out, I repeat the question coming from me then answer the question (yeah, spooky). 
    Any ways I talked only about transgender when it came to non-personal but a passion I have  for the community. I will provide a link here when the video is done.
  2. KarenPayne
    I really was honored to be selected to be a panelist for an event which was part of a week long summit put on by Microsoft last month on diversion and inclusion which was originally titled woman in technology. I was approached by Microsoft for this event and after talking to them I said why not include all sectors which includes LGBT and those struggling because of race, beliefs and culture although most of the latter have been coming to light in recent times.
    They already know of my transition because when I transitioned I needed to change my name and gender for my account and that I'm a Microsoft MVP.
    The event began by a introduction to how the event would go then five questions were asked, each of the panelist were given time to respond. To be honest I don't remember the questions. I do remember that in the first question I focused on cisgender females and the transgender community. The second question I moved focus to LGBT as the other female panelist had the cisgender aspect covered.
    After finishing with the second question response I said something like, I'm one of the fortunate transgenders who transitioned unscaved which is not common place for most transgenders. Not only did I get an applause but a standing applause.
    After the questions were asked the audience was given time to ask us questions but nobody did. After that we sat there thinking that people might come up and ask questions and I had a handful talk with me, one asked for my contact information as they had a family member who was transgender.
    Over the following days I had people come up to me at the summit thanking me for speaking out and for having courage to speak. I told each and everyone of them is that I feel obligated to speak out for those who can not and that most who transition still need help but many times simply want nothing more to do with the transgender community and only want to blend in while there are others on the opposite end of the septum who are very vocal yet sometimes go to far and then we have some in the middle.
    I did say during the event that to get people from the transgender community is not simply on large companies but also on the transgender person to as I know all to well that to be in technology of writing or supporting software or hardware things change all the time. Those who make the big bucks do so because they are continually bettering themselves like myself and I worked hard, was a window treatment sales person who studied at night for a year before quitting my window treatment job for writing software.  
    Not everyone is cut out for working in IT but let's broaden this to other high paying professions and better your life along with showing others we are truly no different from cisgender and in some cases better.
    I put myself in front of several hundred people with afterwards thousands who did not know who I was now and prior now know. I didn't want recognition for myself but instead to enlighten the cisgender community about the transgender community. Sorry if I didn't speak up per say about other parts of LGBT as I wanted to focus on trans. I did have one attendee who confided with me that he was gay and was worried about how to present himself and I got him to be confident and saw that he was doing better after talking to him.  


  3. KarenPayne
    1/20/2014
    Well it has been just under three months since I began hormones and when I got undressed for my morning shower this morning I noticed my breast seemed to have grown a bit since I last checked them. I have read many articles about how long it takes for breast too grow and from the get go made a pack not to be disappointed if they 1. did not grow in the first couple of months 2. did not get to at least a B cup as my mother is a full C cup. Oh, my left breast (and heard this is to be expected) is slightly larger than my right breast but not extremely noticeable.

    My doctor who is a MTF told me that I had many facial features of a female including soft skin so I expect there will not be a huge difference with softening of my skin.

    1/21/2014
    An interesting thought about the hair (and this will more likely than not sound crazy) is all my life I've had dreams I live several hundred years ago as a female which I discarded, thinking my mind was playing tricks on me. Back around 2005 I met a woman and had a short relationship and distinctly remembering I saw her as an old soul. So one night after we pleasured each other she came out and said that she truly believed that we were together in another life where she was a male and I was a female. I found it interesting that she by telling me this brought new light to my dreams as she said it was a very long time ago.

    1/23/2014
    Received a call from Marci Bower's office, SRS is scheduled for 1/27/2015. When I submitted a date for surgery it was simply 1/2015, Robin indicated that January would work. Amazing, that is how far they are booked out too.
    1/27/2014
    One year from this date I will be under the knife for SRS, seems like a long time but before I know it the date will be here.

    1/28/2014
    My very best friend, a female who I see about every other weekend has been coaching me with walking as a female and for the time being have found my stride is much slower than it has been in the past. I did take lessons that included walking about 20 years ago but with time without practice, what was learned has faded away. There are so many little things that seem not to make sense until someone points them out especially when they video tape you like my best friend does. Here I thought I was doing great, especially with my voice but I can see clearly, how small differences in how one walks can go a long way with how one presents themselves.

    2/16/2014
    Yesterday went visited with my best friend, had a good time chatting over coffee then out for Chinese followed by crazy shopping for different types of chocolate. When her daughter saw me she said that she was wearing almost the exact same outfit I was and said I had great taste.

    Oh, Friday my touchups for my eyeliner went well. Less pain than the last time and no having issues opening my eyes on Saturday which happened the first time and was expecting it this time but nope, no problems. Should be all healed up by Tuesday just in time to head back to work.

    3/1/2014
    Yesterday I went to H&R Block for tax preparation with a person whom I have been dealing with for years. I told her that my surgery was planned for 1/2015, she is researching if I can take SRS as a tax deducting which would reduce my amount to pay for 2015. If possible, that is great if not no big deal but would be nice. Also told her about changing my name and she said even if I do and need to call in make sure I explain about the name change otherwise they will not find me in their database. Jeez, things there are so many things that one does not consider when going thru this process.


    3/6/2014
    Bumped into an old girl friend last night while shopping, she was taken back by me as a female but was alright with me after we chatted for a while. One thing she said was "well that explains a lot", I asked her what do you mean? She said that it meant that I was very good at pleasuring her and that I was very good at hitting the rights spots and we both giggled. She wants to keep in touch and go out shopping with me in the near future

    4/30/2014
    Several days ago I noticed my cheeks now have a blush look to them all the time. Yesterday at my electrolysis session (currently doing brow touch ups after having permanent cosmetics done) and the operator said I had a few pimples which I had noticed and she was wondering if this was because of HRT which I said most likely it is.

    This morning I brought my car in for brake replacements and while sitting there waiting for the van to pick me up for a ride home the mechanic came out, looked at me for a few seconds (I was the only one there) and then said, is your husband here? I asked whom are you referring too? He said my name and at that very moment thought quickly, said I was his wife and answered his questions.

    06/28/2014

    The following entry just flowed out of my brain (thinking more female now) in no specific order.

    Three weeks ago went into my dentist (been seeing them for 20 years this July) office to make an appointment and the receptionist stood silent for a while staring at me. Finally she put two and two together and realized who I was but I could see in her eyes she was not sold on “this is him” and I will say my clothing was leggings which she could not see with a light jacket open that exposed my chest which anyone could see I had breast. I said I need an appointment but first need to explain what is going on with me. Spent roughly five minutes giving her the highlights and her response was ‘we support you’!!! The ‘we’ I should indicate that her husband is the dentist and she was speaking for both of them.

    Went back the following week to get a filling and before he started said everyone in the office knows and have their full support. After giving me anesthesia, he asked if I mind answering a few questions, which I did. He did asked what should he call me and my reply was, my male name as I may end up changing my female name and this would avoid confusion.

    Fast forward, this last Monday I had a ‘every six month’ appointment to check up for HRT. I just got out of my car and received a call from my dentist indicating that he and his family were going on vacation and wanted to check up on me before leaving as the entire office would be closed and I had pending issues (very long story). I think that was so nice of them to make sure I was okay.

    Two weeks ago, I am getting out of my car and a female neighbor who did not know (or so I thought, will get to that shortly) about me said “you look lovely”, I smile and said thank you and went in the house. Several days pass and I see her again and this time she said ‘are you changing your name?’. So I took the initiative to explain everything to her and while explaining my road the neighbor next to her came out and got into the conversation. I told both of them my reasons for not saying anything in the past and they said, heck we knew something was going on LOL. So now I have two new girl friends and their husbands are onboard with me too.

    Everyone is telling me I look much more feminine now. I finally stood in front of the mirror and did not see it. Then just last Saturday one of my close friends and her daughter went out shopping, did a picture of us and she sent it to me. Got home and was stunned seeing myself thinking, yes I really do look more feminine. Yesterday was at my monthly therapy appointment and told her about this and she said ‘yes you indeed look more feminine’.

    Oh my, I am now on my second closet of clothes giggle.

    I truly cried watching a movie just now, Winter’s Tale and know it’s the hormones. And I cried a lot.

    Have been told by several that my breast have grown but not that much and have no expectations at this time knowing that this takes time.

    Last but very important, I found a professional to do my genital hair removal. Not looking forward to this but just the same I am ready to get it over with. Funny I have no issues with SRS but do with genital hair removal.

    7/22/2014
    Today I start electrolysis for my privates in preparation for SRS. I was given a prescription to numb the pain, hopefully it will not be too painful.

    7/24/2014
    First off the electrolysis on 7/22 on my private area was great. I thought it would be extremely painful but with the cream I was given it truly numbed things down. Now I would be telling a lie if I said there was no pain, what I experienced was a mild burning sensation and was gone quickly.

    Been noticing less and less people see me as male including those who have known me for about 20 years. This makes me extremely happy to say the least.

    8/17/2014
    Not sure what has gotten over me but all of the sudden I went on a shopping trip yesterday on a mission to find colorful plain bras. Nothing new in regards to finding the right size, if it were not for sizing issues I would easily had been to one or two stores and been done with it. I wear a 36C which seems to be a very popular size and with that hard to find. Next up, one of the stores had what I wanted but they were super padded (range goes from 1-3) and I want no more than a 1 if I was forced into padding. So of all places I struck gold at Walmart while Macy's, Target and JC Penny were three strikes and I did have luck at Macy's before. Downside to Walmart bras is they are not as well constructed thinking of longevity more than comfort as the high end bras were no more comfortable then the lower end bras.

    9/24/2014
    I have noticed a few subtle changes in the past few weeks; first, I get slightly more emotional when watching chick flicks and my desire for coffee is changing to tea. And my breast have grown slightly, not much but indeed noticeable.

    10/10/2014
    I am using two ladies for electrolysis, one started on my arm-pits today and was pleasantly surprised it was not that much pain unlike the work being done for preparing for surgery. At first I did not feel much pain but there are areas she is hitting now that are at a level 7 pain level. I think that is as far on the pain scale that I should get thank goodness. Anyways it looks like I will need to continue until December to complete the work which is getting done one hour each week.

    Lots of friends keeping asking me if I am getting excited as my surgery date gets closer? I tell them the best thing for me is not to think about it otherwise I would be counting the hours so at this point I am simply focusing on today and not counting the hours. I would be totally lying if I said this in December, I will be counting down the time to surgery no doubt.

    10/21/2014
    I have been avoiding going to the local Guitar Center mainly from a few people who I rarely see and usually it there. I am desperate for a new guitar tuner as the current tuner the display is dim and hard to read. So I throw on a jacket over my female clothes so that I am kind of androgynous so to speak but really I still look female. I enter the store and a guy greets me “Hello, have not seen you for a long time” and I said hello back. He then asked if I needed help, told him about my tuner and he said I have one for you. He then took me over to where it was, demonstrated it and I said I will take one. He gets another sales person to assist and says to him; her current tuner is the old model and she wants to upgrade to the new model so can you ring this up for her. He does so and I leave and once in my car wondered why he thought I was female even though I was dressed androgynous. I failed to figure it out until I told the story to my best female friend. She asked, did you speak like you are right now? Then it dawned on me, I did not drop into my male voice and told me friend this. She said, if I did not know you I would had pegged you as female. She then insisted I speak like a male, I did and then it was a double whammy that reinforced my experience at Guitar Center.

    I remember this time last year I was struggling to stay in a female tone and now I struggle to be male. I never in my dreams thought it would be like this and very happy now.

    Book signing
    I received an email today saying there would be a book signing for a book which I am part of telling my story of transitioning with others. My first thought is shoes so off to Target and found a lovely pair shown below. It’s interesting in that I use to wear high heels often and now if I remember it has been years since I wore heels even though I own enough to fill the back side of a closet. So it is time to get back into walking properly in heels which at least for me I do walk different in 4 or 5 inch heels then my daily flats.

    I am going with my best friend so I know it will be a blast and always nice to meet new people.




    11/5/2014

    I get into the elevator at work; there is one woman already on the elevator. Doors closes, she looks at me and says (actually I forget the exact words) who do you like to be addressed? I know what she is referring too and said, “It’s obvious to you?” and she replied with ‘I am reading a strong female presence from you’. It is not that long of a ride and we both get off on the same floor with nobody around. She told me that a woman in her family is transitioning from female to male, which is one of the reasons she felt comfortable talking to me. I asked her if I was presenting male or myself more as a female? Her response was easily female. I really felt good about this conversation afterwards.

    Later in the day, I have a six-month review with my boss, which is all positive. When we are ready to wrap things up and he asked if I mind telling me about my surgery. Side note, I have no disclosed to anyone I work with about my transition. He then says it is okay if I am not comfortable with telling him.

    Months ago I decided if anyone ask at work other than my boss I would not reveal what my surgery was. So I told him and from his facial expression told me he already figured it out and is supportive. He also asked about me telling others. I told him my plan was to first met with HR then a private meeting with my immediate team to disclose my transition and that when I return what to expect, he was also fine with this.

    11/6/2014
    I was sitting at work eating lunch at my desk when a call came through with no caller ID. I said hello (if I know the caller i say Hi this is Karen or Hi this is Kevin), the woman on the other end said 'is this Karen', got up and walk to an area I could talk. It was Robin from Doctor Bower's office confirming my surgeries and told me to expect a packet shortly to being their process with me.

    The only question I had was to find out which day I needed to be there as they want you there one or two days ahead of time. My hope was one day as hotel rooms cost $170 per night and was hoping for Monday (surgery is Tuesday) rather than Friday as I did not want to spend Thursday driving down, meet on Friday and then having to stay thru the weekend, that would be costly. She replied, we want you here Monday morning, I shied knowing I could get there on Sunday.

    Over the past year I tried not to think about geez, 12 months to go and for the most part have done a decent job of it. Now I am getting a tad bit like how many days to go???

    So to top it off a lawyer friend of mine who I asked to assist me with name and gender changes text me today and said let's have coffee on Saturday to start a discussion on what needs to be done. She is very supportive of my transition which is very important to me.

    Woohoo

    11/7/2014
    Gauging how hormones have affected my sex drive. First off I have always and still into females for the record.

    I distinctly remember in 2007 very attracted to a female that when with her I was pretty much aroused all the time. Side note, the relationship failed but she remained friends with me and will be with me for surgery.

    In 2013, still felt very sexually attracted to females that caused a reaction down there. I started hormones at the end of 2013 and every couple of weeks checked to see if the plumbing still worked which it has until June of 2014 were I could still pleasure myself but was not aroused as one year prior.

    Present day, seldom do I even consider pleasuring myself but still see females as whom I want to be with if I was to consider a relationship but that is not in the picture until after surgery.

    Something I just realized, I use to have an erection for the morning trip to the toilet, that does not happen now.

    Before I began hormones, I heard this would happen and it did and I am perfectly comfortable with this and look to the future to how it will be to experience sex as a female.

    11/8/2014
    Just had coffee at a StarBucks with a friend who use to practice law were the focus was on her assisting me with the process of changing my name. I have known her since 2001 and we never touched physically but today she hugged me, said afterwards "my your hair is much longer since last time I saw you" (which was about two months ago).

    Any ways she gave me a packet of forms to fill out and get back to her for next weekend which in turn she has the electronic document and will input my information into them then on to the next step. I am waiting to change my name after surgery so I can include the gender change as well.

    11/19/2014
    Today I spoke with HR and told them I was transitioning, there were no bad reactions at all. I did ask them if there was a plan in place for which restroom I will be using or if I could use any female restroom? He did not know but would find out (as I see it as I could use any female restroom but we will see). Also signed one name petition document and notarized. My legal counsel will submit my documents tomorrow.

    11/21/2014
    My legal assistant took all my forms that I filled out and redid them on the computer. She then gave me one that needed to be notarized, got it done, gave her the form. Then asked, how long, she said if all went well two weeks. Well she went to file the name change and the clerk said she filled out the wrong form. The right form had no County name while the wrong form had my County name. So she has printed off another copy and will give it to me tomorrow, and yes I will get it notarized ASP. Funny how I was in no rush to get this done but now that the process is underway I am excited.
    More to follow as my journey continues...

    11/26/2014
    The curious case of Benjamin Buttons, while watching this movie I had emotions that have never been there before. Half the time I was on the verge of crying, something new for me. Over all in the past week I have been noticing dramatic changes in emotions and just fine with it. :)
  4. KarenPayne

    New blog

    By KarenPayne,

    I just started a new blog on word press but can not paste the site address in from my new Windows 8 laptop so I will need to figure out how too
  5. KarenPayne

    Time is closing in

    By KarenPayne,

    Seems like in the past two weeks a lot has been happening, genital area is fairly clear, booked hotel room, doctor's packet arrived.

    Last week I paid most of my surgery fee, the remaining amount is waiting for one office to receive my paper work for a $1,200 fee.

    Friday I am going to UPS for UPS luggage. I decided to send my stuff done to arrive a day before I arrive. Everything will be tossed when going back home. So the contents are disposable, it pays to save some out dated clothing.

    Next Monday I part one of my name change is done then two more weeks and it's official

    Two more weeks for a phone appointment with anesthesiologist

    I know I am missing something (oh that's right it must be from being mostly blonde now)

    A co-worker pressured me today to learn about my surgery, long story short, he confirms my thoughts that the majority of co-workers will be fine with it. Matter of fact most people are guessing what is going on with me and are guessing I am transitioning. Such a great feeling

    May do airfare on Friday.
  6. KarenPayne
    I am going to be short here and write more later.

    Arrived at hospital for check-in at 6AM then taken back to undress and have a few test and various people coming in to explain things to me. Marci arrived around 7:30AM and drew on my throat. About 8:15 was wheeled into the operating room and put under. As I suspected I remember nothing, awake at around 3:30PM. Taken to my room and left there for about 10 minutes which time a nurse came in indicating she was on shift for one hour and another nurse would take her place. The second nurse explained to me that all nurses attending to me are well versed in the taking care of people who have gone thru the same as me and it shows :-)

    Pain level range 0-10 where 10 is high, I am hovering between 1 and 2 and should note, I am inherently not good with pain but over many years learned how to control pain thus level 1 to 2 might be for others 4-6.

    Trachea shave from running my fingers over it feels like it is completely gone. Vagina, will see when my packing is removed down the road.
  7. KarenPayne
    I told my daughter I would call her next week but she thought it was going to be this week eek.

    So I came out in a well thought out manner, in short she was fine with it then proceeded to chatter away on normal stuff for over an hour. Yeah see we are close knit but I delayed telling her for several good reasons.

    Phone call ended quickly because my bowel was a moving :-) and wanted to say good bye to my poop.

    Oh, she is moving from the East Coast to Oregon in the fall and will be living within 20 minutes of my place. I live in the capital because of work, she will be living in Portland because of work so it all works out
  8. KarenPayne

    Coffee at work

    By KarenPayne,

    I emailed a co-worker whom I told he could use my parking spot at work that I would be in for HR work.

    He said let's all go out for coffee, which I said sure thing.

    When I got to work about 10 or so co-workers came over to see how I was doing. I gave them a brief on how things were going and that I will be out for several more weeks (Robin at Marci's office emailed me today and said I can go back to work around March 2nd).

    So six of us took a walk over to the nearby Starbucks, got coffee, came back and chatted for a while followed by me visiting HR to get my name change going there.

    I was very happy that everyone came over to see me and had smiles on their faces which meant a great deal to me.

    There was way too much paper work to complete today so I will head back tomorrow and give them the filled out forms.
  9. KarenPayne

    I am truly honored

    By KarenPayne,

    I was just reading Emmasweet’s latest blog post and realized how fortunate I am to have found this safe haven unlike no other on the web. Not to leave anyone out but Monica, Emma, UsernameOptional and Lori are wonderful people and if you have not looked at other sites this one is the best. Way too many focus on one or two high level topics of interest unlike this one.

    Well this entry was not meant to win any awards, just wanted to put this out there

  10. KarenPayne
    I started the process for my name and gender change the last week of last November which took five weeks. The gender part in short (I did write about this before) is allowed before surgery by a therapist on a special DMV list.

    In the month of January I did my social security card, all my credit cards, bank checks (did not arrive till after I returned from California) and PayPal account.

    Today the final card arrived, my insurance card. Wish I had this card before surgery simply because there were some additional fees billed to me by the hospital because they had no insurance listed and had to make several calls to get things right.

    I have two doctors, one for primary care, one to assist with HRT. Two dentist, one primary and one for deep cleaning, an optometrist also. All of these needed to be updated. Oh, my electrolysis and hair stylist. Those all were in person. Dang, one more, the electric company who wanted me to do the change at their office. The electric company closed out my current account and opened a new account. By closing the old account I got a check for $272.45 but gave that to my daughter.

    All in all it took just about three months to change all the documents. It could had taken longer but I was driven, when an opportunity presented itself I would take a day or half day off to do what needed to be done. Really despised weekends a lot as they slowed me down, so did two weeks in December for the holidays.

    If I had not been driven my guess is I would still be doing name changes.

    So I am 99% sure all remnants of my old make identity is gone. Soon as I hit the publish button another one will surface.


  11. KarenPayne
    Hopefully I can keep it clean.

    Been thinking about what is it going to be like pleasure-wise for my new parts so on the way to the grocery store I stopped off at a adult shop, ask for female lube and took the sales lady's suggestion. Went home and searched the web for something that might arouse me, found one. I know it was good because feelings radiated out from that area. Used the lube and a play toy to enhance things.

    Bottom line, it's been five minutes after the fact and I can still feel that feeling radiating outwards and I like it a lot.

    Inspection/test run gets an A+

    Okay, closer to ten minutes and still got it :rolleyes:
  12. KarenPayne
    Something's that you may not consider when having gender reassignment surgery is the after cost. Personally I can afford (others may not) the various types of feminine pads, ultra-light thin Always, Always dailies and let’s not forget Tampax. Other items such as douche (limited usage but good to have and have only used it two times since surgery) and vaginal moisturizer. Then let’s not forget about lubrication for dilation.

    Right after surgery I was going through two four oz. of KY then tampered down to one container then went back up again as I would use the mid-size dilator to prime for the larger one. Now I am down to less than one 4 oz. tub per day. Four ounces of KY averages around five dollars but have also seen it for much more. Get the generic as I do and pay less than half the price of the genuine product.

    For pads you will need a lot in the beginning but as time goes by rather than six a day it gets down to one or two a day. Tampax are good for eight hours and with that said would not use them when going to bed at night if you sleep eight hours or more. A cisgender female may chime in with their thoughts on some of the usage yet a cisgender female will be different than a person transitioning from male to female. The cost of pads is not that bad but I suggest looking for deals. I found a deal on Always, get 108 pads for the price of 50 pads so I purchased two of them as I know full well they will be used. Do not bother with maxi-pads, at least for me I purchased a box for after surgery along with a mid-size pad, never touched the maxi-pads, instead gave them away to one of the hotel employees who would stop in and visit me at night when things slowed down.

    Another thing, get panties that have a wide gusset as this is more comfortable than a narrow gusset. My friend got me some thongs and just this week tried them out. They do make pads for thongs so you can go with them after a month or so after surgery but not before.

    Anyways thought this topic needed to be written about so others taking this journey realize there is a good deal of cost after surgery that you may not have considered.
  13. KarenPayne

    Journey part II

    By KarenPayne,

    I wrote about my consultation for breast augmentation recently and now just wanted to say like with my GRS I will by blogging about this part of my journey.

    So far I have a pre-surgery appointment on May, 8th were they go over what will happen on the day of surgery, May 21st.

    My friend is being driven down from her home, thirty minutes from me to stay overnight, next day come with me to the hospital, we are taking a taxi. She will then come home with me after roughly a four hour surgery and stay with me for at least three days. I did tell her (from past experiences) that I am easy to be with and she does know about me after surgery come to think about it as she was there for me after GRS.

    From what I have been told I will need to be at home for four days then for two weeks wear a special bra for support.

    More to follow...
  14. KarenPayne
    I am going to use this blog entry for posting resources for others that are travelling down a path that may or may not result in transitioning. So I will update this as resources are found.

    I would request if you have good resources send them to me in a PM rather than comment below the post to keep things clean.

    Combined Gender Identity And Transsexuality Inventory test
    http://transsexual.org/cogiati/index.php?lang=en

    Scoring for test
    http://www.transsexual.org/cogoffline.html

    The following link the person put together lots of good information
    http://openmindedhealth.com/transgender-101-trans-people/#comment-50248

    Electrolysis Methods
    http://www.transgendercare.com/electrolysis/methods/overview_methods.htm

    HRT Male to Female
    http://micheleomara.com/services/transgender/feminizing-hrt-for-male-to-females/

    Risks Associated With Hormone Use (Estrogen)
    http://sillytranswoman.blogspot.com/2011/03/risks-associated-with-hormone-use.html


    Dilation 101
    http://sillytranswoman.blogspot.com/2014/08/from-princessjoules-mtf-post-op.html
  15. KarenPayne

    Hallelujah

    By KarenPayne,

    Over the past few weeks I felt at times I should had some orgasmic feelings down below and was just getting ready to contact Marci asking if this was normal to have clitorous sensation to nothing at all even with manual stimulation. I was told that don't expect much until the nerves grow back and was fine with this but wait a minute, why was it there then went away.

    Well without going into details I was asked by a man about sexual desires in a email. While writing back I felt the sensations which was about ten minutes ago and they are still there thank goodness.

    So my reason for posting here is that others might have similar experiences and want them to know if you had it and it went away perhaps (and I am guessing this here) it is from a lack of sexual thoughts being provoked. Now there is always the chance you will never have these sensations which is why those who are considering GRS is to make sure you choose wisely to the surgeon you select.

    I can not even begin to imagine going through the rest of my life without those sensations it would be horrible to say the least. It has been about 15 minutes and the sensations have not gone away yet


  16. KarenPayne
    My best female friend pointed out to me recently that even when I was male that she perceived me as female because to her, my body structure/shape was that of a female which she kept to herself for a long time. She went on to say that I did not need makeup because of this fact. Note, one does not have to be gorgeous to come off as female, heck I see myself as average no matter what I am told.

    Over the past year we would go out clothes shopping, the first thing that stuck in my head was how she could look at a piece of clothing and comment how well it would look on me or how badly it would look on me.

    With that said combining born body structure/shape (which encompasses the face too) I think many overlook the fact that not everyone can pull off say a strip top because if we are overweight it will draw attention to us. Another example, the majority of male to female have no hips so one might look for tops that accent the hips with a flared top but again use caution as your body structure may exasperate the waist and take away what was done with the flaring of the top. We all have seen cisgender females out of shape wearing Spanx leggings and know they look great on an average figure but not so much for slightly overweight or excessively overweight. I bet if you asked them they would deny this and in their mind wear them because they are easy and are comfortable.

    Back in the day I purchased female clothing void of the above and pulled it off, and still do. The catalytic for this entry comes in two parts, first from talking with my friends and just today the following.

    I work in a company of 1000 plus employees where some I know from an elevator ride or waiting in line for lunch and chatting while my team mates are close friends and acquaintances. Coming down from the fifth floor to the first floor one of the employees (known only from the elevator and cafeteria), a female turned to me and asked how I was doing? Then say that, you nailed it last week. I said what do you mean? She said that outfit you wore last Monday, well you nailed it. Heck I can’t remember what I wore so I asked her. She said a grey skirt in particular as it complimented my long legs. I don’t have long legs but I know for a fact because so many people told me so that I have great legs. What I see happened was I wore a skirt that complimented me for the age I am at. Interesting enough the skirt was kind of see through so I wore a while skirt beneath the grey skirt and let the white skirt be a tad lower than the grey skirt. In short it works for me because of my body structure. Now if I were to wear tight jeans and tight top it would work against me because of my age and also would show that I don’t have great hips so back to the flared top.

    So in closing focused to two things, body shape and appropriate clothing to compliment or enhance said body structure but also keeping in mind how old you are.

  17. KarenPayne
    In six hours I have my last meal until who knows when since I will be still under the affects of anesthesia and was informed that it will be best to stick with things like soup, crackers and clear drinks for the day after surgery. After GRS I ate two light meals each day for the first two days so my guess is this will be no different.
    Just took a five hour energy drink so I stay awake to around mid-night which will help me with several extra hours that if awake would be hungry. My friend is due at around 9AM with her son. Her son is driving us to the hospital around 10AM which is one hour early because he needs to be some place else. My friend gave me a grocery list to get food for her as she does not drive and I can not drive for two days (oh, we will see about cutting that done to one day).
    So after 9 AM tomorrow morning I will be off the air here until I am guessing Thursday.
    On purpose I recorded about 60 shows on television so I don't get bored (well I may very well get bored from watching television) the first several days after surgery. I am hoping by Friday to get out at least to my favorite coffee place which is just five minutes or less down the road.
    Some might wonder how I feel inside? No different than right before gender reassignment surgery, kind of like going to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I expect joyful emotions to kick in by the weekend.
    In closing out, I asked the surgeon to give me copies of images of me after surgery and will post them on my comcast ftp site sometime next week with before pictures too,
     

  18. KarenPayne
    My best friend and I took a taxi to the hospital, signed a few papers the off to a room to prepare me for surgery. About thirty minutes later the surgeon arrived, drew on my body to mark up for my implants. About ten minutes later, off to the OR.
    I am so use to the OR it felt like a second home
    I woke up in a recovery room, a bit groggy as one might expect. Pain level I mark at between 3 and 4. I was given some pain medication which greater reduced the pain. Terry had them bring me a Starbucks coffee which I drank till nothing was left.
    So how do they look? I believe my worries about being too large was unfounded, they are simple perfect size wise and look fantasic.
    After about (not sure) one hour a taxi drove us back to my place. Yep, another cup of coffee and then started watching "The blacklist" but stopped as Terry was tired thus giving me time to write this entry.
    Going back to pain level, if you read my blog entry on gender reassignment surgery I did great pain-wise. I did well this time also but would say this actually was more painful but again, manageable.
     
    At my place right before surgery

    At the hospital, I want coffee!!!

  19. KarenPayne
    Had problems sleeping last night but got around three hours then awake for one then slept for about four hours. The pain during those hours was fairly intense until my friend woke up and gave me my meds. After the medication was taken I almost feel like I am back to myself unlike yesterday after medication was taken I was still in pain. Right now the pain is almost non-existing. It's just before 5 AM which means five hours to go for my post-operation checkup.
    I can easily see myself back to work next Tuesday if recovery stays on the path it has been so far.
    My recommendation for post surgery is to sleep in bed with your upper body elevated about 30 degrees or as I did, been living in a recliner which I did for operations in the past, works great.
  20. KarenPayne

    Self Analysing

    By KarenPayne,

    In a recent post I place the image below into it which was taken by my friend who said she wanted a picture of me for memories of that day. I was thinking about female Mannerisms and Body Language but not at that moment looking at the picture below. Note this is three days after breast augmentation and not thinking about my body language what-so-ever.
    Several things became apparent that I would like to point out, men generally sit forward while females sit back on a chair, men typically have their legs spread and hands in their crouch or open to the outside of their legs. 
    The purpose of this entry is for others to consider their posture not only when sitting but also when in other positions such as standing or walking. I have mentioned in the past my friend would constantly critique my mannerisms and body language when I first came out which in turn jogged my memories of being professionally taught female mannerisms. Not everyone will have someone that will critique their body language and mannerisms which means it is up to you to do so. I think doing this is critical in comfortably passing in the desired gender.
     

    Don't forget the little things such as putting your fingers through your hair,twirling your hair. Include hand gestures as needed and often.
    When a guy walks, subconsciously he claims the space as his and therefore walks with wider strides and kind've thinks of his shoulders like an outward extension of himself. When a girl walks, she is doing the exact opposite. Subconsciously, she is trying to take up the least amount of space possible. That is why girls walk with closer strides and keep their arms a bit closer to their sides.
    A picture says a thousand words as in the image below, When self-analysing myself when standing say in a check-out line I am always as shown similar to the right side image.

    Hopefully these suggestions are of assistance with your journey to a better life in your correct gender.
  21. KarenPayne

    New territories

    By KarenPayne,

    Last week I received a friend request on Facebook from a man I don't know. Usually I only allow either people I know or people that are connected to my current friends. Well not sure if this one was a mistake or not as of today.
    It started off immediately, each morning he would message me asking how I was doing and would respond in a way that nothing could be construed in any way that I was interested more than being friends.
    This morning it became apparent he wants to date me. There are several issues here, the first is me (do I need to explain lol) which I fully disclosed this morning about my gender in which I spelled it out. He comes back and says "are you a male" and I responded in more details about having zero male parts. I expected no reply and for about three hours no a peep. At this point I believe this is done but I then get a new message indicating he wants to continue which leads to issue number two. He lives in New York which is on the opposite coast. Now before going farther, this is indeed new territory as I am much more attracted to females than males.
    When I look at a cisgender female I see beauty not just in the physical shell but in their being. When I look at a man something comes out which is primal, void of any conceivable notion of love which I get with cisgender females.
    Even with that my mammalian brain in a warped sense is driven to like men but at the same time feel like a female pray mantis that eats her mate after sex (not I did not say make love). Now that is a statement in and of itself and wonder what a therapist reply to that would be?
    I am starting to think if he progresses with his actions with intent to date I will need to politely tell him I am not interested.
     
  22. KarenPayne
    For years I wondered why do I need approval from two therapist for gender reassignment surgery and at times really aggravated me to no end but once I started it all became clear. You see, feeling trapped in the wrong physical body can taunt and consume a person to various states of mind that can lead to a dark place thus never seeing the reasoning behind the "why" behind the requirement for therapy coupled with living in the opposite gender for at least one year.
    Here is the deal, feeling trapped in the wrong physical body there can be relief by wearing clothing of the opposite gender but that is usually hindered as many don't have a safe haven to wear clothing for an extended period of time and eventually as one grows older the feelings of being in the wrong physical body become more intense and can destroy marriages and cause one to become secluded to the point they are alone and now in their free time can become the female they should be to a limited degree by dressing in the role of a female for longer periods.
    The danger here is we think that by setting an appointment for reassignment surgery with an informed consent is all one should need. There lays the problem, it's a completely different world living as a female 24/7 in each and every aspect of your life. It quickly becomes real when you are paying for something in a store and need to use your credit card that says John Smith when you are dressed female. You might get lucky as I did, sales lady looks at the name on my credit card and says, John Smith is your husband? I will need to see your identification. Me, no that is my name, sales lady, your parents have a strange way of naming their daughter. But not everyone will be fortunate for this to happen. Next up (which should had been firsts).
    The female voice, a dead give away if not practiced. You are paying for groceries at the store, cashier engages you in conversation and although nobody would every guess that you were not female because you have taken the time to dress properly, age appropriate clothing and not to much makeup you say something and out slips the male voice, oooops, you get the idea.
    In the real live experience you are under pressure either all the time or some of the time and for many will truly challenge their original thoughts of transitioning. Geez, can I really pull this off? What I mean is, once you have a vagina and breast it's a completely new world and you have no choice but to either blend in as part of the scenery, become part of the scenery or become ostracized for being a freak and with that comes depression, self-doubt or more leading to dark places OR you rise to the task of merging your inner female self with a new physical self from the affects of hormones.
    Trust me when I say, you have no idea, no clue what one year of living in the opposite gender is like until you have been doing it for say three months and then look back 12 months later and can't hardly remember what it was like as a male and if you can more likely than not remember it differently how the full time female experience would be.
    I challenge those taking this journey to write down their thoughts before starting HRT and therapy then say 10 months down the road read what you wrote and see how you think about the journey now. If comfortable, keep a daily journal of your ups and downs, like anybody living we have ups and downs and in the 12 month role they are magnified. When seeing a therapist there are gaps of time between visits and having these notes can help you engage with the therapist.
    BOTTOM LINE: The real life experience as I see it now is that it's good for you while looking back I thought "what the heck".   
    Hopefully those traveling down the road for gender reassignment surgery will be fortunate to have a good support system in place to assist them with the 12 month real life test and it will go better this way. Personally I had (and still have) a wonderful female friend who not only supported me but traveled to California to be with me for GRS and then with breast augmentation was there for me too in my home taking care of me. You can not do this on your own, I repeat, you can not do this on your own so get use to the fact you will need a good support system which should be done before starting your journey, find out who are really friends and who are not and don't be surprised that many may be repulsed at the thought of you wanting to be female. 
    EDIT
    I was just scanning over the following page and saw that some people are asked to wait up to two years before being given HRT, that is outrageous. I think that HRT and real life test should be allowed together. 
  23. KarenPayne
    Thinking in line with my last post on "use it or lose it" I thought it was appropriate to tell you about a viberator that in my honest opinion is a must have. I know several woman that is a viberator and most have the larger ones for penetration while one woman I know uses one that is for clitorial stimulation.
    I have been using a medium size penis shaped viberator that is average length of a penis and decent girth. It does the job but takes a while to climax. It can be used with or without lubricant but two months ago I needed lube.
    So with me being constantly aroused last night and today I needed something better. When I say constantly aroused I mean in the car driving to the store, in the store also. The cause was how my underwear was rubbing up against my sensitive area.
    So I am looking at the various mini-viberators, they start out at $29, then to $39 then finally $59. The sales lady asked if I wanted any of them opened so I could inspect them which I did. Then I was just about ready to purchase the $39 one she said there is one more and it's very popular, the Tango. She said it is rechargeable via a USB cable, has eight settings and if you hold the on/off button to turn it off it will remember the last setting used so one does not have to cycle through the settings.
    I went and did some grocery shopping, came home and setup the Tango to charge which in the manual says 90 minutes but was finished in 30 minutes. 
    So now I get undressed thinking this could be great or a let down. Played with a few settings and hit on one that does heavy vibrating, stops for a split second, does a different vibrate then back to the start again.
    Didn't know it at the time but when I found the "right spot" guessing in five minutes my toes were curling, spasming to the point I was going to pull it off but decide I am hooked and this is so much better than it's big brother, the penis shaped dildo. 
    Let me say this, I can easily do without being penetrated by a penis with this lovely and incredible viberator. Yes skin touching skin is best but there are times when I am alone and horny and not wanting to get dressed, depend on the other person in the mood etc. 
    The viberator is well constructed, just the right size and oh my God, the tip is flat on one side and goes to a point and I can not describe in words what the shape does for me but gives me a extraordinary orgasm bar none.
    Only down side is the price is $89 but it's worth every single penny.
    Check it out even if you are not interested in purchasing one to see what it looks like. I will say the site is boring yet that's fine when the product is fan-f**king great.
    http://we-vibe.com/tango
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  24. KarenPayne
    We all entertain our worst nightmares when stepping out the door the first time in broad daylight dressed entirely as a female all the while contemplating who others will perceive us. Hopefully over time this subsides and it's all second nature.
    At my young age of 59 being a tactical instructor I was never concerned about my safety, only that of someone who might want to hurt me for their well-being after the fact which did happen the second week post surgery where in the end the police complemented me on how well I restrained myself and only used necessary force which in the end most likely left the attacker hurting for at least a week or so.
    What was difficult was presenting myself to the owner of the company who owns the top school in my area for teaching self-defense, an old Marine who I guessed would not take my transition well especially since I was being groomed to take over operations of the group. He did not act rude when meeting or taken back but was treated differently. Leaving this group was very difficult, I spent a great deal of time being a top notch instructor to have 90 percent of it thrown away because I needed to transitioned. I try not to dwell on the past but it's sometimes difficult.
    So this weekend I will be attending a remembrance/celebration of life for a Marine and good friend where many who know me have not yet seen me since transitioning. This will be interesting to see how those there will treat me. I plan on going in acting like my normal self, assess and react but not to react in a defensive manner which in my opinion might be detrimental. I did not sign up for this, my brain did but after almost two years out and seven months post op this is me and refuse to hide in a dark corner and feel sorry for myself but need to get past this. Once past this point I can check off another group whom afterwards will never discuss my former life as a male but instead use appropriate wording that has me not mentioning gender unless appropriate in a discussion.
    Guess what, it takes time to finalize things as indicated above but at least for me I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that light is closing fast which is fine by me as when the light is gone I have done what was needed to close one chapter and open another chapter of living.    
  25. KarenPayne

    Boot shopping

    By KarenPayne,

    On Thursday I noticed the heel on one of my best boots the bottom part was coming off. I managed to fit it back together yet realized it would eventually be unrepairable. So yesterday morning I headed off to Macy's knowing there was a decent sale on shoes/boots and this is where I purchased the current pair.
    I believe my choice in an outfit was great, nice pair of leggings which is what I would wear with boots, snakeskin mid height heels, tank top and a cardigan. In less than two minutes a gorgeous late twenty female sale person asked if I needed help. Told her my intent and she said that if I needed any help to wave to her. 
    After about ten minutes she came back over and mentioned that the two pairs of boots I was looking at she had last year and proceeded to tell me about them. The thing that really got me was how she was looking at me like she could eat me up in bed and felt great. We chatted for about five minutes and then asked if I could try both pairs on. Since I know how shoe sizes go I asked to try a 9 and 9.5. 
    She comes back with one pair in 9, one pair in 9.5, get the same look of I could eat you up. 
    So I try both pairs at once and of course can't decide which pair and that one size feels slightly tight and the other slightly too large.
    She comes back and in short recommends I get the 9.5 giving a few reasons why. I said sold.
    At the counter after completing the transaction she gives me her personal number and said don't hesitate to call me with a coy smile. I leave feeling good with options going through me head.
    On the way out an older couple are at the door, the man waits for me holding the door and when I get there he takes his hat off and says good day too you, how is your day going. I said thank you and that my day was great. I mention this because it's not everyday a man takes his hat off for me or for that matter never seen this outside of a movie
    Returned home and compared the new boots with the old boots and noticed they were the same brand which is good as the old pair served me well, pretty much wore them three or four times a week over the past year.
    Now thinking about calling the woman who helped me and see what happens but still not sure if I will or not.
     
     
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