Well I went to the Endo, and have to go back on the 26th. Putting me straight on Androcur and Estrodol gel. He is trying to avoid oral medication due to liver stress.
All he needs is an email from my therapist, hopefully I'll get that in time, I don't see why not. So it looks like I will predominantly be going the Swiss route.
I was literally bouncing off of the wall yesterday, happy day.

Currently at the airport, waiting in the lounge, it is empty. So does anyone know what is required for Transsexuals to get past the TSA in the USA? We don't have problems here

That's because you don't have any "terrorists".
Our government is LOADED with them!!

ps. My posture is so bad in this picture *sigh*

You're really cute!! I like your hair!!

Well I went to the Endo, and have to go back on the 26th. Putting me straight on Androcur and Estrodol gel. He is trying to avoid oral medication due to liver stress.
All he needs is an email from my therapist, hopefully I'll get that in time, I don't see why not. So it looks like I will predominantly be going the Swiss route.
I was literally bouncing off of the wall yesterday, happy day.

Currently at the airport, waiting in the lounge, it is empty. So does anyone know what is required for Transsexuals to get past the TSA in the USA? We don't have problems here

That's because you don't have any "terrorists".
Our government is LOADED with them!!

ps. My posture is so bad in this picture *sigh*

You're really cute!! I like your hair!!

Lol, I grew up in the UK during the troubles. I can remember that where I worked was only a few yards from an IRA bomb site for 3 different jobs. Friends of mine were hurt in a nail bombing of a gay bar called the Admiral Duncan in 1999. There were few public bins in busy places, everyone on London took care to be on guard.

Thanks, but I still don't really like this picture. Waiting for my hair to grow out, but it is taking it's merry time. I will play with it more once I have some length. I think I may colour it at some point, I like the idea of slight tinge of Red, or Blue but I am not sure. Got myself some hair pastels to play with for highlighting, maybe if I don't mess up too much I'll post some.

Thanks all for the support, I really appreciate it.

@ClaraKay: Ok, I'll note that for future, but that particular photo can stay there for now, I am not an uber-private person.

@AnnieBL: Sounds like awesome news, I cannot express how happy I am for you. While I don't totally understand your situation, a mindset change is usually a pretty major thing, and it sounds like your there and some. I'd agree that taking it easy, and gently keeping a light touch on this will be best. Either way it's awesome, and to get to spend a day dressed. It was only a few weeks ago I did that with my Parents, as before it was always at home and good friends.
One question what is a PHP? I only know it as a computer language.

One question what is a PHP? I only know it as a computer language.

Primary Health Provider, in our case a Nurse Practitioner since there is a serious shortage of family doctors in my province. Canada is unjustifiably proud of its system of universal health care. Universal it may be, but comprehensive it is not, nor is it in any way consistent from province to province. Our claimed medical expenses not covered last year amounted to over $6,000 (and have in the past been higher), and even this is now being audited by Revenue Canada. Rant mode off!

Ariella,
I also am delighted for you. At last you are travelling along the road to your rightful destiny.
The UK NHS is probably the best in the world, however, the wheels do move quite slowly at times albeit professionally.

Best wishes sweetheart, I'll read your ongoing story with interest. BTW lovely letter to your Mum & Dad, I'm glad they so supportive.

Hugs and Best Wishes

Heather X

ps. My posture is so bad in this picture *sigh*

You're really cute!! I like your hair!!

[/quote]
Friends of mine were hurt in a nail bombing of a gay bar called the Admiral Duncan in 1999. There were few public bins in busy places, everyone on London took care to be on guard.

Thanks, but I still don't really like this picture. Waiting for my hair to grow out, but it is taking it's merry time. I will play with it more once I have some length. I think I may colour it at some point, I like the idea of slight tinge of Red, or Blue but I am not sure. Got myself some hair pastels to play with for highlighting, maybe if I don't mess up too much I'll post some.

Thanks all for the support, I really appreciate it.
[/quote]
Sorry to hear about your friends being hurt!! :-( It's LONG since time these sicko's stepped into the 21st century where us intelligent people live!!!!
I've been waiting IMPATIENTLY for MY hair to grow, too, ever since I shaved it all off in 1989. It's only ever gotten half way down my back since then.

It has been a while since I did an update, lots has been going on.

Tuesday 5th
In the UK I had a psychiatric assessment, and they have suggested I go to the Charring Cross Clinic for monitoring in addition to having my program here in Switzerland.
The whole assessment was weird, the psychiatrist turned up an hour late for my appointment, and seemed morbidly obsessed with suicide. Either way she has referred me to Charring Cross just because, so it can't be at all bad.

Thursday 7th
Had first session with Gender Therapist here in Zurich, it was very odd. Not at all what I had expected to be honest. I was expecting a normal starting session then arrangement of whatever needs to happen next. No, it was simply cards on table then into a discussion about my past relationships. I really like my Swiss Gender Therapist. She is a Brit from the old school, but liberal old school. Agreed to meet this Wednesday to complete the paperwork for referral. Had no issue with that at all.

Wednesday 13th
2nd session with Gender Therapist. I laid down the list-o-fix, my wishlist of issues and insecurities to address. Apparently I am going to need quite a bit of time to get through it all, which is fine. I have the rest of my life, lol.
After some chit-chat got down to the serious business of my sexuality, that was a very odd discussion. At the end she agreed to call and write my Endo. As he is only back on the 25th from Holiday, I have to wait until then. Progressing well so far. Next session on the 28th.

Ballet
Ok, so now people you can laugh it up at me. I decided at the beginning of the month to try ballet.
So why am I mentioning it here, well actually poise and grace. I am completely amazed how much my posture has changed (yes that was why I mentioned it while at the airport), since the beginning of the month. I had a session today and I am sure my teacher was trying to break me. It was nice to be stretched.

Next Steps
The HR people at work have an appointment with a Trans Man to learn more about the needs of transsexuals. Obviously actually get my scrip would be nice. Actually the main thing on my mind apart from setting the timeline, is how to come out to certain people at work. My job can be somewhat sensitive so that is certainly going to be interesting. Does anyone have any advice on how you should approach this at CEO level?

So another update, after quite a lot has gone on. SCC and all has been discussed and I don't really wish to go over all that old ground. However some pretty crazy things have happened.

Just before SCC I finally got my HRT prescription, and am now well on my way to fixing my life. This is all well and good, and I feel happy. However after SCC and my US holiday I wanted to go full time at work, apart from a number of quite annoying problems with ID (being in a foreign country makes updating ID and things generally harder) I have now got to a point where I have come out at work. I am now living Full Time, and it feels great.
However as earlier I will paste my letter in case it us useful for anyone else. I plan to come out on Social media as well this week and I will be writing a more informal version for that too.

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to tell you about some changes that are happening within my life. These are going to have a little impact on everyone, and take some getting used too. However I hope that you will go with the changes, and find that I am a nicer person because of it.

For most of my life I have been living a life that isn't mine, as I have decided to cast off that life and live as myself. I am transsexual. That is, I am a woman. I have known about this situation since I was very young (6-8), and truly recognised the problem for the last 20 years. During my 38 years I have become more unhappy about myself, and that has resulted in me feeling very uncomfortable. Now I have come to the point where I need to address this, as transexuality isn't a choice, nor a preference, it is a medical condition. I have taken the decision now to act, so that I can have a happy life.

I feel I have been successful in my Male role, certainly at work, and I aim to continue that success going forward. I expect to hold myself to the same quality and standards going forward for my work, if not better. I do expect though as my life becomes less complex, I enjoy being myself more, to be a nicer person to work with, and hopefully more fun.

Over the last 18 months I have been working with the company, I have been subtly changing my appearance, I know most of you have noticed, and some have even commented. This was in preparation for what I am doing now. More recently I have had a team of professionals guide my way forward in treatment of my Gender Identity Disorder, and have come to the point were some of the biggest challenges have to be faced. In the diagnosis of my condition, there is a usual pattern governed by the Standards of Care, this is an internationally recognised approach to treatment.

I ask you all to call me by my new name of Arielle. The HR department have been very helpful and supportive, and have agreed to change my name on the computing systems, so there will be no confusion. I would really prefer that you use female pronouns (she/her/hers), and while it will take a little getting used too, if you make a mistake I hope you don't mind me correcting from time to time. I don't expect everyone to remember immediately, but I do ask that you try.

I know that many of you won't understand, and some won't agree with the changes I am undertaking. I will also be happy to answer any questions at any time, so please just ask. I do ask that everyone treats me with the same respect they would expect on any normal day, and that my human rights are maintained.

Respectfully

Arielle
(was Michael)

The CEO of the company kindly sent out my letter to all staff of our group, and then because I work in a complex structure this was relayed by various colleagues to the other parts of my work organisation that didn't reach. He wrote:

Subject: Personal change

Dear all,

I would like to inform you about a personal change in our company.

You may have been noticing changes happening already during the last couple of weeks and months with the appearance of Mike. Mike has decided to change his gender along a long-dated personal disposition and is going to become Arielle from today onwards.

The subject might be unusual for most of you, but I would like to ask you
not to take it as anomalous but rather would like you to be open minded
about it. Such kind of a change requires a lot of personal courage and I
only can assume that it is also going along with a significant personal
challenge as well. Therefore we should not only respect this move of Mike/Arielle, but ideally support wherever possible.

I will certainly also fail in the next few days and weeks to adopt to this
change, but I would like to encourage you all to try your best to adapt as I will do as well. Let us be peers for each other and try to help us all to quickly catch-up. Mike/ Arielle will definitely have some understanding in case we fail, and please don’t take it personal in case you get corrected.

In principle needless to say, but nevertheless reiterated here, that
nothing else has changed.

All the best now for you, Arielle.


And all the best to all of you.


Hartmut

I am very glad to say that the support from colleagues has been amazing, I got a surprising number of emails and very personal congratulations. I was quite taken back by the kindness shown.

Anyone have some good advice for Facebook/Social Media changes?

So another update, after quite a lot has gone on. SCC and all has been discussed and I don't really wish to go over all that old ground. However some pretty crazy things have happened.

Just before SCC I finally got my HRT prescription, and am now well on my way to fixing my life. This is all well and good, and I feel happy. However after SCC and my US holiday I wanted to go full time at work, apart from a number of quite annoying problems with ID (being in a foreign country makes updating ID and things generally harder) I have now got to a point where I have come out at work. I am now living Full Time, and it feels great.
However as earlier I will paste my letter in case it us useful for anyone else. I plan to come out on Social media as well this week and I will be writing a more informal version for that too.

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to tell you about some changes that are happening within my life. These are going to have a little impact on everyone, and take some getting used too. However I hope that you will go with the changes, and find that I am a nicer person because of it.

For most of my life I have been living a life that isn't mine, as I have decided to cast off that life and live as myself. I am transsexual. That is, I am a woman. I have known about this situation since I was very young (6-8), and truly recognised the problem for the last 20 years. During my 38 years I have become more unhappy about myself, and that has resulted in me feeling very uncomfortable. Now I have come to the point where I need to address this, as transexuality isn't a choice, nor a preference, it is a medical condition. I have taken the decision now to act, so that I can have a happy life.

I feel I have been successful in my Male role, certainly at work, and I aim to continue that success going forward. I expect to hold myself to the same quality and standards going forward for my work, if not better. I do expect though as my life becomes less complex, I enjoy being myself more, to be a nicer person to work with, and hopefully more fun.

Over the last 18 months I have been working with the company, I have been subtly changing my appearance, I know most of you have noticed, and some have even commented. This was in preparation for what I am doing now. More recently I have had a team of professionals guide my way forward in treatment of my Gender Identity Disorder, and have come to the point were some of the biggest challenges have to be faced. In the diagnosis of my condition, there is a usual pattern governed by the Standards of Care, this is an internationally recognised approach to treatment.

I ask you all to call me by my new name of Arielle. The HR department have been very helpful and supportive, and have agreed to change my name on the computing systems, so there will be no confusion. I would really prefer that you use female pronouns (she/her/hers), and while it will take a little getting used too, if you make a mistake I hope you don't mind me correcting from time to time. I don't expect everyone to remember immediately, but I do ask that you try.

I know that many of you won't understand, and some won't agree with the changes I am undertaking. I will also be happy to answer any questions at any time, so please just ask. I do ask that everyone treats me with the same respect they would expect on any normal day, and that my human rights are maintained.

Respectfully

Arielle
(was Michael)

The CEO of the company kindly sent out my letter to all staff of our group, and then because I work in a complex structure this was relayed by various colleagues to the other parts of my work organisation that didn't reach. He wrote:

Subject: Personal change

Dear all,

I would like to inform you about a personal change in our company.

You may have been noticing changes happening already during the last couple of weeks and months with the appearance of Mike. Mike has decided to change his gender along a long-dated personal disposition and is going to become Arielle from today onwards.

The subject might be unusual for most of you, but I would like to ask you
not to take it as anomalous but rather would like you to be open minded
about it. Such kind of a change requires a lot of personal courage and I
only can assume that it is also going along with a significant personal
challenge as well. Therefore we should not only respect this move of Mike/Arielle, but ideally support wherever possible.

I will certainly also fail in the next few days and weeks to adopt to this
change, but I would like to encourage you all to try your best to adapt as I will do as well. Let us be peers for each other and try to help us all to quickly catch-up. Mike/ Arielle will definitely have some understanding in case we fail, and please don’t take it personal in case you get corrected.

In principle needless to say, but nevertheless reiterated here, that
nothing else has changed.

All the best now for you, Arielle.


And all the best to all of you.


Hartmut

I am very glad to say that the support from colleagues has been amazing, I got a surprising number of emails and very personal congratulations. I was quite taken back by the kindness shown.

Anyone have some good advice for Facebook/Social Media changes?

that's great!

So another update, after quite a lot has gone on. SCC and all has been discussed and I don't really wish to go over all that old ground. However some pretty crazy things have happened.

Just before SCC I finally got my HRT prescription, and am now well on my way to fixing my life. This is all well and good, and I feel happy. However after SCC and my US holiday I wanted to go full time at work, apart from a number of quite annoying problems with ID (being in a foreign country makes updating ID and things generally harder) I have now got to a point where I have come out at work. I am now living Full Time, and it feels great.
However as earlier I will paste my letter in case it us useful for anyone else. I plan to come out on Social media as well this week and I will be writing a more informal version for that too.

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to tell you about some changes that are happening within my life. These are going to have a little impact on everyone, and take some getting used too. However I hope that you will go with the changes, and find that I am a nicer person because of it.

For most of my life I have been living a life that isn't mine, as I have decided to cast off that life and live as myself. I am transsexual. That is, I am a woman. I have known about this situation since I was very young (6-8), and truly recognised the problem for the last 20 years. During my 38 years I have become more unhappy about myself, and that has resulted in me feeling very uncomfortable. Now I have come to the point where I need to address this, as transexuality isn't a choice, nor a preference, it is a medical condition. I have taken the decision now to act, so that I can have a happy life.

I feel I have been successful in my Male role, certainly at work, and I aim to continue that success going forward. I expect to hold myself to the same quality and standards going forward for my work, if not better. I do expect though as my life becomes less complex, I enjoy being myself more, to be a nicer person to work with, and hopefully more fun.

Over the last 18 months I have been working with the company, I have been subtly changing my appearance, I know most of you have noticed, and some have even commented. This was in preparation for what I am doing now. More recently I have had a team of professionals guide my way forward in treatment of my Gender Identity Disorder, and have come to the point were some of the biggest challenges have to be faced. In the diagnosis of my condition, there is a usual pattern governed by the Standards of Care, this is an internationally recognised approach to treatment.

I ask you all to call me by my new name of Arielle. The HR department have been very helpful and supportive, and have agreed to change my name on the computing systems, so there will be no confusion. I would really prefer that you use female pronouns (she/her/hers), and while it will take a little getting used too, if you make a mistake I hope you don't mind me correcting from time to time. I don't expect everyone to remember immediately, but I do ask that you try.

I know that many of you won't understand, and some won't agree with the changes I am undertaking. I will also be happy to answer any questions at any time, so please just ask. I do ask that everyone treats me with the same respect they would expect on any normal day, and that my human rights are maintained.

Respectfully

Arielle
(was Michael)

The CEO of the company kindly sent out my letter to all staff of our group, and then because I work in a complex structure this was relayed by various colleagues to the other parts of my work organisation that didn't reach. He wrote:

Subject: Personal change

Dear all,

I would like to inform you about a personal change in our company.

You may have been noticing changes happening already during the last couple of weeks and months with the appearance of Mike. Mike has decided to change his gender along a long-dated personal disposition and is going to become Arielle from today onwards.

The subject might be unusual for most of you, but I would like to ask you
not to take it as anomalous but rather would like you to be open minded
about it. Such kind of a change requires a lot of personal courage and I
only can assume that it is also going along with a significant personal
challenge as well. Therefore we should not only respect this move of Mike/Arielle, but ideally support wherever possible.

I will certainly also fail in the next few days and weeks to adopt to this
change, but I would like to encourage you all to try your best to adapt as I will do as well. Let us be peers for each other and try to help us all to quickly catch-up. Mike/ Arielle will definitely have some understanding in case we fail, and please don’t take it personal in case you get corrected.

In principle needless to say, but nevertheless reiterated here, that
nothing else has changed.

All the best now for you, Arielle.


And all the best to all of you.


Hartmut

I am very glad to say that the support from colleagues has been amazing, I got a surprising number of emails and very personal congratulations. I was quite taken back by the kindness shown.

Anyone have some good advice for Facebook/Social Media changes?

I can honestly say i am definitely not one of the most emotional people you will meet, but here I am with tears of joy for you. It looks like everything is going well and i`m really really happy for you.

You know how I feel, sweetgirl....so happy for you and so proud. Email sent.