I was online looking for more comfortable Dialtors, and stumbled into what is said to be a major GID conference by the American Psychological Association on May 18th. I don't understand what some of the issues are and might even disagree with other T folk. I did write one of the speakers for the event, and made a comment that those on heavy doses of Psychotropic drugs are not competent to make the SRS decision. Any one who can should perhaps attend.
Gwendolyn
Comments
snigger
comfort and 'dialtors' is an oxymoron :).
Unless as I understand it, you are talking the organic ones. 8).
Kim
Psychotropic drugs and SRS
One of the uniqe things about my endocrinologist is he knows I am on two psychotropic drugs and both are addictive. I take a very moderate dosage and am able to function just like I did before all the chemcial imbalances in my brain.
Not once has the discusssion come up saying I will never be able to have srs because of the psychotropic dugs I am taking. if I were to stop taking them today within hours I could go into seizures.
One of the things I've learned since being a member of NAMI and I do enjoying learning about mental illness is that if one is not a part of the mental health community as a consumer then one really does not understand the workings of a mental illness.
I function because I take my meds, I take my meds so I can function.
I am involved in NAMI as a Facilitator, State trainer for Facilitators and a Mentor for a relapse prevention program.
I'm getting closer to SRS. My blood sugars is back to normal (with insulin)my blood presure is normal and my mental moods are just like someone who has no mental illness. I make decisions in parts of my life I used to balk at
Am I better than ony one else, not really am I worse, not at all. I can say without feeling as though I've overstepped my bounds I am a normal person.
Jill Micayla
May you have a wonderful today and a better tomorrow
Jill Micayla
Be kinder than necessary,Because everyone you meet
Is fighting some kind of battle.
Stents
Gwen, to my knowledge Duratek in Canada is the only remaining manufacturer of stents. Until I moved on to other markets the stents my company had pioneered were the most comfortable, the other two soon changed their products and fell in line. About a year later two of us stopped making them leaving Duratek. I know the young lady at Duratek and she is really nice, makes an outstanding product at a reasonable price.
Comfort in dilation is a relative term meaning the least stress and discomfort while still doing an effective job.
Duratek in Canada
The domain for this company appears to be for sale:
http://www.duratek.sk.ca/
Which augurs poorly for its continued health as a company.
Perhaps they're still in business at a physical address, but it's much less convenient to check.
These appear to be alternative suppliers of something, although I have no idea whether they're either less or more suitable:
http://www.soulsourceenterprises.com/
http://www.femistent.com/
http://www.vaginismus.com/
In web searches, using the spelling: Vaginal Dilator
may yield better results, although many manufacturers use the same phrase to refer to the standard Spoonbill Speculum as used in a gynoecological pelvic examination.
An alternative search is: Vaginal Stent or Vaginal Stents
Puddin'
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
APA meeting in San Fran. Sessions on DSM and GID
Gwen,
The APA is finding out there is a lot of controversy about the proposed DSM rules on GID due to be finalized in 2012. There is a LOT of dissatisfaction with the selection of the DSM-V committee, as over half of them are from or are affiliated theoretically with CAMH in Canada, who hold beliefs that GID, GD and TS, etc. are paraphillias like pedaephillia, necrophillia, etc. and thus should be considered a disorder and moral failing (though how a sickness may be seen as a moral failing is difficult for thinking people to understand).
Others point to recent advances in DNA research that seem to show that being TS/TG may be genetic, and therefore a birth defect along with intersex folks, or that at worse it is due to developmental hormonal issues in the womb, but again a birth defect. In other words, a medical condition exacerbated by the refusal/reluctance of the greater society to accept this genetic variation (bringing about depression, etc part of the diagnosis for GID). This goes along with findings that there are differences in the brains of TS folk and "normal" people, with TS women and men mirroring the brain characteristics of the gender they know themselves to truly be. This is in large part where the battle lines are drawn.
Part of the APA wish to de-pathologize TS much in the same manner that gays were depathologized in the 1970s during similar controversy. Some believe that the push for maintaining the pathology is based on monetary greed and power, as CAMH derives a LOT of their income from government grants to deal with this. Blanchard who is the primary push for the use of the term "autogynophilia" to characterize MtF TS is seen as out of touch with modern basic research, and his ally and collegue K. Zucker as well. Both these people equate being TS with homosexuality, claiming that the desire to be a woman is to remove the guilt of homosexuality. He and Kenneth Zucker, both of CAMH, find it inconvenient for there to be F2M TS as they both assume there is no such thing (claiming all women are bisexual thus there is no lesbian and no F2M) to make their research fit their theory. Zucker is the Chair of the DSM revision committee, and Blanchard is in charge of the Paraphillias subcommittee. Others who have been influenced by their "research" and attitudes are part of the GID subcommittee, such as the chair of the GID committee, Peggy Cohen-Kettinis. Her research often tries to support that of the CAMH crew, but often comes to different conclusions, so she may be a wild card. It is interesting that none of these people are invited speakers at the APA, though of course, none of them are psychiatrists, merely psychologists and sex researchers. Why they were placed in charge of the DSM revision is an interesting question, but easily answered by the fact that few psychiatrist's chose to deal with GID, GD, IS or whatever alphabet soup it may have been assigned. They prefer to deal with more "disruptive" failings they can prescribe expensive medications for, and teach.
Some in the TS community want to see the de-pathologization happen, while others fear disturbing the status quo. Some of these fear the change would prevent them from being declared disabled, and therefore funded for hormones and other things without having to work. The latter fear is unfounded, as there are other things these folks could be declared disordered for, another of the fallacies of the DSM. Others fear that if GID diagnosis is eliminated, then insurance companies that can now be bullied at times into funding surgery would have another reason to reject such claims.
-------------.......-------------------
Published in on-line news services.
"The American Psychiatric Association continues to churn out PR
http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Newsroom/NewsReleases/2009News...
For Information Contact: For Immediate Release:
Eve Herold, 703-907-8640 April 23, 2009
[email protected] Release No. 09-27
Jaime Valora, 703-907-8562
[email protected]"
aroL
CaroL
My own experience
On one hand is my feeling that if I had not been dramatically over dosed, I would have been able to deal with this slowly and get a more peaceful outcome. On the other hand, my friend says that I'd had a life time to deal with it and had not done it. My being mishandled and outed by the Medical/psych community only brought the inevidable to fruition in her opinion.
I recieve an in come because in my state, GID is a legal disability. I keep trying to be what I used to be in terms of competence, but I am slowly tumbling to the idea that I simply am not as strong as I was. It's all the losses and rejections, and my own paranoia. I'm not sure I am paranoid because some people really do screw with us, and it is really getting to me. My own shrink is concerned that I could get violent and hurt those who so richly deserve it, but you know, it just is not in me.
I am still insisting that more public education, and compassion will make T folk a lot healthier. I'd like to still be working but can't imagine how I'd get my hands off my face long enough to open a live panel, climb a ladder, or pull wire. Then of course there is the matter of all the puddles I'd leave where I worked. Naw, bad idea.
Gwendolyn