You know, it can be disturbing when one visit's one's primary care doc, and gets referred for extra tests...

It's been a nice two weeks as "Annette", even though without much in the way of ID that provies it. That last was rectified today - with an hour at the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC - the kinder licensing agency)... I now have my drivers license all up to date with my new name! :-) (As some of you may recall, the gender marker was fixed two years ago.) And, yes, that felt good. In Saturday's mail, the "certified" copy of the court order for my name change arived from my Lawyer (It's gone to the state, and come back faster than the clerks at the courthouse can get around to making the four copies I paid money for...). And, I ordered my new Social Security card (I'll have to visit the Social Security again next month, to fix the gender marker, but that's another story...)

I've also got my first Credit Card in my new name! (I fixed my name with my insurance company at the same time, and loe and behold, my auto insurance rate DROPPED when they fixed my gender marker!)

My name change is off to the "administrators" to do their magic, so my name's set up when I get "back"... Get back? you may ask... (If you've not been following along, I'm scheduled for Facial Feminization Surgery (FFS) with Dr. Spiegel on Thursday... If something else doesn't get in the way!) So, I'll be out on a Medical Leave of Absense for a week (first week out comes from my accumulated sick time and vacation - LOA for the rest.)

I'm out to several colleagues now - and on Friday, the rest will get clued in (something about mandatory training where they have to provide HR or the north American head of our organization a good reason not to attend...) at some training and will receive a letter from me following the training. So far, all is smooth - smoother than I had any expectation. I'm out to most (if not all) of my family now... (I think there are a few exceptions.) And, quite a few other online friends. Such a relief.

I'm me "full time" now... One thing I've noticed is that out of town was actually easier than back in town - going to stores/interacting with folks I've interacted with for years. So far, no problems, but I find I approach these acquaintences with more trepidation than I did close friends.

Today, I had a followup on my pre-op physical... My White Blood Count (WBC) was way up (my doc ordered another blood test to make sure it's not spiking) - well more than expected (My WBC is normaly about double normal). Then, 'cause the surgery is likely to be over six (6) hours, she wants me to have a cardiology clearance too. Frustrating to not yet know that I'll actually be done with my surgery this time on Thursday. Well, I think I'm feeling good... So, I'm hoping these checks are all good. Assuming they are, I'll likely be offline for a few days starting Thursday.

Thanks for reading.
Annette