So I went in for surgery yesterday morning.

Well for me, early this one. My orchiectomy went off without any problems. I was out in three hours time. It kind of surprised my wife as I burn though anesthesia rather quickly. (It is hard to find meds that can really sedate me.)

It is difficult to believe that this surgery finally happened. It has been a dream of mine for most of my life. I tried to do the man thing and be a good husband, but really the T in my system was making me insane. Now my nightmare of having it again is gone. Eventually I want to go the full route, but it is not such a hurry now. And who knows, the changes to the medicare rules this year may go into effect as early as next year. If not, then we have other plans for the next few years.

This place has been my home for most of my journey. I have learned and grown so much from the people and stories here. I consider y'all to be my extended family. And when I get stressed out, I still find BCTS a place of refuge.

This last weekend, my wife and I started a vocal training class for the next three months. For her it is to get into the proper pitch range. For me, it is to unlearn the things I needed in order to be taken seriously in the workforce. Being a squeaky, petite male was always a disadvantage. In terms of the speech pathologist teaching the class, I had to "Butch Up" to make it work. Now, both those thing are a major advantage. I feel like I have finally grown into my body. Having grown breasts has helped too.

There have been so many surprises along the way. One of them has been learning to be a princess. My wife always goes out of her way to make me feel special. I've learned that when she is laughing or smiling at me, that it is a good thing. That it is okay to be cute now. And even though I am a nurturer, it is okay to sit back and be taken care of. Life is just so different than it use to be.

There is still a long way to go. But this event is a great milestone for me to look back and see how far I have come. I'm so proud of myself and all my sisters here. I'm even looking forward to the future. And I use to be so afraid of it before I began my transition. As Thanksgiving is coming onto us, I wish to say I am thankful to BCTS and everyone here.

Bright blessing to all my trans-sisters and friends here,
Cassie Ellen

PS: I know I should spell check this post, but my browser is not doing it for some reason, and I'm too tired to do it manually. Please pardon the mistakes.