The VA is up to something again.
Ok, something is going on in the VA since the last bit of shaking up over Transgender veterans.
I think it may actually be something positive, for a change.
They now have an officer going around from VA site to site, teaching all the department heads about transgender issues and "the Transgender condition and standards of treatment"; as well as policy changes in regards to being transgender. Which means, updated information and policies are being implemented as the new instructions are spread. The officer is conducting "Transgender sensitivity training" for everyone in the VA who comes into contact with any of the veterans. They are making it known that this is another issue on which personal prejudices are NOT tolerated, meaning it IS a matter under which they CAN be sued and charged with discrimination.
In addition, the new endocrinologist they assigned me to - the head of Women's Health at the VA center I go to - took one look at the mess the VA-paid surgeon made of my top surgery, and went ballistic. She seemed to feel I had grounds to sue, since he NEVER went back to perform needed touch-ups, adjustments, etc., leaving me with basically a botched double mastectomy. She has begun the move to have me shifted over to being her patient - as in, I'd see her as my primary care physician - which is fine by me. She also has begun a request for me to be seen by an outside plastic surgeon for repairing the botched job the other surgeon left me with - the "armpit boobs" and severe scarring.
I finally got the VA to redo my new VA ID card - they put an OLD picture of me - before transitioning - on it when they did it last time, and HAD BEEN DRAGGING THEIR FEET ON CORRECTING IT - until I got POLITELY in their faces with both my old ID - with an obviously male face and name - and the "new" ID, with male name but female face(which even THEY admitted looked nothing like I do today). They retook the photo, but it will be up to 2 weeks before my CORRECTED ID arrives.
I know I am making waves, and forcing some changes in VA policy - because I have had doctors there and other workers there tell me it is because of me and my "situation" that these changes are being made. I dislike having to "out" myself constantly there, but it seems the only way to make the VA wake up and take correct action. At least I know - from a few discussions - that my pains are making things easier on fellow transgender veterans. Ripples I have begun are already spreading out to touch other VA centers in other states,... I hope some good comes of all this - some LASTING good. If that's all I ever accomplish in this life, at least I will feel like I have done something with my time here.
A close friend commented that watching me deal with the VA was akin to watching films of Ghandi dealing with the British Empire's representatives,.... I do not think I should be compared to such leaders, as I am merely taking pages from the lessons they taught and applying them to my own life's challenges; I am glad when I hear someone else's struggles have been smoothed by the path I have hewn; but I am not on a par - or even close to being on par - with such historical figures. I know all too well in a few months time, I will have been entirely forgotten except by those I came in direct contact with. I am no great person; no hero, I'm just a guy who wants the right to live as other guys do, and be treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else. If I let them get to me, let them make me show my anger over their comments/actions/inactions, I let them win - but by keeping calm and remaining polite,... I make them feel uncomfortable about how they are trying to mistreat me, make them look bad, in the public eye; so they begin changing. I do not feed their ideas of how I should react, but I do persist until they do what they KNOW is right... Or until I find a way to USE their intolerance to achieve my goals... which REALLY eats them up inside!
I think it helps, knowing that change is inevitable. The VA, like any other bureaucratic organization, resists change tooth and nail - but change does come, a step at a time - and sometimes, by avalanches. Every positive change I can trigger or set in motion, is a step someone else will not have to suffer through.
But I NEVER wanted my life - or my transitioning - to become as public a thing as the VA is making it into. If I had been able to afford to make the changes financially on my own, I would never have taken this route, leaving the path-clearing to someone else.
My new endocrinologist told me she had heard about me months ago, and finally got to read my medical files. She is fascinated, because I "went about it all backwards" according to how they have recorded the information - but they left out a lot of key info, making it seem like I waited until after all the operations to ever say anything about being transgender. I told her I had "come out" right after the first surgery - the total hysterectomy - but they were so confused over my declaration, they didn't know how to react, and so left it out of my records.They kept ignoring my statements, until I demanded to see a gender specialist - almost 2 years after I had originally "come out" to VA doctors. By then, yes, the double mastectomy had been done too, and within a month, I was on HRT, taking Testosterone via the gel. It feels odd, knowing my case is being talked about by doctors and staff beyond those I may ever see.
I am interested to see if they will approve my being seen by an outside plastic surgeon, since their own VA one botched the job so very badly and refused to fix things himself. If they do, I want to read the letter of approval myself - to see if the wording allows for any creative interpretation that might begin clearing the way for the remaining surgeries I have still to get done. I doubt it will; but it never hurts to check. Limited funds means increasing creative interpretation of everything in an effort to improve survival and chances of attaining goals.
Meanwhile, I get the new endocrinologist switched over to being my primary care physician, and go from there.
Some days I feel like I am a mouse chipping away at the granite walls of a castle... eventually, the castle walls will have a hole through them,... if I just keep on chewing.
I think it may actually be something positive, for a change.
They now have an officer going around from VA site to site, teaching all the department heads about transgender issues and "the Transgender condition and standards of treatment"; as well as policy changes in regards to being transgender. Which means, updated information and policies are being implemented as the new instructions are spread. The officer is conducting "Transgender sensitivity training" for everyone in the VA who comes into contact with any of the veterans. They are making it known that this is another issue on which personal prejudices are NOT tolerated, meaning it IS a matter under which they CAN be sued and charged with discrimination.
In addition, the new endocrinologist they assigned me to - the head of Women's Health at the VA center I go to - took one look at the mess the VA-paid surgeon made of my top surgery, and went ballistic. She seemed to feel I had grounds to sue, since he NEVER went back to perform needed touch-ups, adjustments, etc., leaving me with basically a botched double mastectomy. She has begun the move to have me shifted over to being her patient - as in, I'd see her as my primary care physician - which is fine by me. She also has begun a request for me to be seen by an outside plastic surgeon for repairing the botched job the other surgeon left me with - the "armpit boobs" and severe scarring.
I finally got the VA to redo my new VA ID card - they put an OLD picture of me - before transitioning - on it when they did it last time, and HAD BEEN DRAGGING THEIR FEET ON CORRECTING IT - until I got POLITELY in their faces with both my old ID - with an obviously male face and name - and the "new" ID, with male name but female face(which even THEY admitted looked nothing like I do today). They retook the photo, but it will be up to 2 weeks before my CORRECTED ID arrives.
I know I am making waves, and forcing some changes in VA policy - because I have had doctors there and other workers there tell me it is because of me and my "situation" that these changes are being made. I dislike having to "out" myself constantly there, but it seems the only way to make the VA wake up and take correct action. At least I know - from a few discussions - that my pains are making things easier on fellow transgender veterans. Ripples I have begun are already spreading out to touch other VA centers in other states,... I hope some good comes of all this - some LASTING good. If that's all I ever accomplish in this life, at least I will feel like I have done something with my time here.
A close friend commented that watching me deal with the VA was akin to watching films of Ghandi dealing with the British Empire's representatives,.... I do not think I should be compared to such leaders, as I am merely taking pages from the lessons they taught and applying them to my own life's challenges; I am glad when I hear someone else's struggles have been smoothed by the path I have hewn; but I am not on a par - or even close to being on par - with such historical figures. I know all too well in a few months time, I will have been entirely forgotten except by those I came in direct contact with. I am no great person; no hero, I'm just a guy who wants the right to live as other guys do, and be treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else. If I let them get to me, let them make me show my anger over their comments/actions/inactions, I let them win - but by keeping calm and remaining polite,... I make them feel uncomfortable about how they are trying to mistreat me, make them look bad, in the public eye; so they begin changing. I do not feed their ideas of how I should react, but I do persist until they do what they KNOW is right... Or until I find a way to USE their intolerance to achieve my goals... which REALLY eats them up inside!
I think it helps, knowing that change is inevitable. The VA, like any other bureaucratic organization, resists change tooth and nail - but change does come, a step at a time - and sometimes, by avalanches. Every positive change I can trigger or set in motion, is a step someone else will not have to suffer through.
But I NEVER wanted my life - or my transitioning - to become as public a thing as the VA is making it into. If I had been able to afford to make the changes financially on my own, I would never have taken this route, leaving the path-clearing to someone else.
My new endocrinologist told me she had heard about me months ago, and finally got to read my medical files. She is fascinated, because I "went about it all backwards" according to how they have recorded the information - but they left out a lot of key info, making it seem like I waited until after all the operations to ever say anything about being transgender. I told her I had "come out" right after the first surgery - the total hysterectomy - but they were so confused over my declaration, they didn't know how to react, and so left it out of my records.They kept ignoring my statements, until I demanded to see a gender specialist - almost 2 years after I had originally "come out" to VA doctors. By then, yes, the double mastectomy had been done too, and within a month, I was on HRT, taking Testosterone via the gel. It feels odd, knowing my case is being talked about by doctors and staff beyond those I may ever see.
I am interested to see if they will approve my being seen by an outside plastic surgeon, since their own VA one botched the job so very badly and refused to fix things himself. If they do, I want to read the letter of approval myself - to see if the wording allows for any creative interpretation that might begin clearing the way for the remaining surgeries I have still to get done. I doubt it will; but it never hurts to check. Limited funds means increasing creative interpretation of everything in an effort to improve survival and chances of attaining goals.
Meanwhile, I get the new endocrinologist switched over to being my primary care physician, and go from there.
Some days I feel like I am a mouse chipping away at the granite walls of a castle... eventually, the castle walls will have a hole through them,... if I just keep on chewing.
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