Week 15 Story: The Chance for a Change

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Nick was sitting in his therapist’s office absorbing all the experiences he had had the past year. Nick was dealing with gender dysphoria and could feel the question coming up. He was about to ask for Hormone Replacement Therapy. He could remember the feeling of the bra he had been wearing for the past 4 months and always got self-conscious when he was wearing it. Nick was a chubby man and was about five foot six inches tall. He had been thinking about the hormonal change his HRT would make and was also thinking about the changes in his body he would experience. His bra would eventually begin to fit right as the breast tissue began to form. He was excited to be able to identify as the gender he so longed to become. 

Ruby is what he planned to change his name to. He had gone through all the therapy that was needed to get his hormone referral letter. He had even gotten used to the change in pronouns. He was ready for a change. The therapist came into the room. 

“How are you doing today Nick?” the therapist asked. 

“I am doing ok I would feel better if you would call me Ruby,” Ruby said. 

“Very well. Ruby tell me about your experiences this week?” The therapist asked. 

“Well, this week I experimented with makeup and felt happy because I could finally see the girl that was inside but ultimately it didn’t last long because the male facial structure came through,” Ruby said 

“We have now reached the point where I need to ask. Do you feel the need to medically transition into a woman?” Asked the therapist.

“Yes, I was just about to ask for a Hormone Replacement Therapy reference letter. I feel like I am ready to make the medical step into transition,” Ruby shifted in her seat as she told the therapist this. 

“Very good, I shall write up your referral after our session and you will have it before you leave here,” the therapist said as she took notes on her notepad, “I think you will find this change to be quite nice.”

As Ruby heard this she became excited and when they finished the session she gladly took the referral and traveled home to enjoy her day off from work. On the way home she remembered that she had a doctor appointment around noon that day. She checked her watch and saw that the time was about ten thirty. She knew she needed to eat lunch before her doctor appointment and so she stopped at the taco bell on the way to the doctor’s office. She got her usual and was soon on her way to the doctor. 

When Ruby got to the doctor’s office she checked in and told the receptionist that she wanted to be called Ruby and that she used female pronouns. 

The receptionist replied in a kind manner, “Thank you for letting us know. We will put that on your chart.”

 Ruby thanked her and went to the waiting area to prepare for the doctor visit. Soon a nurse in a pair of pink scrubs came out and called out for her. 

“Ruby” the nurse called 

Ruby walked over to the nurse and was escorted into a room where the nurse got her vitals. 

“What are we seeing you for today Ruby?” the nurse asked. 

“I have a hormone referral for you today. It has been cleared from my therapist that I suffer from gender dysphoria and I would like to transition into my gender,” Ruby replied excitedly. 

“I will let the doctor know and you can give it to him when he comes in,” the nurse said 

“Thank you!” Ruby exclaimed as a wave of peace came over her.

Soon the doctor was in the room. The doctor took the note and read it then told Ruby that he would be back with her prescription. A few minutes passed and the doctor came in with the prescription of a testosterone blocker and her first batch of estrogen. The dosage was quite small but Ruby knew that she needed it to be small so as to not do damage to her body. The doctor told her the importance of exercise and diet while she was on her medication. The medication was a lifelong commitment and Ruby was well on her way to becoming the woman she always wanted to be. Ruby left the doctor’s office and when she sat in her car she cried for the first time tears of happiness. 

She drove to her local pharmacy and received her medication as the doctor had faxed over the prescription. Ruby took the first testosterone blocker and the first pill of estrogen and knew that in a couple of minutes her mind would become at ease and her dysphoria would be lessened. She drove home to her apartment to call her mother. 

Her mother was happy for her and she knew that her daughter would be happier once she was on the hormones. Ruby walked to her kitchen and grabbed a glass of water to drink. As time passed she became more relaxed and began to feel like herself. She knew that in a couple years she would be able to have the surgeries that would ease her gender dysphoria greatly. She completed the writing that she wanted to do while sitting at the kitchen table and then went to change into her pajamas so that she could sit down with a movie and eat popcorn. Ruby would be going through a lot of changes now that she had begun her hormones…

…to be continued…

Author’s Note:

I wanted to take the theme of the little mermaid of change and write about a transwoman who longed so much to be able to transition that she had finally made it on hormones.  The experiences of many transwomen are similar to this story except that the access to medical is not as simple as this story. Enjoy.

Bibliography:

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson