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Lesson Learned! Plan Further in Advance!

I recently tried to make an appointment with E3000 in Dallas to begin full facial hair clearing and discovered that they are booked clear through January! I told them I’d like to book for January but this throws some wrenches into my plans as well but it also opens an opportunity this fall.

I had been planning to visit a hair restoration surgeon both to get a consultation about possible hair transplants and to have an ACell treatment done of my scalp. There’s a new protocol just a few years old where ACell’s stem cell activator is used on the scalp in conjunction with platelet rich plasma taken from the patient, which in some cases, causes new hair growth for some patients. The reason I am optimistic about this treatment for myself, is I am already experiencing some hair regrowth on estrogen and spiro (t-blocker). I am hopeful that this can trigger more and improve the density of what I have elsewhere since hair transplants are taken from your own scalp and just moved around.

It’s not a guaranteed thing and I don’t expect it to replace the eventual need for hair transplants for the truly balding areas of my scalp. But I do hope that it can thicken existing hair and cause some new growth in some of those bald areas, making the hair transplants more effective when that day does come.

Those of you who transition and don’t have to deal with extensive male pattern hair loss are very fortunate. All this makes me wish I’d transitioned years ago before the hair loss was so bad but back then I was still trying to be someone I wasn’t. I try not to have regrets but this is one that pops up from time to time.

Go, go, Spiro!

Late yesterday afternoon I got some excellent news. Through the first nine months of my HRT, my endocrinologist and I have struggled with getting my T-levels down into the proper ranges. They are still not there yet but wow, in two months I dropped from 253 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL) to 74 ng/dL. I have always had low testosterone just barely above “normal” in the 250-350 range. Optimal is considered something like 400-600 and even 1200 is still considered within “normal” for males.

For females, I’ve seen the “normal” testosterone range (yes, females have testosterone) quoted as 15-70 ng/dL up to 30-95 ng/dL. So I am either right at the edge of normal or within normal female T-level ranges now.

That coupled with the last two months seeing more reaction from HRT than the prior 7 months and… I’m excited, really excited finally. I am actually beginning to see change. I just hope it keeps coming and doesn’t stop!

Every trans person who chooses to transition walks a unique road. They all bear similarities but none are the same. For me, I almost feel like HRT began 2 months ago when we finally started getting a handle on the T-levels. Oh there was some change before that but minimal and then it didn’t advance after the first few months.

I just hope that my ship has finally begun to set sail.