Tag Archive | electrolysis

A Short Update For June

Jun20

Another month gone and I’ve been so busy!

The end of May saw the fourth facial hair removal session. This one has produced some visible differences. I suspect the next session, in mid-July, will produce even more noticeable differences.

I’ve been out with my daughter a few more times and had a good time each time. We went out on a Friday and had a great evening together, and then on Sunday, just two women out to brunch, even though it was Father’s Day and that was my daughter’s real reason for taking me out. She made me happy. We’re maybe going shopping together tomorrow, though she’s not felt as well lately so that may get postponed. I am planning to attend the Houston Pride parade on June 28th also so there’s lots going on for me.

I could comment about my sons, but there’s nothing to comment there. There never is. No cards, no letters, no emails, no phone calls, no text messages.. nothing. I’d forgive them what they’ve done but I don’t think they want that. Unfortunately, they closed that door, and only they can re-open it. And I will state that the recent circular logic rationalizations that were relayed to me about their behavior is unfortunate. Apparently they believe they can treat me as badly as they wish but if I ever say a single word about their behavior, it becomes their rationalization to never speak to me again. Talk about backwards!

On the work front things continue to move forward. We’re aiming at a coming out meeting in July or perhaps August. I have a meeting with HR and the new HR rep for our building on the 30th so I am looking forward to that, and to continued coordination about this. My finances still look on track to be able to afford the name and gender marker change actions in September or October. I am going to shoot for September, but we’ll see how that works out.

There’s been continued HRT goodness and I’m pleased overall on that front.

I realize this is just a short update, catching up, but I seem to be in a groove now, as things continue to move forward. I wish they could move faster but reality and finances are my key throttles right now and I have to deal with those as things allow. I have decided that after the legal paperwork is done, I’ll take a $3500 short detour and get the Matristem ACell + PRP scalp treatment to try to stimulate  more hair growth. And after that, all my savings will be towards GRS, which I am now strongly considering doing in Thailand, given the costs and that my insurance refuses to cover it.

Third E3000 Session Results

Apr11

Below are the before and after for session 3, on April 4, 2014. Of note to me, I am seeing significant change in the upper and lower lip area between session 1 before and session 3 before. The chin and jawline are still pretty dense.

E3000_session3_before_after

As a reminder to myself, costs were over $1100 for the first session, over $1000 for the second session, and $751 (and change) for the third session. The first two sessions involved two techs for 5 hours each (10 total hours) and 4.5 hours each (9 total hours) respectively. The third session was actually harder because it was one tech but I was in the chair for 7 hours total. There were breaks in there, including an hour for lunch, but total actual chair time was about just under 7 hours. So there was maybe 25% less hair total to be removed than during the first two sessions.

My next appointment is May 30th. I’m eager to see what the before photo looks like then.

I will note that my face has been smoother this time for longer than each of the first two sessions. I also took a few hours the second evening back and used tweezers to pull dead hairs that had broken off. It’s very easy to tell which are dead and which are not. The live hairs still hurt like the dickens when yanked! The dead ones don’t hurt at all, and occasionally slide out so easy that it’s funny. I got about a hundred dead hairs then couldn’t find any more, though I did yank 6 or so live ones along the way.

I will also note that now, a week after this session, there are still zero beard hairs showing this time yet. There are lots of very fine and small facial hairs, that many women often have, but no beard follicles yet. The process does appear to be slowly whittling down the number of facial hairs and HRT may be affecting new growth as well.

Second E3000 Session Results

Feb15

As promised, I am visually documenting my progress with E3000. I forgot to take an immediate pre-session before photo so I grabbed one at the 1.5 hour break mark. By that time the upper lip was largely cleared and work had also begun on the lower right side of the chin but it still conveys the amount of facial hair which was about the same as session one. I was told not to expect significant decrease in facial hair overall until we’ve completed at least four sessions but I will remark that there were more small “bald” spots on my face this time meaning less overall hair total.

E3000_session2_before_after_resized

 

The above were taken February 13th, 2014, in Dallas. The before photo was about 1.5 hours into the session and the after photo was immediately upon arrival back at my hotel around 5pm.

Second E3000 Session This Week!

Feb9

My second E3000 session will be later this week. I’ll be sure to take some before and after photos and try this time to get an immediate after photo to show the usual swelling as a reference.

I got a very nice PM from one of my daughter-in-laws. She’s so very sweet. I really wish I could see my new grandson but I know that will never happen. It’s something I have to move past. But I am thankful that she at least acknowledged me this once.

I’m going to be going to Memphis, Tennessee in March to see a very very dear friend and hopefully a second who may be coming down from Madison, Wisconsin that same week. I’m excited!

The ethinyl estradiol continues to work and better than the prior estrogen form I was taking. I’m finally noticing more feminization occurring so this is a good thing!

A friend of mine finally joined Facebook. I hope I can make her presence there more comfortable.

Life proceeds apace. I’m gathering materials to have handy for my coming out to HR and management in early March.

Small steps, baby steps, but onward I go.

 

My First E3000 Session Results

Dec27

I am home from my first session with E3000, on December 18th. They managed a full facial clear with two technicians in just over 10 hours total (5 hours per tech). Originally they expected a lot more hours so I got off easy. This was because neither my cheeks nor throat were as densely bearded as they initially feared based on the facial photos I’d submitted.

Their current rates are $110 per hour. My bill for this session was $1100, of which they already had part paid for by my deposit.

They use a sheathed needle so that the electrical and heat effects are only applied at the base of the hair follicle and not the length of the entire shaft which can cause more scarring and also damages collagen structures within the skin.

My face was very swollen and also very red in the immediate aftermath of those 10 hours. This is normal and their aftercare handout explains how to treat these conditions – ibuprofen, ice on the affected areas (20 minutes on/20 minutes off) and zinc oxide cream to promote healing.

The swelling goes down on its own over the first few weeks time.

Here is a before/after photo from the first session. The tiny hairs left in the after photo are not normal stubble but are dead hair fragments that are being pushed out by the skin as the swelling drops and the skin heals. Even with those though, it is very apparent that the first session removed massive amounts of facial hair. The picture doesn’t show it but the neck hair was as dense as the chin and about the same grey coloration.

I was informed that in 2-3 weeks I should begin really seeing the second growth wave begin. We’ll see how dense that is. The second session will likely be nearly as long as the first, but after that sessions should begin to be seriously fewer charge hours (probably switching to just one tech from session 3 forward).

You can also see some of the residual swelling (it was way worse three days ago!) and some of the residual redness as the skin heals.

Session1_before_after

 

The photo above was three days after the session, on December 21st. I had not shaved since December 14th. Today, December 27th, was the first time I’ve shaved since the session and the beard growth is very slow and very sparse at this point in time.

I do expect the beard growth to thicken somewhat over the next 6 weeks leading up to the second session, but to be slightly less dense than the first session. Hopefully, each subsequent session will be less and less, until this is all gone once and for all.