Tantrika said:

bloodsheen said:

Tantrika said:

for real tho
my need for the bandana and hiding from the sun all summer has been due to getting laser hair removal
had to avoid a tan for it to maximimze effectiveness (my heart goes out to dark-skinned people who don't even get the option)
and in the days immediately after each monthly appointment, had to keep the lasered skin covered up to prevent permanent splotch markings on my face

would argue the laser hair removal to be the best part of my summer, but the enjoyable part is the outcome of multiple sessions, rather than the memorability of any given session having my face zapped

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Huh, I had no idea it was such a difficult recovery. I've heard it hurts like a bitch

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it is more-or-less like having someone snap a rubber band against my face 40 or 50 times; it is annoying and makes me flinch over and over
but as someone who suffers from chronic pain it is a brief nuisance compared to my daily aches

part of the flinching may also be having light-blocking goggles on for the process; sometimes being unable to see and caught up in the unknowing anticipation of something makes it more severe to experience

to my comprehension, will have to go for some sort of laser hair removal on my genitalia in order to facillitate the operation
kind of thinking a sensation like a rubber band snapping against testicles is going to be more of an issue

also also,
figure that if my approval had gotten through for my hormone treatment earlier, the laser would be more painful due to increased sensitivity of skin
am going in for another 6 months of treatment for my face, and hopefully going to get onto hormone therapy sometime in September barring further issues
so may find out the hard way yet
Dx

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bloodsheen said:

I had no idea you were trans, the laser hair removal makes a lot more sense now. I've heard hormone treatment is pretty intense, actually changes your personality to an extent. Plus once you start, stopping becomes a nightmare.

I'm not proud of it like those weird people at the parade, but I'm not afraid to admit I'm pretty glad I'm just a straight dude. A friend of mine from college came out as trans, which was definitely a moment of "Oooooooohhhhh that explains a lot." He went through a lot of identities before he settled on trans. We had a falling out for totally unrelated reasons before he figured it out. We were both going through some shit, I'd imagine that contributed to our conflict quite a bit.

Good luck with your treatment, I hope it goes as smoothly as can be expected

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thank you for the well wishes
smooth is my hope for my face -- am already past having a 5'o'clock shadow and most of my face stays smooth for a good 24+ hours after shaving
the moustache and goatee area still developing stubble are my main reason for qualifying for another 6 months treatment at all
would love to not have to shave at all any more; did not get on hormone therapy soon enough to solve that tho, so burning them off is the next best thing

Do recognize the very real concerns involved with the hormone therapy -- honestly my biggest concern tho is not that stopping will be difficult
but rather, in the case that the world faces a doomsday scenario, my body won't be able to handle a lack of access to medical hormones

bloodsheen said:

Well it's my understanding that before the SR surgery you have to stop hormones anyway because of the high risk of blood clots.

Consider it practice for doomsday

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