First Endo Appointment and T Shot
Friday I had my first endocrinologist appointment with Dr. Morris Brown in Atlanta. I didn't know what medical center he was in so I went up and then back down Peachtree St. before I was able to kinda of guess where I thought I should go. It was at the Emory Medical Center which was HUGE but there was a reception desk and the woman working there pointed me in the right direction. I got there about 30 mins early and was taken back at about 1:30, still 15 mins before my appointment was even supposed to start. I got weighed (159lbs), gave a urine sample, and told the nurse I was there to start testosterone shots. She said that some people get it their first visit but lots don't. It would just be up to the doctor.
What seemed like forever later the dr came. He talked to me about some of the effects of testosterone (higher risk for heart disease, cholesterol, liver problems, ending of the menstrual cycle...) I held my own and tried to demonstrate to him that I had done my homework about the risks. He then asked if I knew how to self-inject. I told him I didn't know first hand but I had researched it and then described how and where to do the shot. I guess I passed cause he asked me what I needed him for. But while he was doing the physical that he gives before giving the prescription he found a thyroid nodule on the right side of my neck.
This is where the fun started. I had to get a sonogram like they do for pregnant women except on my throat. That showed that the nodule was solid, not fluid filled. So then they had to biopsy it by sticking 4 or 5 needles directly into the lump, one at a time. One of them made me bleed like a bitch. The lump is big enough that it can be seen when I stretch my head back and it feels to be about the size of a golf ball. I get results back on this Friday. They also took four vials of blood to do various tests. I guess he felt sorry for me though because after dismissing the nurse from her duties with me he called her back and told her to give me my shot.
She taught me how to draw up the T into the needle and gave me a few pointers on injecting myself. She gave me my shot it my right ass cheek. Let me tell you, it was the least painful thing I had done to me all day. It hurts more to get poked with a pencil. So now I have my T prescription. I'll be injected 100mg once every two weeks (biweekly) for four shots. Then I will do 150mg biweekly for four more shots. Then I will do 200 mg biweekly from then on. I am supposed to follow up with him in about six months to run some more tests and make sure everything is going ok.
The total cost for the visit was just under $900. Since Dr. Brown found that nodule the entire visit was eligible to be covered by insurance. But I apparently have a $2500 (soon to be $3000) deductible so I still had to pay for the visit myself. Dad said he would pay some of it back since medical expenses are the one thing I ask him to help me with.
Here is the breakdown of the $900 as best as I can remember, the receipt is downstairs and I am lazy.
Consultation: $300
Biopsy: $300
Sonogram: $200
Tests and T: $100
So if no lump had been found the visit would have been about $300-$400 depending on how many of the tests that are labeled as strange abbreviations on the receipt were for the nodule. I'll be getting my next few injections administered to my by the health center. My friend Gael wants to document my transition with her photography and she wants to be there when I get injected at least once. I ordered my T from Stroheckers today and hopefully that will get to me without any problems. Sarah and I took pictures Sunday night and I recorded a voice clip. You'll get the pictures sometime soon but I can't do the voiceclip until I make a website, if I'm that ambitious. Ok I think that is all for now.
What seemed like forever later the dr came. He talked to me about some of the effects of testosterone (higher risk for heart disease, cholesterol, liver problems, ending of the menstrual cycle...) I held my own and tried to demonstrate to him that I had done my homework about the risks. He then asked if I knew how to self-inject. I told him I didn't know first hand but I had researched it and then described how and where to do the shot. I guess I passed cause he asked me what I needed him for. But while he was doing the physical that he gives before giving the prescription he found a thyroid nodule on the right side of my neck.
This is where the fun started. I had to get a sonogram like they do for pregnant women except on my throat. That showed that the nodule was solid, not fluid filled. So then they had to biopsy it by sticking 4 or 5 needles directly into the lump, one at a time. One of them made me bleed like a bitch. The lump is big enough that it can be seen when I stretch my head back and it feels to be about the size of a golf ball. I get results back on this Friday. They also took four vials of blood to do various tests. I guess he felt sorry for me though because after dismissing the nurse from her duties with me he called her back and told her to give me my shot.
She taught me how to draw up the T into the needle and gave me a few pointers on injecting myself. She gave me my shot it my right ass cheek. Let me tell you, it was the least painful thing I had done to me all day. It hurts more to get poked with a pencil. So now I have my T prescription. I'll be injected 100mg once every two weeks (biweekly) for four shots. Then I will do 150mg biweekly for four more shots. Then I will do 200 mg biweekly from then on. I am supposed to follow up with him in about six months to run some more tests and make sure everything is going ok.
The total cost for the visit was just under $900. Since Dr. Brown found that nodule the entire visit was eligible to be covered by insurance. But I apparently have a $2500 (soon to be $3000) deductible so I still had to pay for the visit myself. Dad said he would pay some of it back since medical expenses are the one thing I ask him to help me with.
Here is the breakdown of the $900 as best as I can remember, the receipt is downstairs and I am lazy.
Consultation: $300
Biopsy: $300
Sonogram: $200
Tests and T: $100
So if no lump had been found the visit would have been about $300-$400 depending on how many of the tests that are labeled as strange abbreviations on the receipt were for the nodule. I'll be getting my next few injections administered to my by the health center. My friend Gael wants to document my transition with her photography and she wants to be there when I get injected at least once. I ordered my T from Stroheckers today and hopefully that will get to me without any problems. Sarah and I took pictures Sunday night and I recorded a voice clip. You'll get the pictures sometime soon but I can't do the voiceclip until I make a website, if I'm that ambitious. Ok I think that is all for now.