Review of 2010 - part 1

Quite a few of the blogs that I follow have done a review of the last year so to keep up with everyone else here is my review of 2010.

January

A couple of things happened.

The first was that I responded to a poll on Miss D's blog about what people were going to do in order to make this year special. There were several things that I listed:-

• Wearing studs and earrings more often – I always wear one stud but on a number of occasions whether its been going to the salon (beauty and hair), going out running and cycling, simply being at home or going out shopping or places, I've managed to wear pairs of studs. Frustratingly I've also lost one of a pair on a number of occasions.

• Keeping my body hair free – Throughout the year I've been going to the beauty salon on a regular basis for a full body waxing. Eventually that proceeded to eye brow wax and finally eye lash tints (the last being the one that made Zee really happy as it was the tint she'd wanted to do for a while).

• Getting my nails done – I've not been to the salon to get my nails done but I've done my best to keep them long and also with some matte polish on them. Towards the end of the year I got out of the habit of doing this.

• Going out in public – In the summer and also in December I managed to achieve this when I visited Sugar and Spiced and Jo took me for a walk to the local cemetery for a photo shoot in the summer and Jo and I simply went for a short walk before I came home after my last visit. On both occasions I drove back home from Portsmouth as Jenny as popped in to see my hairdresser. In the summer I also met up with a friend and told her my plans and we chatted for an hour at her place before I eventually drove home arriving at midnight.

The other thing that happened this month was that I went back to see my GP and asked her to refer me to the Gender Identity Clinic, or at least to refer me to the local health trust so that I could be assessed to see if I was suitable to be referred to the GIC. My GP was extremely sympathetic to my situation and wrote off to get me an appointment.

February

Having been to see my GP in January I started to prepare a few people for what I had planned. I spoke with some friends and as a result also ended up talking with some of the leadership of the church I attend. As a result of this I had someone to talk to when I needed it who actually knew me but also began the process of withdrawing from some of the things I was involved with.

I also had a letter confirming my appointment for an initial assessment at a local hospital.

Finally February saw me get a makeover at the beauty salon. The experience was fantastic as Zee really does know her business.

March

This month saw me have my initial assessment to see if I should be referred for gender reassignment. The assessment took two sessions. The first was half an hour where I was asked lots of questions. The second took 5 minutes and was simply to confirm that I was going to be referred to a psychiatrist before I could be referred to the GIC. Soon afterwards I got the date for my appointment with the psychiatrist.