Interview with Tafad Tan

An interview I did today with three Cardiff creatives (Jason Philips - musician and producer, Alrick "Ninjah" Wilson - musician and occasional drag queen, and Max Lewy - poet), on such topics as Beijing, burlesque, decluttering, writing, being transgender, and boasting a little about famous relatives. YOUTUBE LINK

Two small achievements …

The ten weeks of my mandatory sick leave are now exhausted - more's the pity, as I was getting quite used to being a lady of leisure - and I am now back at work, albeit on reduced hours: for the present, only my weekend shifts, which I can just about manage on. Still, it...

Quick Update

Alea iacta est, or words to that effect ... Preliminaries and assessments are all done, and the surgery date is confirmed for April 11, and I will be admitted to Charing Cross Hospital the day before. Apprehensive as I am about my first ever trip to an operating theatre, prolonged stay on a hospital ward,...

Transgender trend ‘School resource pack’ – A teacher’s perspective

Much as I normally keep this blog apolitical, I will make an exception for this, as it strikes close to home. Recently, a group known as "Trangender Trend" (immediately setting off alarm bells) produced a rather slick-looking PDF brochure titled, rather disingenuously, "Supporting gender non-conforming and trans-identified students in schools": disingenuously, as even a cursory...

Acceleration.

Last week, not expecting to hear anything so early, I received a letter from Charing Cross Hospital with the details of my first outpatient appointment with them on the 20th of February. Annoyingly, that is the day of a dance class, so I stand a fair chance of missing it (and even if I don't,...

The magic S word …

It is testimony to how long the process of transition on the NHS is that I have posted nothing on trans matters for months now, even though that is ostensibly the whole purpose of this blog: certainly the reason I was encouraged to begin it, though I was afraid it would make a very stop-start...

T-minus 24 Hours

This is just a quick but significant news update to report that as of this time tomorrow, my husband Cal - who has been waiting since early 2015 to receive treatment for his gender dysphoria - will finally be getting his first dose of testosterone. This has been long delayed by a combination of NHS...

Transition Update – Second GIC Appointment

Yesterday I went up to London for my second Gender Identity Clinic appointment. It had been intended that I should be referred for surgery at this stage. Unfortunately, there was a snag ... After my first appointment last year, my GP was instructed to put me on a certain regime of feminising HRT, with a...

Jumping Hoops – A Rant on the Welsh NHS

Today, as I learn that my legal caseworker is leaving her job and my MP can't be of any help in local health issues, I am far from being in the best frame of mind... Let's quickly recap... Early last year, my husband and I went to our GP to finally pursue gender reassignment, as...

Year of Politics and Procrastination…

I always suspected this blog would tail off rather than go out with a bang, alas, but although I must take part of the blame for that in a sense it has been unavoidable: in the early stages of transition one's mood was of constant panic, and it was a matter of priority to keep...