New To The Group

[Guest SimonV]

Hey guys, I'm Simon a 27 year old guy from NC. I've been living full time since 2001 and my name was legally changed in 2002. I have a genetic illness that caused me to have excess Testosterone in my body that naturally took me to a low level for a bio guy (if anyone's interested in that, it's cool to ask questions. I don't mind). I had the tumor removed last September so now I'm finding myself in a situation where for my own personal safety I have to get on T. There are quite a few people who are starting to raise eyebrows to the fact that I look so young as it is. I'm probably going to go with Sam Allen as far as therapy. Not too sure about him, but he does it on the phone which works with my life pretty well. There are days I wish I kept the tumor mind you, but I had to get it cut out to see if it was cancerous....what's the use of passing as a guy in a casket...ya know? Well, before I ramble on more I'll end this...I look forward to getting to know you all.

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Hey WELCOME

We are all interested in each other and wow - what a story. All that is new to me - and I look forward to hearing your entire story. You are posting in the FTM forum but us MTF types also snoop around - and we are all in the same boat it seems.

So WELCOME - WELCOME - WELCOME

You may just have come to the very best place on earth.

Lizzy

[Guest Zabrak]

Welcome to Laura's Playground, bro. And Lizzy's right, we all enjoy hearing about eachother here. I think thats one thing that makes Laura's Playground so great.

Hope all your medical stuff goes well.

[Guest YaManShane]

Welcome. I hope the best for you. Hope you enjoy the playground

[Guest Drew]

hey Simon welcome to the forums. it's good to have you here. and we're always interested in hearing others' stories here. we're a friendly bunch

[Sally]

Welcome!

We are so glad to have you here and you are right, what good would it do to be a guy in a casket?

Take care of yourself and enjoy the playground.

No one has offered you any virtual comfort food - we usually offer hot cocoa and cookies to the gals around here, but you can opt for some of my Vanilla and Almond Iced tea and some pepperoni pizza - thin crust or deep dish?

Feel free to ask questions, state opinions and just look around - have fun - the rules aren't that hard to follow and they make this a sfe place to come and be yourself!

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Jackson]

Hey, welcome aboard.

I may have to ask you questions later about that medical condition. I'm currently in grad school getting my Doctor of Pharmacy degree. I'll be doing the endocrine (hormone) section I think in about a year.

Anyway, welcome!

[Guest Evan_J]

Dude, your future here looks good you got mucho welcomes from some very awesome peeps AND food. I hope you enjoy it here. And just like its been pointed out, feel free to ramble whereever you like on the playground. I don't think anybody bites [looks for bite marks**]....nope, no bititng. Congrats on findin a therapist. I know what a big moment that is.

Hope to see you around.

Evan

[Guest leo]

welcome dude, have a beer on me!

[Guest Donna Jean]

Hi ya, Simon!

Nice to meet ya! I see that you're meeting some of the really cool people here! And while you're hanmmerin' down that pizza and tea of Sally's, be sure to enjoy your time here at the Playground...no pressure here...just help, support, good company..you name it!

So, kick back , have fun and enjoy!

XXOO

Donna Jean

[Guest Martin]

Welcome!

[Guest bronx]

Hey Martin, welcome and hi, looking forward to seeing you around.

[Guest Crossroads]

I'm going to be lame and just say hi for now! I'm sure we'll get to know each other better soon enough.

[Guest My_Genesis]

Hey Simon! Welcome. Hmm I think it's time we added food icons in addition to emoticons

I'd def. be interested in hearing your story in detail, I'm planning on getting my T levels (as well as possibly some other things) tested next month because I feel like there are some subtle clues...

anyways you can pm me if you prefer.

Very odd how humans work, you're ftm and end up with a tumor that causes high T levels...I find that kinda fascinating when things like that happen.

Yeah I'm a total science nerd. lol

And yeah like Elizabeth said women can be real busybodies sometimes

[Guest SimonV]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and answer those who were interested in my health stuff. What I have is a rare genetic condition called Von Hippel Lindau. In a nutshell it's the third chromozone of my DNA is messed up and it causes tumors to grow in oxygen rich areas of the body, but the only place that the tumors get cancerous

is in the kidneys. It all started in Sept of 2007 when I had a really bad sore muscle pain in my throat that felt like I had strep. I went to the doc twice but they couldn't figure out what the deal was so they ordered a cat scan that showed a tumor on the right side of my spinal cord that was attached to my brain. I had it removed in Oct 07 and it hurt like a mother but I healed just fine.

The tumor everyone here is interested in was on my right ovary. It was a 5cm fibroid tumor that was producing Testosterone. They said it probably first started growing when I hit puberty. Basically I passed and do pass without any additional hormone treatments. I have broad shoulders and can almost grow a beard but when I shave I look really young. My voice also makes me sound young but I'm blessed that it didn't stay high lol. That tumor was removed last Sept and has now got me rushing to find a way to get on T asap because I'm stealth....yeah yeah I know it's frowned upon by many but I'm generally a shy person so I'm not going to be an activist.

My next surgery will be around March for the tumors on my right kidney, and then they said I should be good on surgeries for atleast 3 to 5 years or more. Yeah, it's odd because I'll have cancer in me my whole life but it only grows like 1mm a year...most tumors have to be atleast 5cm to spread. My surgeons are at the National Institute of Health so I'm not too worried...I've got the best in the world working on me. In a way I kinda am an activist I guess without wanting to be, because they are going to study me and my transition as the first known Transsexual with VHL.

A question for you all:

Is anybody on here also on YouTube? I had a channel for awhile and am thinking of putting it back up but I do go there and watch videos often.

[Guest leo]

interesting story, if they know your condition and you have technically been on natural T since puberty and have grown up that way, when they removed the cancer they should of put you on T beacuse you was already getting it.

that must be well annoying

[Guest My_Genesis]

Wow, that's amazing. I'm jealous...I've always wanted to be studied

I have a youtube account and I watch a lot of ftm vlogs and such but I don't make any videos myself lol.

There are several users here who have vlogs...there's a thread not too far back about vlogging, I can't remember all the usernames.

[Guest Crossroads]

I'm on YouTube as JDXAD

And the others are listed in this post:

http://www.lauras-playground.com/forums/in...?showtopic=4666

[Guest Evan_J]

Dude, thats a lot to be goin through. I hope it all occurs as you'd like. And I hope you are fine.

I have a buddy thats a researcher at the NIH (her specialty is tumors of the brain) , you're in good hands.

[Guest My_Genesis]

I'm on YouTube as JDXAD

And the others are listed in this post:

http://www.lauras-playground.com/forums/in...?showtopic=4666

lol thanks for that. I was too lazy to go looking for the thread link

[Guest Jackson]

You're in the best hands this country has if you're going to doctors at the NIH. Wow. I'm impressed.

[Guest Crossroads]

no problem