u/Secure_Fun1529

I have to stop consuming gay media

Tagging this as NSFW just because of mentions of body parts and the concept of the deed, but nothing graphic or explicit. Better safe than sorry.

Watched Heated Rivalry with a friend who LOVES IT recently. I liked it. I just have such a hard time with shows that have two cis gay men in a relationship and it's so *lovely*. Ofc they have their issues, but that's not what I'm talking about. I just can't get over the grief of never being able to have that.

Even if folks use the right pronouns, even if I pass in my face and with my clothes on, even if the sound of my voice is right, I will never be cis. I will never have what they have. I will never be able to experience that kind of physical connection, and any romantic connection I do have will always be underscored by the insecurity that they will always see me as a woman, or as a man who is wrong. I hate wanting something I can never have. I pass fine in general, but that's with clothes on. Underneath, my body is all kinds of weird. Curves and fat in the wrong places, very wide hips, a vulva, knees that angle the wrong way, a chest that only exists because of a surgeon's delicate work. Even if I lost some weight and built more muscle, I cannot change my bones. I cannot change my history. I cannot change the way that I am. I will never get to experience intimacy in that way, a way that feels holy and pure and perfect in my mind.

I haven't been in a relationship in a long time. I am afraid to be, and everyone is disgusted and perturbed by me anyways. I will always be a woman to the mlm people I know. And to any of the female or nonbinary folks I know, I am a man lite. I'm different than a real man. I'm nice and feminine and not like those evil cis men they hate. I'm still a man, but only a man on their terms. And even if this isn't true, if they don't think that, they don't need to. I have already decided that it is what they think for them. I am not cis, so I will never be secure in being seen the same way as a cis person. Because I'm not.

And people will say "trying to pass is silly, you're a real man no matter what" and "just go t4t" and I get that. I understand that works for you. It does not work for me. I am a social creature situated in a social world. In my own eyes, it is hard for me to be a man unless others also wholly recognize me as one. It doesn't matter as much outside of dating, but inside of that? It is important to me. It is important to me that my partner can see the whole of me and my body and see me as a man. And not only say that, but truly believe it. And I want to believe it too. It is hard for me to see my own body in the context of those situations and understand myself as being a man. Why would someone see my wide hips and vulva and see me as a man? They wouldn't. That doesn't make any sense. And as for t4t, I'm not against it, but I don't want to wlak around the entire world on a sheet of ice. I dont want to shrink my dating people to only trans people. I want to be understood by other people too. I want the same privileges as a cis man in the dating world. I don't want to have to feel like some little freak who can only date other trans people because he's so fucking sensitive. And even then, I won't believe they actually will see me as myself. Even to another trans person, especially in an explicitly t4t relationship, I will always be trans before I am a man.

I don't want to be a TRANS man. I just want to be a man. I don't necessarily want to be a cis man either, there's no point in that, but I envy the way they are just men. There's no modifier. They just are. I just want to be a man. And I feel like a fucking girl. A little girl. Like that is all anyone will ever see underneath my clothes and posturing.

Also, no hate to anyone who doesn't care about passing or is exclusively t4t. That's cool. It's just not for me!

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u/Secure_Fun1529 — 4 days ago

Scared of the rain after burial

Hi everyone. My little bunny girl, Maeve, died yesterday afternoon from cancer. She was the sweetest, most curious, sassiest little girl in the world. We gave her mate time to see her body and understand what had happened, and we buried her in the garden last night.

It's probably just anxiety and grief talking, but we are getting strong thunderstorms today and I am worried about the rain. She's not in a box, just a cotton sheet so that it will decompose with her over time. She's buried a few feet down, maybe about 3? We also have some large rocks on the top in case of predators. I don't really know what I think the rain will do, I'm worried it will flood and wash her up and I'll have to see her like that and know I didn't protect her. It's hard to imagine her out in the rain. Can the rain actually do anything to her other than speed up the decomposition process?

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u/Secure_Fun1529 — 23 days ago

Worried about DVT

Hi all. I had MPFL+TTO 8 days ago, and have been recovering really well. Until a few hours ago when I developed a low grade fever. Under 100 degrees still, I have a bit of Aleve in my system but nothing crazy.

I feel a bit more swelling in my ankle and a bit more pain in my calf when I stretch my foot back I THINK. But I'm also a bit of a hypochondriac and wonder if I'm reverse placebo-ing myself. It doesn't help that my leg obviously already was hurting and swollen, and I have a fever so I feel achy.

I had my mom come feel and she said she thinks the injured leg feels a little warmer than the non injured but isn't too sure.

I have been very mobile since day one which makes me doubt a clot. Up and ambulating with my crutches, doing my HEC, and I started PT at day 6. I'm already at 65 degrees flexion. They also put me on Xarelto, which is supposed to be more heavy duty than Aspirin. They were a bit worried about clots because I am a trans man and thus take exogenous testosterone, but my T levels and blood thickness are like that of any cis man. They just did that to be cautious because they don't do this on trans people as often, even though my endocrinologist told them Id be fine. I don't know.

Am I being dramatic, or should I put my family through the torture of an ER visit? I would really rather not, as they're kind of all getting grumpy about having to take care of me already and are exhausted in general (minus my youngest sib who is being a great sport but can't drive yet lol). I'd call my surgeon but it's 9pm and the office is closed.

u/Secure_Fun1529 — 2 months ago

Can I workout <24hrs before surgery?

I was thinking of going to the gym tomorrow and hitting legs because A) it's next in my routine and B) I wondered if it'd be a good idea to get an updated baseline 1 rep max for some larger movements pre surgery so I can compare during recovery. But it just occurred to me that might not be the best for immediate recovery reasons? Did anyone's doc have anything to say about this?

If it matters I'm getting an MPFL + TTO on wednesday

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u/Secure_Fun1529 — 2 months ago

"Ensure" dietary supplement?

EDIT: It's called "Enroute" not Ensure, my bad!

Anyone else get recommended this "Enroute" surgical diet program? It's like two weeks of extra protein and some creatine before surgery, electrolytes day before, and the same protein and creatine thing afterwards for two weeks. It's like $350 for the month...it would definitely be less expensive for me to just keep on drinking my protein shakes + getting some creatine, drinking some gatorade the day before, and chilling with my protein shakes and creatine again after. I don't know. It feels kind of weird that they're trying to sell me all of these things (foam rollers, resistance bands, bandaids, etc.) that I already have and acting like I need to buy them.

Anyone have experience with diet changes and recommendations pre and post op? Let me know! For reference I'm 20M and getting MPFL + TTO in a month

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u/Secure_Fun1529 — 3 months ago

Summer Jobs w Surgery

Hi! I'm a college student, I want to get a job over the summer if I can so I'm not so broke, but I don't know what to do since I will not be able to drive myself anywhere for 6 weeks and don't have anyone who can take me places.

This basically leaves me with remote work. Is there any such thing as remote summer jobs?? Do those exist?? Of course, there's the usual advice of looking within my skillset, but I just don't know if anyone will hire me for remote work like that if I'm only around for the summer. Any advice?

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u/Secure_Fun1529 — 3 months ago