Aaron’s Journey

We finally have the letter from our psychiatrist that says Aaron is ready for hormone blockers. I sent this letter in to our Endocrinologist about 2 weeks ago and scheduled this appointment. And today, we get to go in and sign consent forms to use Lupron which is a hormone blocker. 

When we got to the appointment, Dr Rita’s nurse did the basic routine things first; weight, height, blood pressure, etc. Then, she popped out and Dr Rita came in. We reviewed the letter from our therapist briefly and she said we are good to go!! 

At this point, Dr Rita pulls out a 5 page release statement and goes over it in extreme detail with me. The purpose of the release is to make sure Aaron and I both understand what we are doing and what the possible risks, advantages, and disadvantages could be. We cover each item together; suppressing hormones in trans kids is technically off-label use of Lupron but really that’s only because the FDA hasn’t approved it specifically for trans kids. Cis kids with inappropriate puberty (think a 6 year old with a period) have been given these suppressants for many years and we have extensive research and supported evidence about the risks and benefits for such children. Suppressing hormones doesn’t work the same for everyone and sometimes needs adjustments. This means its very important to communicate openly with your doctor and continue therapy while we adjust to not having so much estrogen bopping about. Aaron and I read over every single line with the doctor and then I happily signed it, and Aaron got to sign his own consent as well. 

We were super thrilled to have this step taken care of. Next, our doctor sends a request to our insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield) to approve covering the medication for Aaron. I’ve already done my homework by calling ahead and talking to a rep about Lupron and the cost, amount, copay, etc a few weeks ago so I know it’ll be all set in just a few weeks!! 

Once we get the ay-okay from insurance, we will go in either once per month or once every three months for a shot. (I’m hoping for the every 3 months kind because my copay is $130 for one month or $160 for 3 months! But the 3 month injection is on backorder as of the moment so we are at the mercy of the manufacturer!!) We don’t see Dr Rita again until April and hopefully by then, we will have stopped female puberty in its tracks! 

Aaron is over the moon. This will stop breast tissue growth as well as hopefully stop menstruation as well, giving him the chance to just be a teenage boy. He’s been working out a specific series of exercises as well, that are toning his chest tissue so that it becomes more masculine of its own right. The Lupron may slow down his height but the kid is already 5 foot 7 and when he starts Testosterone later on (usually around 16) he will shoot up so there’s no telling how tall this kid is going to be!! 

I posted a photo on facebook about how excited we were about this moment, sharing the photo of Aaron signing consent. I had a lot of support very quickly and then one lady from my mom’s old church that I hardly know (and honestly don’t know why I was friends with her on Facebook anyway) reacted with a sad emoji face. I un-friended her which removed her reaction from my post, and added a comment on my post that I had done so because this was a celebration post. I also thanked everyone else for being so supportive because we know how important to Aaron’s mental health this step is. Aside from the one un-friend, we had 65 likes/loves/cares and 22 comments within 24 hours. Lots of support and love, and those are the people that we choose to listen to and surround ourselves with.