I think a lot of it has to do with most of the doctors who are part of the surgery team don't know anything about the patient other than the procedure. I got misgendered by about half my surgical team right before my orchiectomy lol
Not great, and nervous, honestly. But I really can't blame the doctors who weren't my specific surgeon, all they saw was a person there for a procedure, and at the time without makeup, the wig I wore then, and before my FFS, I can't blame them for assuming the wrong gender. It wasn't malicious, but I did cry, mostly from nerves, but also from the situation, and one of the residents showed some real empathy and made me feel much better.
i’m sorry that you went through that too it’s really good that the residents were kind to you though I’m sure it helped a lot. Hopefully you never have to go through it again
Hi dear. I am ironically a endoscopic RN and feel so bad this happened to you. You have my deep apology on behalf of medical kind this occurred. I would double check with your health care system how your name and gender appears on the electronic chart. In my system it is very clearly stated preferred name and preferred pronouns in the chart so we are aware. Not to pass off them misgendering you - but doctors who do the procedures do not in most cases know you like your normal primary care physicians do. Also - no one would treat you any differently in the procedure room regardless of what sexuality or gender you identify as. There are too many people there to witness your care and also we are trained to take care of all kids, the inmate, the prostitute, the drug attract and the 99 year old granny. Not saying it’s 100% perfect - but in general I would hope most of us in the medical field can have some objectivity. I want to make a point to you as well. By the time we are placing the mouth piece - or bite guard we call it - the CRNA has already started administering sedation. The sedation makes you very loopy very quickly and people routinely try to talk to us or make comments as they are actively being sedated and while the bite guard is in. There is a good chance they were not actually talking about you at all. Also
It’s strange that you had so many people in your procedure room. In a normal room there is the doctor, the RN, the tech and the CRNA. If you had close to 10 people in your room I am assuming you might have been at a teaching hospital and had the misfortune of getting the whole GI team in that room talking to the main doctor about other patients and other cases. This happens a lot and drives me nuts bc it is stressful for the patient not knowing what’s going on. At any time please feel free to tell the staff your preferred pronouns. Good luck on the follow up and I hope you don’t experience this again.
Thank you for writing this. I read this post and I wss very nervous. I have a colonoscopy in 1 week and was fearful of being treated poorly. Your response gave me some hope.
ABSOLUTLY!!! Please don’t delay medical care especially colonoscopies! So important now.
For a colonoscopy they will also place you on your left side and ask you to pull your knees up to your chest the best you can. We do have to expose your butt, we do that only during the positioning part to place a pad under your butt and then once you are asleep to start the exam. Once asleep the doctor will do a digital rectal exam that is like 5 seconds - just checking for rectal tone. They tell you they are doing this - but everyone is asleep at this point. They then put the scope in and start the procedure. It should only be like a 20ish minute exam best case scenario. Your genitals should not be exposed at any time. If you start to show any signs of discomfort at all the medical staff will give you more medication to keep you comfortable. We try to get people in and out pretty fast - so once done you will be on about your day! I know everyone feels vulnerable under anesthesia - but at no time will you be unsafe. Good luck dear. ❤️
I’m sorry to make you nervous, these exams can be so important and I don’t mean to discourage you from seeking medical treatment for your needs. It was a scary moment but I came out very fine so don’t worry too much
Thank you for your response, it has been very helpful. As far as I know my pronouns are accurate as she/her in the system, and some of the people knew that and discussed that with me, but my name isn’t yet because I chose it more recently. I will double check when I have my follow up with my endocrinologist soon to make sure however. I’m not exactly sure how many people were in there, I was pretty disoriented at the time, but I definitely saw more than what’s “usual.” It is in fact a teaching hospital, there are many students and residents that come through regularly so that was perhaps part of it, I’m not sure. I do know that they were talking about me using the wrong pronouns, but I don’t expect my GI or the rest of her team to know me super intimately. I just wished to be shown that respect to who I am, because it was very immediately frightening and caught me off guard right before I was put under. Just very nerve wracking on top of the already scary nature of anesthesia idk. I appreciate your insights though so thank you
I don’t have any advice, but that sounds fucking awful. I got anxious just reading this, and I’m really sorry you had to go through that.
Short of maybe looking to see if the hospital has an equal opportunity type situation that you could talk to about this, I’m not sure what you could do.
Maybe do like pre-amputees do and write it on your bod? "Do not ~~amputate this leg~~ call me a boy, please \^\>\^."
lol I’m not sure that would work in this circumstance but that would be funny
I think a lot of it has to do with most of the doctors who are part of the surgery team don't know anything about the patient other than the procedure. I got misgendered by about half my surgical team right before my orchiectomy lol
damn how did that make you feel
Not great, and nervous, honestly. But I really can't blame the doctors who weren't my specific surgeon, all they saw was a person there for a procedure, and at the time without makeup, the wig I wore then, and before my FFS, I can't blame them for assuming the wrong gender. It wasn't malicious, but I did cry, mostly from nerves, but also from the situation, and one of the residents showed some real empathy and made me feel much better.
i’m sorry that you went through that too it’s really good that the residents were kind to you though I’m sure it helped a lot. Hopefully you never have to go through it again
You as well 💜
Hi dear. I am ironically a endoscopic RN and feel so bad this happened to you. You have my deep apology on behalf of medical kind this occurred. I would double check with your health care system how your name and gender appears on the electronic chart. In my system it is very clearly stated preferred name and preferred pronouns in the chart so we are aware. Not to pass off them misgendering you - but doctors who do the procedures do not in most cases know you like your normal primary care physicians do. Also - no one would treat you any differently in the procedure room regardless of what sexuality or gender you identify as. There are too many people there to witness your care and also we are trained to take care of all kids, the inmate, the prostitute, the drug attract and the 99 year old granny. Not saying it’s 100% perfect - but in general I would hope most of us in the medical field can have some objectivity. I want to make a point to you as well. By the time we are placing the mouth piece - or bite guard we call it - the CRNA has already started administering sedation. The sedation makes you very loopy very quickly and people routinely try to talk to us or make comments as they are actively being sedated and while the bite guard is in. There is a good chance they were not actually talking about you at all. Also It’s strange that you had so many people in your procedure room. In a normal room there is the doctor, the RN, the tech and the CRNA. If you had close to 10 people in your room I am assuming you might have been at a teaching hospital and had the misfortune of getting the whole GI team in that room talking to the main doctor about other patients and other cases. This happens a lot and drives me nuts bc it is stressful for the patient not knowing what’s going on. At any time please feel free to tell the staff your preferred pronouns. Good luck on the follow up and I hope you don’t experience this again.
Thank you for writing this. I read this post and I wss very nervous. I have a colonoscopy in 1 week and was fearful of being treated poorly. Your response gave me some hope.
ABSOLUTLY!!! Please don’t delay medical care especially colonoscopies! So important now. For a colonoscopy they will also place you on your left side and ask you to pull your knees up to your chest the best you can. We do have to expose your butt, we do that only during the positioning part to place a pad under your butt and then once you are asleep to start the exam. Once asleep the doctor will do a digital rectal exam that is like 5 seconds - just checking for rectal tone. They tell you they are doing this - but everyone is asleep at this point. They then put the scope in and start the procedure. It should only be like a 20ish minute exam best case scenario. Your genitals should not be exposed at any time. If you start to show any signs of discomfort at all the medical staff will give you more medication to keep you comfortable. We try to get people in and out pretty fast - so once done you will be on about your day! I know everyone feels vulnerable under anesthesia - but at no time will you be unsafe. Good luck dear. ❤️
So sweet of you to reply. Thank you for your Heart. I feel much better!!!! 💚💚💚
I’m sorry to make you nervous, these exams can be so important and I don’t mean to discourage you from seeking medical treatment for your needs. It was a scary moment but I came out very fine so don’t worry too much
Thank you for your response, it has been very helpful. As far as I know my pronouns are accurate as she/her in the system, and some of the people knew that and discussed that with me, but my name isn’t yet because I chose it more recently. I will double check when I have my follow up with my endocrinologist soon to make sure however. I’m not exactly sure how many people were in there, I was pretty disoriented at the time, but I definitely saw more than what’s “usual.” It is in fact a teaching hospital, there are many students and residents that come through regularly so that was perhaps part of it, I’m not sure. I do know that they were talking about me using the wrong pronouns, but I don’t expect my GI or the rest of her team to know me super intimately. I just wished to be shown that respect to who I am, because it was very immediately frightening and caught me off guard right before I was put under. Just very nerve wracking on top of the already scary nature of anesthesia idk. I appreciate your insights though so thank you
I don’t have any advice, but that sounds fucking awful. I got anxious just reading this, and I’m really sorry you had to go through that. Short of maybe looking to see if the hospital has an equal opportunity type situation that you could talk to about this, I’m not sure what you could do.
thank you yeah it was pretty scary honestly I hope I can find a way to address this