Posted on 05/16/2024 10:45:24 AM PDT by Red Badger
A young transgender person’s attempt to perform their own mastectomy highlights a healthcare system where gender diverse people’s needs are being chronically unmet, experts say.
An 18-year-old transgender person arrived at the emergency department several hours after attempting a mastectomy, with concerns he had damaged a nerve, according to a case report published by the New Zealand Medical Journal on Friday.
The young person struggled with gender dysphoria – a clinical term used to describe the dissonance between one’s assigned gender and sense of self – and was on testosterone treatment while waiting for gender-affirmation surgery.
He was unable to access surgery in the public healthcare system and could not afford private care.
Currently up to 14 gender-affirming genital surgeries a year are publicly funded but access to other forms of gender-affirming surgery varied between regions. In Wellington, under-resourcing meant it was not taking any routine referrals.
The young person experienced “significant psychological stress of having breasts” at an upcoming pool party, the paper said.
He did not have an active mood disorder, psychosis or suicidality and after arriving at hospital, underwent surgery to complete the left mastectomy and symmetrising right mastectomy. After four weeks, his scars healed and he reported improvement in self-esteem and self-confidence in his ability to complete school work.
The report highlighted limited access to gender-affirming surgery was an increasing issue because of resources and funding.
“It is crucial for public services to be more accessible to an under-served population,” it read.
Dr Rita Yang, the country’s only surgeon trained in all forms of gender-affirming surgery, said it was “extremely distressing” to hear about the case.
All surgeries came with life-threatening risks even when performed by surgeons.
“It could have easily ended with this person dying ... I implore anyone who needs gender -affirming surgery to never even consider this for the sake of their own life.”
Chest reconstruction surgery was complex and involved highly trained operating room staff, anaesthetists, nurses, and hospital-level wraparound care, Yang said.
"There are few reconstructive surgeons in New Zealand qualified to perform this surgery and even then there are serious risks that must be mitigated."
The Counting Ourselves survey – a national survey on the health and wellbeing of transgender and non-binary people, found high levels of participants wanting but not being able to access gender-affirming healthcare.
Dr Rona Carroll, University of Otago senior lecturer and Wellington-based GP, said top surgery – or chest reconstruction surgery – was the biggest unmet need she saw in her gender-affirming healthcare clinic. Of the clients looking to start hormone therapy, 87% wanted a referral for such surgery, Carroll said.
A lack of funding and resource was the biggest issue and variation between regions felt inequitable, she said.
“It becomes very difficult when we can’t offer much and we see a huge amount of distress and unmet need.”
It impacted people’s ability to “life their life to the full and to be who they are and be comfortable in who they are”, she said.
Although not all transgender people wanted surgery, it was important those who did had access to it, the report said.
Dr Jennifer Randle, vice president of Pride in Medicine Australia and Aotearoa NZ, said access to gender-affirming care was vital for the health and wellbeing of the gender diverse community.
There was a significant gap in medical training to understand and cater for the rainbow community’s diverse needs, Randle said.
There was a lot of desire for many doctors to gain those skills and colleges had a “responsibility to up their game”.
Gender diverse? More like mentally ill.
Well, that would be no one.
What this frighteningly nonsensical word salad really says:
"When promoting and encouraging transgender mental illness, government must go all the way, and pay for trained professionals to mutilate patients, lest the mentally-ill patients mutilate themselves first."
Better headline:
Crazy woman tries to cut her breast off
“I am unhappy.”
“Hmmmmmmmm. Would it help if I surgically mutilated your genitals?”
“Well, I dunno ...”
“I’m a professional.”
“Okay, you sold me. I mean, why not give it a try?”
This is in New Zealand.
The WHOLE WORLD HAS GONE BONKERS...................
[[person arrived at the emergency department several hours after attempting a mastectomy, with concerns he had damaged a nerve,]]
Weird- shows like Dr Welby MD, ER, and such all made it look so easy- whoda thunk it woudl take actual expertise to operate on oneself?
How can a man attempt a mastectomy on himself?
wouldn’t a self-lobotomy be safer?
If you see transgender in a sentence along with a pronoun referring to that person, the pronoun is opposite of what the person actually is.
This is what happens when the “experts” decided to close mental institutions.
Running a special...2 for the price of one.
More should try this.
He’s a she..................
Girl cutting off hers..................
This person belongs in a mental institution...
Fixed it.
HER.........................
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