Doing a lot better this morning.

The kidney problems are a speed bump, not a roadblock. Sent messages off to my primary care doctor and hormone doctor to get things rolling towards a solution.

Not looking forward to an extra surgery, but so be it. Thankfully an orchiectomy is relatively minor as surgeries go.

Met with my regular doctor today and he confirmed the bad news I was expecting: spirolactone, the testosterone blocker I’m on is not only worsening my diabetes, but it’s now starting to cause serious kidney problems that could cause me to have to go on dialysis, or kill me if left unchecked.

So I need to go off it. But no testosterone blocker means my body will start re-masculizing. We’re doing a week-long test to see if maybe I can still take a smaller dose, but I’m not optimistic that’ll solve the kidney problems, nor prevent my body from changing in ways that are emotionally traumatic.

The ultimate solution is to have an orchiectomy to remove the testicles. Bye bye balls means no more testosterone. I wouldn’t mind seeing them gone, but doing that makes getting bottom surgery a bit more challenging next year. Without getting too TMI, one wants to avoid losing tissue and having scar tissue to work around. And Maude know if I can insurance to cover the orchi — my insurer will probably argue it’s “cosmetic” surgery and thus not covered (since they specifically prohibit coverage of almost all trans-related surgeries).

FML, just FML…