STOP!

When I had minor surgery the doctor’s office gave me a list of meds I should stop before my cataract surgery not on the list was my hormones.

Review found little evidence linking hormones to surgical complications
MedPage Today
By Kristen Monaco, Staff Writer,
December 05, 2018

Little evidence supports the practice of suspending hormone therapy prior to surgery for transgender individuals, according to a new systematic review.

The analysis, published online in JAMA Surgery and conducted by Elizabeth Boskey, PhD, of Boston Children's Hospital, and colleagues, included 18 studies assessing the perioperative risks associated with the use of various hormones.

"As part of starting our Center for Gender Surgery, we reviewed other surgeons' policies and protocols," Boskey told MedPage Today, adding that one thing that was particularly noteworthy to her was that the vast majority of surgeons required individuals to stop cross-sex hormone therapy before gender-affirming surgery and to remain off of it for some time following surgery.

"Since I'd spoken to many transgender people about how dysphoric and generally unpleasant this was, I suggested looking at the evidence to see if stopping hormone use was actually necessary," she explained. "That way, our policies could be based on evidence and, ideally, not cause unnecessary harm to our patients."

And the same is true for the guys…

One retrospective cohort study that exclusively looked at transgender men found that testosterone cross-sex hormone treatment was not tied to an increase in complications during chest reconstruction surgery. Although transgender men who continued testosterone at the time of surgery tended to have a higher risk for hematoma compared with those who suspended testosterone therapy, but this difference was not statistically significant.

And then there is Spiro…

As for spironolactone, three studies in the review found no link with postoperative atrial fibrillation or acute kidney injury, although this quality of evidence was also ranked low. Only one study assessed anti-estrogens, including tamoxifen and the aromatase inhibitors anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara), and exemestane (Aromasin). In this study, there was an increase in complications related to wound healing after breast reconstruction, including infection, fat necrosis, and delayed healing.

So this sounds like good news for us, for one thing no more hot flashing before surgeries.

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Follow up on Wednesday’s post Do We Have A Chance? on the trans woman in the Miss Universe contest. I came across this article yesterday,

Despite being crown Miss Universe Spain, Ángela Ponce still faces anti-trans backlash
The Miss Universe pageant takes place on 17 December in Bangkok, Thailand
Gay Star News
By Rafaella Gunz
25 November 2018

[…]
Backlash
Since her win, Ponce has been the topic of anti-trans media reports throughout Latin America. They have gone so far as to show childhood photos of Ponce, as well as photos of her without makeup. Numerous television programs in Mexico, Argentina, and Venezuela have spent hours on the subject of Ponce, debating whether or not she’s truly a woman.

Twitter users added fuel to the fire by sharing memes questioning Ponce’s femininity and her right to compete in the pageant.

Other Miss Universe contestants, both former and current, have also made comments about Ponce to the press.

‘They may call me old fashioned but I think there should be a competition, which already exists, for transgender people and another for girls,’ Vivian Sleiman, Miss Venezuela 2001, recently said.

‘I believe that a beauty pageant like Miss Universe is for women who are born women,’ echoed Valeria Morales, Miss Colombia. ‘And I believe that for her it will also be a disadvantage. And so we’ll have to respect it but not agree with it.’

Morales will be competing against Ponce in this year’s Miss Universe pageant, taking place on 17 December in Bangkok, Thailand.