UPDATE: Since the "prior" posts links were getting a bit long, there is now a page with links to all of the posts: My Transgender Experiences. Additionally, I've went back and added more links and made some updates to some of the individual entries below since over time some things have changed.
Services:
- St. Luke's Hospital Emergency Room (Chesterfield, Missouri) - I ended up in the St. Luke's emergency room on Thursday 6/5/14. I detailed the reason in another post(s) here, so I won't delve back into that. The initial contact when we got there was extremely nice and professional as she was busy. The waiting room itself wasn't busy, but all of their rooms were full. She got me right back and got my vitals and the bit of information that my Doctor's office hadn't already sent over. She did put me into the computer as a "male" - now in her defense I had not put my wig on since we had left in a hurry, although I was dressed feminine and had my makeup on from earlier; but considering it was the ER after all I didn't let this bother me. I did have to wait about 75 minutes to get seen, which to me wasn't a huge deal, but apparently did not amuse my Doctor as the condition was more serious than they apparently thought it was; but that was what it was. The first nurse I saw was incredibly nice and polite as well - as soon as she found out I was on hormones (and for what) she immediately referred to me as a female and everyone else who I saw in the ER did as well and for that I was grateful. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't really a concern of mine at the time, but it was still appreciated. Basically everyone else I saw in the ER was wonderful as well - although the "on call" Doctor was a bit brusque for lack of a better term, but I only saw him for a couple of minutes before my Doctor arrived - well not my Doctor, but rather her husband who works in the same office - he's the one who handled my care at the hospital itself. All in all I was quite pleased with the experience, or at least as pleased as you can be in an ER.
- St. Luke's Hospital (Chesterfield, Missouri) - I did end up getting admitted to St. Luke's that same evening. Initially they told me I'd end up in the cardiac unit as the primary concern was my heart; but I ended up in the kidney section (6700's if it matters). Again, absolutely everyone here was wonderful from the various nurses and techs I saw (and I saw a lot of them), to the Kidney Specialist Doctor on the floor (Dr. Dayer), to the various people in other areas such as Ultrasound, and so on. I had a lot of attention, especially the first 12-24 hours as I seemed to see somebody at least every hour and in many cases (much) more often than that. The second 24 hours things had gotten better for me so I got a bit more peace, but they were still incredibly attentive and friendly. I ended up in a double room as they were out of private rooms in that section, but they arranged for me to have it by myself (I believe that will cost me an extra $50/night, but it was worth it), so it was quiet in the room. They made no issue as to how long my wife J wanted to stay with me or how early/late she came and went. I really only have two issues and they are small ones at that. The first is that the food is a bit rough. The "menu" sounds really good, but most of the food was bland and/or simply not very good; the steak hoagie being an exception as it was reasonable. The other was a comment that the last nurse I saw made. She was taking my blood pressure about 7:30am the morning I got to leave and it was back up to semi-normal and J and I joked about it. The nurse then made a statement that she heard I was using diuretics and that I shouldn't do that again. That pi**ed me off as yes the medicines I was taking were diuretics (both one of the blood pressure medicines and the Spiro), but they were prescription medications given to me by Doctors and not simply me taking things "over the counter" to lose weight. Perhaps it shouldn't have bothered me, but it did and I did let her know that it did. But truthfully, even that was me simply nit-picking. Their website boasts that they are a "Top 50 Hospital" and from what I saw I would agree with that. Look, I'd rather not go back to a hospital (unless it's to finally get SRS/GRS), but if I do have to this is the one I'd want to be at, no questions asked. One funny note, while I was down in the Ultrasound area on Friday, they have collages up of employee photos at various times through the years. On the 2006 one, there is an employee in that area that I would literally swear is my identical twin (pre-transition at least). I know there's a saying that everyone has a "twin somewhere", well I found mine - at least pre-Madison.
Restaurants:
- Ponderosa (Washington, Missouri) - M and I ate here just the other day and I was impressed. Most of the ones in our area have closed, and the closest one that hasn't is a bit away so we don't often go, but I do really like their wings. Well M and I were in Washington to shop with J and we decided to hit here for lunch. I was a little apprehensive as we got there early and there was a bit of a crowd waiting for them to open and the crowd was a very older skewing male crowd - a crowd that didn't look like a demographic that would really "take to me" so to speak. However, the food was good, the service was excellent, and we'd definitely go back if we were in the area again. And so we'll have a "thumbnail" for this entry, here's the outfit I was wearing. Not one of my better pictures, not really sure why..
- Sugarfire Smokehouse (O'Fallon, Missouri) - .I've been here twice recently, once with M for lunch and once with J for takeout. The O'Fallon location has only been open a couple of weeks and is still really busy so we may not be back right away; but only because they are so busy. The experience there was just fine and the food was very good. It's "counter service" and they have very limited seating which is why J and I chose takeout. I've gotten a double burger with only blue cheese both times and the first was the best burger I've ever had; the second was still good - perhaps it suffered from being brought home (about 10 minutes). I don't care for their fries despite what the Riverfront Times readers seem to think and they don't carry Coke or Pepsi, but rather "SKI" - so I opted for lemonade the first time which I didn't care for (no drink the second time). M and J both got different BBQ dishes and both loved them. Now for me to say we want to go back despite the sides I've chosen not being very good, and not having Coke - well hopefully that tells you just how good I thought the food itself was. It's not cheap - but no BBQ place really is, but the food was *that good*.
- *UPDATE* - Longhorn Steakhouse (Chesterfield, Missouri) - J and I stopped here for lunch on our way back from the Hospital as it was her birthday. Now I wasn't in full Madison getup as I had left the wig at home when we went to the hospital. However, our service this time was exceptional and the food was still incredibly good. Now it wasn't very busy (strange for noon-ish on a Saturday), but still good service is good service and since the service last time wasn't stand-out - it was this time and for that we'd definitely bump this up on our list of choices.
- Zaxby's (Columbia, Missouri) - J and I ate here on our last trip to Columbia for me to see Dr. Swenson. The food was tremendous and everyone was polite and friendly. Since it's counter service there wasn't much interaction, but I was pleased with what little there was. My full Yelp review is HERE.
Retailers:
- Ulta (Washington, Missouri) - J, M and I went recently visited this location and were not disappointed. Granted it was right at open and they were slow, but everyone was very helpful and friendly just as they are at the Chesterfield location we frequent. We would definitely shop there in the future.
- Wal-Mart (Grindstone Parkway, Columbia, Missouri) - J and I did some shopping at this location the during the same trip to Columbia that I mentioned above. It was later in the evening (8ish PM) and the store was reasonably busy. There was some clutter where they were bringing out the pallets to stock, and while it's a bit earlier than I'm used to, it wasn't that far out of line. I would mention the ladies room here as being perhaps the nicest and cleanest I've ever been in since I started doing this blog and definitely the nicest and cleanest one I've ever seen in a Wal-Mart.
It's late (well now early), so I think I'll wrap things up now.
- M
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