Garfield25 AKA John / Joanne Lynn
 was recently discriminated against by a
 Dr Bradley Phell's 
P.O. Box 802 
Salina Road
Seneca Pa 16346
814-676-5444
FAX  814  676 -0342

Here's the scoop...

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Dr Phell's was both mine and my Ex's (whom is also a transgender person) Doctor.
My Ex used to supply me with hormones knowingly and unknowingly.
I was steady on the hormones since about Sept/Oct 2001...
Well when my Ex left me I was running out of hormones so I had to order them from the net.
I went on vacation to Cleveland during the Christmas season - New Year 2002.
A friend told me I should tell my Dr about the hormones, since he also used to prescribe my Ex's hormones so I called and they set me up a appointment..
Well at my appointment,
He asked what I was taken..
I told him as well as showed him my med list..
Estradiol 2mg 2 tabs a day = 4mg daily
Spriolactone 100 mg 2 tabs daily = 200mg daily
as well as a few of my other meds,
He asked how did I come up with these doses,
I pulled out my Ex's med list ...
He said that's one thing I have noticed about you you seem to be organized and on top of things ..
He wrote the info in my file,
He than asked why didn't I bring to this to his attention earlier,
I told him the reason was I didn't know how to approach this area since
 I don't want anyone to get into trouble..
He asked if I been having any side affects..
like headaches and etc that may come from taking estrogen...
I said the only side affects I seem to have is running out of large shirt to hide these..
I pointed to my shirt ..
He than made a comment about my breasts and how they where growing,
He asked if they were sore, I said they seem to be tender at times..
He asked if I been checking myself regularly for lumps and etc,
I said well No what am I looking for since Being legally blind doesn't help matters any
Even though I have some vision left It's sometimes get hard for me to see things clearly.
So I asked if if he could look and see yeah I trusted him ..
He did and said nope your ok 
He than asked about my liver and felt the area where my liver was..
He said well its not enlarged ..
I asked ok, he explained why and how estrogen may affect the liver..
He wrote in my charts and asked me when was the last time he took blood tests
I told him my last tests where for HIV and other STD's which was done before I went on vacation
Which they all came out as Negative ...
He than said ok I need to do some blood tests to see where your levels are ..
Well in his office they have a lab, the lady took about 5/6 tubes of blood..
Than I asked about refilling my hormones,
 he said I want to wait till your blood work comes back 
and get more info on HRT -Hormone replacement Therapy...
He told me "If you can get any info on it than we can go from there,
In the meantime I'll try to contact a few other Doctors who specialize in this field.."
I asked how long does it take to get blood tests results back, he said a couple days..
"Call me in a few days about it by that time I should have gotten the info I need about this and ..."
I asked him without the hormones
 what will happen to my breasts that I worked hard to grow???
He said they would be reabsorbed by the body"
I'll See you in about 2 weeks"....
I left his office very depressed, it felt like that was nothing but a waste..

I waited a couple days than called his office ,
 got the answering service so left a message for him to call me back...
I waited all day for him to call .. no call
So the next day called it was on a Friday, I believe..
 and left was told by the receptionist that he will get back to me..
Again waited all day and still no call back ...
His office is closed during the weekends ...
So Monday I called, and yes I was very upset..
The receptionist / nurse answered the phone...
I said look I been trying to get a hold of Dr Phell for a couple F" word days now...
He hasn't returned my calls ... What's the F*ing deal...
She said Let me get him for you ...
She put me on hold ...

He came back on the line and asked where do I want my medical records sent..
I said what ?? He repeated ..
I said the last time I talked to you was you told me that you were going to get some info on HRT..
as well as to call you about my blood work ...
He said I was working on the HRT stuff still trying to get a hold of a Doctor who specialize in this field..
No one has returned my call .. 
But it seems you don't want my help, so where do you want your records sent ...
I will not allow you to use vulgar lang towards anyone of my staff...
I had to think what he was referring too...
I said oh, Well I am sorry about that, 
Just seems I am getting the run around after all currently
 you do have someone in your office on hormones .....
He asked who...
I told him My Ex ....
You know the one that
 I was with when she came in for her appointments
 and wanted me to come into the room with her and when she was in the hospital, 
who was there ??
He said you You but I am not allowed to talk about your Ex to you ...
I said I'm not asking about my ex, 
just to look into her file and you will see after all don't you fill her scripts ??
He said I am not allowed to talk to you about your Ex
 and nether are you supposed to be discussing her...
I said She was a part of my life for almost a year
 so Its hard to tell you
 when asked about things 
without referring to me EX after all she was a part of my life ...
And on Set 22nd 2001 She did give me power of attorney over her medical
but I am not asking you to discuss her,
 but I know you are prescribing her hormones 
and she hasn't been through the therapy for them ...
He said well again  I am not allowed to talk to you about your Ex
Do you want to reschedule the appointment or who do I send your records too..
I said lets reschedule the appointment ...
So He put the receptionist back on the line and the appointment was rescheduled...
It was schedule for a different date than what I was given before,
 so I decided to keep the 1st appointment but wrote both dates on my calendar...

In the meantime
I decided to find all I can about Hormones and where I can get some if 
I cant get them prescribed since my supply was demising ...
I came across Anne A. Lawrence's Transgender Resources Site
She had everything I was looking for on one site ...
Everything from hormones and their suggested dosages..
To Buying Hormones on the Internet..
Including the HBIGDA Standards of Care...
Best of all this research was coming from a person with a M.D., Ph.D
A Doctor... humm what better to get my research for Doctor Phell's
through another Doctor...
What a gold mine so I thought,
I saved the pages pertaining to hormones and the dosages
 as well as the studies anything that may be a question with Phell's.
I than converted the web pages into a format that could be sent by my fax program,
and faxed him the whole package ...
Got a call from his office later that day,
Doctor Phell's says the info you sent is very interesting
 but please save any info for your appointment and bring it in with you..
To Late everything had been already faxed ..
But I thought humm don't want any excuses, 
so the next time I visited my parents
 I used their printer 
since mine is broke and printed everything up
 and put it in a file folder labeled Doctor Phell
Ok so I was set now to order some more hormones, so I did..
I printed off the receipts and etc and stuck those in the file as well...
I contacted Anne A. Lawrence and told her what was going on,
very nice lady, 
she was more than willing to talk to my Doctor free of charge for 5 minutes,
And If he needed more time I could set up a consultation for more time
which I would have been happy to pay for...
I told her let me talk to my Doctor and see what he would like to do,
and thank you so much...

Finally the day of my appointment...
the original date ...
With File In hand I walked into his office..
after about a hr wait..
I was called ..
Well needless to say he didn't even want to look at the info in the file ..
I told him about Anne A. Lawrence and how she would be happy to talk to you..
for 5 minutes free of charge and if you want more time, I would be willing to pay for it,
He said don't you mean if I want to pay for it ..
I said If you wanted too but I would pay for it after all it is worth it to me..
He than said He had been doing some research too,
 The Doctors he called says there is no opening they were all dealing with other clients..
He mentioned someone in Cleveland Ohio that may be able to see me..
I told him that the only reason I was in Cleveland, 
 because a friend picked me up for the holidays,
I don't plan on moving there..
Again I tried to bring up Anne A. Lawrence...
He said why don't you go see her since it seems you like her...
I had to laugh .. are you going to provide the transportation to Seattle??
He said NO ,
I said that's my problem, if you read my records
 it tells you about me being legally blind so no I cant drive...
He looked at my record.. Oh..
He said well I don't feel comfortable with giving you hormones
 even though you have talked a local therapist into helping you with the counseling.
However there is a Doctor in Monroeville PA
I asked where's that ??
He said its about 2 hrs from here..
I opened the file and took out the resources page ..
He looked at it and said that's it..
I said 2 hrs Pittsburgh is that far as well..
He looked at the list again..
and than said you may want to contact the Persad Center 
maybe they can help, If you need a referral have them call me..
How are you on your meds, I said other than the hormones I'm fine,
My therapist just refilled my welburtren,
He asked what that was for...
Well if you look in the record you will see that I have ADHD/ADD..
I made a note...OK..
He said however if your sick, broken bones or etc come see me,
I said or if I get HIV/Aids right, 
he shock his head in a up and down motion which confirmed it..
and walked out of the room ..
I went up to the receptionist to see if there was anything else I needed to sign
Nope than was asked when he wanted to see me again..
I told her I don't know when I'm sick maybe ...
She went back to ask him,
She came back and said he says after you talk to the Persad center,
He will want to schedule a appointment ...

I called the Persad Center and seen a intake person
 whom even asked if it was ok to contact my Doctor..
She said we like to work with your family Doctor with the hormones,
I said well good luck that's why I am here ...
He doesn't want anything to do with it ..

Well that's were I'm today..
My hormones finally came in from that web company,
Makes note to use a credit card next time and not a international money order..

I feel I was discriminated against because I don't have HIV/AIDS..
After all Doctor Phell's has set up a HIV/AIDS office in his building...

I have been discriminated against on other occasions as well
 so this isn't the first time and probably wont be the last -sigh