I hold my breath as I ask the secretary over the phone what my neurosurgeon said. I had never been outed to a doctor before, and I didn’t know if he would even care to answer my hormone provider’s requisition. “No contraindication with testosterone,” she says about my neurological condition. She tells me she’ll fax the requisition back to my provider’s office in the morning, but in the meantime, I need to fill out yet another MRI consent form. I close my eyes and silently exhale. I didn’t even know I needed HRT until I felt this wave of relief.
Sophie Dufresne studies creative writing at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. They fell in love with poetry after reading "Hope" by Emily Dickinson in sixth grade. Instagram: @i.am.sope