Yes I admit, one post a year wasn't exactly my intentions back when I started this blog but a few things have happened over the past year. I'll split this post into two sections, the first being about my life, and the second about this blogging platform/software.

Rachel Still Has Problems...

... but I do feel like things are falling into place and I'm in a much better position now (mentally) than where I was a few years ago (heck, even this time last year!). I'm slowly building up confidence living as my (cliche warning) true authentic self.

I feel the easiest way to go through what has happened in the last year is to do it in a timeline form.

• 31st March 2023 - Yes, Transgender day of Visiblity. What better time to come out, albeit to one colleague initially. Over the course of the month though, and into April/June, I did come out further to the then area manger, and my direct manager. All three of the people mentioned here have been incredibly supportive and remain so, for which I am very grateful. They all made something which was difficult for me, easier. Just having the ability to talk to someone about how being trans interacts with my day job, and in some cases to just moan about life, without fear of judgement was comforting. I can't say thank you enough.
• April/June/July (Not quite sure) - I joined my employer's Transgender Support Network, which gave me a chance to express myself further in work. This was a weird one for a while because for an hour every other week I was Rachel, but still closeted and not really out. Nonetheless it was, and still is a great way to catch up with the other transgender folk at the company from both sides of the Atlantic.
• June 2023 - Away from work, I got a referral to a GIC by my GP. I thought I had a referral made a few years ago, turns out it was for the wrong service, and it had since closed down. I have confirmed I am on the waiting list so hopefully I will be seen... eventually.
• October 2023 - As much as the NHS is great (when it's properly funded but I'll save myself from the politics), the understanding around transgender patients is sadly lacking and as such treatment is usually carried out by Gender Identity Clinics (GIC) within the NHS, however the number and resourcing of these clinics is somewhat small, and as such I'm on a five year waiting list to be seen by them (it is what it is). In the meantime I signed up with a private provider to start some form of treatment and medical transition.
• 3rd November 2023 - I legally change my name by deedpoll
• 6th November 2023 - I take my first proper dose of prescribed HRT (OK, yes I was DIYing with a small dose for a year prior but that's a different story)
• February 2024 - First blood test, I didn't pass out which was a bonus because I was certainly dreading it. Went well in the end, wasn't any worse than having a jab.
• 11th April 2024 - I come out at work. What a day that was, certainly the subject of a separate blog post (I might even get around to posting that this year!). I am now Rachel at work

A lot has happened in the last year, and I'm happy that in this post I can share just how much progress has been made. I hope to post more about some of these experiences in the future.

Blogging platform

I have recently spent a bit of time working on this blogging platform too. A quick reminder for those new to the site, this software was written from scratch during the COVID lockdown a few years ago. This platform obviously consists of the public facing posts (like this one), but also incorporates a user management system and a limited content management system. Most of the work has been on this "backend", however there has been one issue with the public side of things which has now been implemented...

...PAGES!

Yes! When you've finished reading this post, go back to the blog homepage and you'll now notice there's a page selector at the bottom of the post list. This was a long overdue addition and admittedly stopped me from publishing new posts because the older ones would disappear from the posts list. However now, I can post as much as I want and the homepage will remain clean looking! It's only a small thing, but I'm super pleased I've added it in. I won't lie, it wasn't exactly hard to implement it, I just never got round to it. I'm hoping to implement a categories or tagging feature too at some point.

Just a quick one in regards to the RSS feed, please ensure your feed URL is up to date. The old .ml domain got wiped out when freenom lost the contract to manage that top level domain and I migrated over to .co.uk. However for various other reasons I had to re-register the .ml domain but I don't intend on keeping it. Therefore please make sure that your feed reader uses this URL instead:

http://rachelowens.co.uk/blog/rss.php

So that's where I am at now in 2024. Sorry I didn't post anything through 2023, hopefully there will be more posts from me this year. If you want to follow me on Mastodon, my profile is here

Rachel x

P.S. Oh, the blogging platform now supports embeds!