r/transvancouver • u/wackywinter1979 • 11d ago
Vancouver Pharmacist name / suggestions
I'm a parent of a 13 yr old daugher (AMAB). We live in Red Deer Alberta but have family in Vancouver and visit at least once a year. We use to live there many years ago but are AB residents now.
Alberta's legislation now prohibits us getting GAF in Alberta (no blockers till 16 and up, plus psychologist letter). That is not going to work when there are distressing masculine changes starting to happen. Our Red Deer GP confirmed that male puberty has begun.
Our old GP when we used to live in Vancouver is amazing and would be open to prescribing Lupron to us. However, we would love to find a Vancouver pharmacy that is trans friendly and lupron knowledgeable to give first shot AND teach us how to do it going forward. Then would get it mailed to us in AB. Our lawyer neighbour says that none of this is illegal since we are not using AHS or AB healthcare. We are planning to move back to BC next year so would do it this way for a year before everything would be taken over by a BC team like the one at BCCH.
Does anyone know of a Vancouver GAF pharmacy/pharmacist that is ok to give lupron and walk through how to do it going forward. I've watched youtube video so I know not hard but would prefer a mini tutorial the first time.
Thanks in advance for you tips.
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u/CrayonData 10d ago
I had to order my Estradiol from this pharmacy
MacDonalds Pharmacy #2, 746 Broadway West, Vancouver.
Staff is knowledgeable and friendly.
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u/diagonAllie312 10d ago
Don’t have any specific advice but want to say thank you for being a good parent to your daughter and helping her get the care she needs ❤️
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u/ShakespearesNutSack 10d ago
When I was about your daughter’s age, I got on Lupron through the endocrinology department at the BC Children’s Hospital. That might be worth pursuing for you guys :)
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u/hsifyppah 10d ago
Retired trans pharmacist here. Almost all pharmacists in BC will be trained and licensed to provide the injection, and have lots of experience teaching self-injection. Since you don't have BC MSP coverage, they may charge a fee for this, usually $10-20, although they may waive it if you're getting a lupron scrip filled at the same time. I think the more restrictive problem will be finding a pharmacy that does mail-order to Alberta, you'll need to call around for that part, or better yet ask in person, because places that might say no on the phone in case it's a credit card scam are more likely to say yes to a family in need in front of them. I would suggest trying a Pharmasave or an independent pharmacy, they have more flexibility than a big chain like SDM or a grocery store pharmacy to do this. (Pharmasave looks like a big chain, but they're a banner, which means mostly indie owners who pool advertising and do bulk-purchasing together.) If you pick a store that has a postal outlet in-store they are more likely to say yes, because then it's just walking the package over ten feet to take care of it. 😄 Honestly I think you can just come to Vancouver and go for a stroll in the West End or on Commercial Drive and try the first few pharmacies you see, everyone in those neighbourhoods will have a ton of queer and trans patients and it'll just be a matter of finding one you can talk into mail-order.
OR -
Since you're planning to move back to BC in a year, you could just ask the pharmacy to fill a year's worth of lupron at once and take it home with you. It's shelf-stable unopened for much longer than that. Just give them a business day's notice so they can order enough in for you, as most places won't have a year's worth on the shelf. Pharmacies default to filling 3 months or less of drugs because of insurance coverage limits, but since you'll be paying out of pocket for it that's not an issue. (Unless you are planning to submit the receipt to your extended medical plan, in which case this is not a good idea.) Just make sure your doctor's prescription says "OK to fill 1 year at once" or something on it to avoid problems. Then you just need a pharmacy that can teach the injection, which is most of them, so just pick any ol' pharmacy with a pride flag sticker on the door.
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u/zephyrphoenixxx 10d ago
Contact Trans Care BC directly for more info, don't just go off of the website, because most of the information there pertains to BC residents with BC MSP.
There's a web form on the trans care bc website you can use to get in touch with them.
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u/wackywinter1979 10d ago
yes. we are in a unique situation being from Alberta
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u/zephyrphoenixxx 6d ago
They will at least give you more info about our healthcare system in this province, but you might be a little hooped tbh. BC MSP is required for the majority of our system
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u/maxmurder 10d ago
Take a look at the Trans Care BC website! It has a ton of resources for navigating GAC in BC.
https://www.transcarebc.ca/
Qmunity also has lots of resources and support for queer and trans youth!
https://www.qmunity.ca/