Myka Pascall-Thompson, 26, is a former patient of the CAMH Gender Identity Clinic. In 2018 they agreed to take part in a CAMH podcast dedicated to raising awareness about transgender issues. In a candid and revealing interview, Myka spoke about the emotional, psychological and physical transformation they had been undergoing since they were a teenager, and the role CAMH had played in helping them through their journey.
In March of this year, Myka was scheduled for surgery at a clinic in Montreal that was supposed to be a major milestone in that journey.
Then the pandemic put all of that on hold.
I was at work (at a veterinarian’s office) when my phone rang. It was face down and when I turned it up it said ‘Montreal’ and I knew that was it. I was expecting it but it was really hard to hear it. I had been look forward to that since I was 16-years-old. 2020 was supposed to be the year for me.
I had to sit down and categorize my life. OK, I’m still working. I’m still healthy. My surgery got cancelled but it is going to be rescheduled. I think about how bad it could have been compared to how bad it is. It sucks to go through this now, but once you get to the end, you can look back on all that and say it was worth it because this is the greatest I have ever felt. I’m still working on great – I’m not there yet – but giving up will mean losing out on the best.
I’m a huge nerd, so one of my ways of coping is buckling up in my room and watching Japanese anime for hours at a time. I used to watch it with my dad from the time I was 8-years-old.