"Over the moon excited, terrified, scared, emotional."

That's how Jetta'Mae Carlisle described feeling as her sexual re-assignment surgery got closer. Carlisle says she was assigned as male at birth, but felt like she was female since she was a child. She identifies as a straight woman.

Jamie Nelson says he identifies "as a transgender male who is queer." When I met him, he had already been taking testosterone and was getting ready for top surgery.

I followed Carlisle and Nelson over a year as they transitioned -- which is about much more than surgery. Watch their stories unfold and hear their dreams for their lives going forward.

This story is part of KQED’s ongoing health series Vital Signs.