Help me achieve top surgery!
Donation protected
My name is Grayson. I am 22, living in the US. I am transgender. Top surgery is extremely expensive and not covered by insurance I need help with funds. It costs thousands of dollars all together with consultation fees, hospital fees, travel costs, anesthesia fees, etc.
I'm struggling very much and top surgery is extremely expensive. A lot of insurance companies will either refuse to cover the cost of any transgender medical needs, or smudge the truth about what they cover and make you jump through hoops to get the help you need. I do not have insurance that will cover it. This is an extremely necessary surgery, for many reasons. Not only am I experiencing severe back, breathing, and rib pain from binding for years, but not having this surgery and not having my own body match up with my identity has been negatively impacting my mental and emotional health, I already deal with an anxiety disorder and depression, which makes dysphoria even more difficult to function and live with. Dysphoria is a nasty infliction, and having this surgery will greatly help. I do not have the option of help from my family as even telling them I am transgender would put my safety at risk. I work to support myself but the money I make goes straight to rent, a car, and groceries etc. I don't have hundreds of dollars to just put back into savings for this surgery.
Anyone with questions please feel free to ask.
I want to use the rest of this description to speak to people who aren't familiar with trans issues and might now have a lot of education to do with things such as dysphoria or top surgery, or the every day struggles a person who is transgender faces on top of normal life. To give you a bit of *general education about what it is to be transgender. **Please note not every detail applies to every transgender person in exactly the same manner**
Dysphoria is very hard to explain to people who don't feel it. It's like if you woke up from a nights sleep on day and went into your bathtrom and caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. And you don't see your reflection. You see a person. Yeah. And it moves when you move. But it's not YOU. And then you freak out and try to tell people but everyone is just like what are you talking about of course this is you. And you can't fix it and can't even get people to listen. But that's a very simplified explanation. It's extremely taxing mentally and emotionally. Physically as well. It's a million little things every day as well as the big issues like top surgery. It's what you see in the mirror, and how that makes you feel. It's the fact that even with everyone else looks at you and sees nothing "wrong", you feel very wrong for yourself.
Our government here makes being transgender extremely difficult. Everything from getting a job to getting health care is suddenly way more complicated and even dangerous in some cases. Insurance companies will refuse you treatment or coverage because they dont think it's "necessary" for your health., despite the fact that you alone know what you're feeling. Extra costs pop up everywhere: binders, top surgery, bottom surgery, ID changes, name changes, legal paperwork. Buying clothes is a fight between your brain and your body instead of a normal casual every day occurance. People get mad that you ask them to change how they address you, and instead of them caring that it'd help ease so much of your mental pain they worry about themselves and act like it's a bother and so hard to just change the words they use to describe you.
Following is a basic runthrough of the surgery for anyone curious. It is a major surgery:
Large incisions are made horizontally across the chest, usually beneath the nipple.
The skin is peeled back. Mammary glands* and fatty tissue are removed with a scalpel.
Some fatty tissue may be liposuctioned.
Excess chest skin is trimmed.
Incisions are closed, leaving two scars below the pectoral muscle lines.
With the free nipple graft technique, the nipples are removed completely, trimmed to a smaller size and grafted to the chest in a higher position.
With the pedicle technique, the nipples are left partly attached (in an attempt to maintain nipple sensation), repositioned, trimmed to a smaller size, and reattached.
Two drains (long thin tubing) are placed long each incision to allow blood and fluid to escape.
I'm struggling very much and top surgery is extremely expensive. A lot of insurance companies will either refuse to cover the cost of any transgender medical needs, or smudge the truth about what they cover and make you jump through hoops to get the help you need. I do not have insurance that will cover it. This is an extremely necessary surgery, for many reasons. Not only am I experiencing severe back, breathing, and rib pain from binding for years, but not having this surgery and not having my own body match up with my identity has been negatively impacting my mental and emotional health, I already deal with an anxiety disorder and depression, which makes dysphoria even more difficult to function and live with. Dysphoria is a nasty infliction, and having this surgery will greatly help. I do not have the option of help from my family as even telling them I am transgender would put my safety at risk. I work to support myself but the money I make goes straight to rent, a car, and groceries etc. I don't have hundreds of dollars to just put back into savings for this surgery.
Anyone with questions please feel free to ask.
I want to use the rest of this description to speak to people who aren't familiar with trans issues and might now have a lot of education to do with things such as dysphoria or top surgery, or the every day struggles a person who is transgender faces on top of normal life. To give you a bit of *general education about what it is to be transgender. **Please note not every detail applies to every transgender person in exactly the same manner**
Dysphoria is very hard to explain to people who don't feel it. It's like if you woke up from a nights sleep on day and went into your bathtrom and caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. And you don't see your reflection. You see a person. Yeah. And it moves when you move. But it's not YOU. And then you freak out and try to tell people but everyone is just like what are you talking about of course this is you. And you can't fix it and can't even get people to listen. But that's a very simplified explanation. It's extremely taxing mentally and emotionally. Physically as well. It's a million little things every day as well as the big issues like top surgery. It's what you see in the mirror, and how that makes you feel. It's the fact that even with everyone else looks at you and sees nothing "wrong", you feel very wrong for yourself.
Our government here makes being transgender extremely difficult. Everything from getting a job to getting health care is suddenly way more complicated and even dangerous in some cases. Insurance companies will refuse you treatment or coverage because they dont think it's "necessary" for your health., despite the fact that you alone know what you're feeling. Extra costs pop up everywhere: binders, top surgery, bottom surgery, ID changes, name changes, legal paperwork. Buying clothes is a fight between your brain and your body instead of a normal casual every day occurance. People get mad that you ask them to change how they address you, and instead of them caring that it'd help ease so much of your mental pain they worry about themselves and act like it's a bother and so hard to just change the words they use to describe you.
Following is a basic runthrough of the surgery for anyone curious. It is a major surgery:
Large incisions are made horizontally across the chest, usually beneath the nipple.
The skin is peeled back. Mammary glands* and fatty tissue are removed with a scalpel.
Some fatty tissue may be liposuctioned.
Excess chest skin is trimmed.
Incisions are closed, leaving two scars below the pectoral muscle lines.
With the free nipple graft technique, the nipples are removed completely, trimmed to a smaller size and grafted to the chest in a higher position.
With the pedicle technique, the nipples are left partly attached (in an attempt to maintain nipple sensation), repositioned, trimmed to a smaller size, and reattached.
Two drains (long thin tubing) are placed long each incision to allow blood and fluid to escape.
Organizer
Grayson VanOrder
Organizer
Spring Hope, NC
