Off with My Chest

HELP ME FUND TOP SURGERY!

My name is Eli. I am a 24-year-old transgender guy. I'm trying to fundraise so I can get top surgery. My dysphoria has been steadily getting worse and it is becoming increasingly difficult to face on my own without the help of a medical transition.  Surgery will cost around $7,000 in total.  I have worked to pay some of this myself and am asking for donations for the rest.  Could you help by donating whatever you can?

I really want to have the body I know I should have. I want to be able to breathe again.

I’m asking for help with funding for my top surgery which, I believe, is the next step closer to a more confident and comfortable me. Also, please help me by sharing this.

ABOUT ME

I enjoy writing poetry, reading, taking photographs, and watching sports (football, college basketball, and hockey in particular). While these activities have no bearing on gender per se, I have still struggled with each as I embarked upon my journey as a transgender individual.

WHY I NEED SURGERY

I need top surgery. I am sick and tired of wrapping myself up in a binder before being able to leave the house. I am unable to breathe. My ribs hurt. My lungs feel like they’re being crushed.

I use a chest binder to help push down my breasts into a more masculinized way, in such a way as to flatten my chest. But it’s never flat enough. And my binder causes other problems, such as aches and pains that are associated even with taking one “simple” breath.

I’m hoping this surgery will get me to a place where I feel like a human that can exist without wearing his armor he wears to distance himself from his body. Even when I am not wearing my binder, I experience frequent chest pains, not to mention, an increase of anxiety that comes with the thoughts Is that person staring at my chest? Can they tell? Not binding is just not an option for me. I am too aware of what I feel like when I bind—the feeling that I can almost be myself (until I take off my binder). I need something longer term. A chest that, at the end of the day, I know is my own.

-What exactly is top surgery?
The removal of breast tissue with the goal of a “masculinization of the chest”

-Which surgery are you getting?
The method of surgery I will be getting is double incision with nipple grafts.  I had a consultation with the surgeon I'm going to be seeing in June of 2016 and confirmed the surgery method with him.

-Which surgeon are you going to?
Dr. Medalie in Cleveland, Ohio

-When are you getting surgery?
March 16, 2017

-What is your financial goal?
$7,000 is approximately the entire cost of surgery.  I hope to raise a little over 25% of the ultimate amount through donations (most of the donation money goes to me, however, a bit of each donation does go to GoFundMe directly), which will then be added to the money that I have set aside.  

-What am I paying for?
Your money would be going to financing my surgery, anesthesia costs, and outpatient hospitalization.

-What am I doing to get closer to my goal?
I have saved some money from working and participating in research studies and being frugal when able.  I am also saving money by spending most of my recovery time at home and only staying in a hotel when necessary (i.e. day before surgery, day of surgery, day after surgery).