Dash's Top Surgery

Greetings dearest ones. This message is a long time coming. Last week I received an email from the office of Dr. Jeffrey Kyllo saying that they've acquired pre-authorization from my insurance company to perform top surgery. For those who don't know, top surgery is a gender affirming procedure that involves breast removal (Subcutaneous Mastectomy) and  contouring, in order to create a more "masculine" appearance. This procedure is necessary in order to alleviate the feeling of acute dysphoria I've held for a significant portion of my life. As a transmasculine person in the world, I've had to bind my chest almost constantly in order to feel even remotely comfortable in my body. Binding comes with many risks, especially when you consider my livelihood. I work in the salvage industry, which requires tremendous physical exertion as well as the focus necessary to perform tasks safely. I often find myself overheating and distracted due to wearing a binder at work, particularly as we move into summer. Not only will top surgery provide the lifelong gift of literally getting some *stuff* off my chest, it will also afford me the comfort and focus I need to keep myself and my crew safe during the daily grind. 


That being said, although insurance has agreed that this is "medically necessary", they will still only pay for about half the cost of the procedure. This does not include cost of living while I'm recovering. Rent, food, puppy care, transportation to and from followup appointments, as well as general care supplies are things that I must now plan to arrange for while I am out of work and out of income. My care team will primarily be my partner, Gabbs, and my mother, who is coming up from California to help. My surgery is scheduled for July 16th, so I have a month to get together the funds I'll need to take care of myself and my family until I am back on my feet. So this is the part where I ask you, the people in my life (and maybe some folks I don't even know, that's cool too!) as humbly as I am able, to help me reach my goal of $4000, or as near as we can get. Approximately $2000 will go directly toward rent, transportation, food, etc. while the rest, if any, will go toward taking a bite out of the remaining cost of the surgery. If you can't donate, I'd appreciate it immensely if you could pass this on to your friends and family.