Let’s Take It From The Top - Corren's Top Surgery
Donation protected
Hello! My name is Corren Schroeder. I'm 20 years old and I use they/them pronouns. I am a transgender nonbinary person who struggles with dysphoria. That means that I am extremely uncomfortable with various aspects of my body that do not coincide with my gender identity. The worst of this comes from my breasts.
I have been binding (compressing my chest for a flatter look) for a year and a half, which provides me with temporary relief that at least makes dysphoria easier to ignore. And most days, I can ignore it. But there are days where it consumes me. It sends me plummeting into a pit of hopelessness and despair and anxiety, obsessing over the fear that I'll never be who I want to be. I can't escape my breasts. Binding doesn't help the fact that I can feel them, pressed against me, compressing my chest. Dysphoria, not binding, takes my breath away. And the only thing that will free me from these feelings is to be rid of the source of my dysphoria. And that means top surgery.
My need for top surgery has been recently dragged into the spotlight. My mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and she underwent a double mastectomy only weeks ago. The cruel irony was not lost on me. I had long been researching top surgery, and yet she was getting hers removed without much say in the matter. Watching her go through it, helping her through her recovery, only made me wish to be in her place. Not just to take her pain away, but to take mine as well. I would gladly go through the pain she went through if it means a lifetime of relief from my dysphoria. And given that my mom told me she wouldn't wish that recovery on her worst enemy, it stuns me how desperate it makes me.
I'm so sick of not having confidence in my body. I'm sick of binding day after day, and enduring the dysphoria when I need to take a break from binding. I want to be able to wear whatever I want without cleavage to "give me away." I want to be free.
Last semester, I attended UW Milwaukee as a Digital Studio Practice/Art major. Unfortunately, I had to withdraw the following semester due to a decline in my mental health. The stress of college classes, failing several of said classes, and dysphoria all culminated to a point where I couldn't go back. So I don't have access to any possible help that UWM may have offered for transgender care.
Top surgery costs about $10,000 on average. I am using my parents' insurance and am entirely responsible for the cost, travel, and our high deductible. Our insurance does cover top surgery, but the lowered cost hardly matters when you add on the deductible, travel, hotel stays, and recovery.
I am doing whatever I can to save up. I currently work at Hot Topic and I've begun saving up my paychecks. I'm selling stuff, starting commissions, and I plan to apply for a personal loan. This fundraiser just serves to help ease the burden and, hopefully, speed up the process.
If you decide to donate, I cannot express enough just how deeply I am grateful. I am willing to do some art for you as a thank you. Given that I am not in college this semester and that we're in the post-holiday slow period at work, I have a lot of time on my hands. If you can't donate, it's free to share this, and it could help me out immensely.
If we exceed the goal, any of the extra funds will go to help pay for my mom's medical bills and to help trans friends pay for their transition.
Please help free me from this dysphoria. From these lumps of fat on my chest that just SCREAM "female." Please help me become my true self.
Thank you.
Corren Schroeder
(2/10/2020)
I have been binding (compressing my chest for a flatter look) for a year and a half, which provides me with temporary relief that at least makes dysphoria easier to ignore. And most days, I can ignore it. But there are days where it consumes me. It sends me plummeting into a pit of hopelessness and despair and anxiety, obsessing over the fear that I'll never be who I want to be. I can't escape my breasts. Binding doesn't help the fact that I can feel them, pressed against me, compressing my chest. Dysphoria, not binding, takes my breath away. And the only thing that will free me from these feelings is to be rid of the source of my dysphoria. And that means top surgery.
My need for top surgery has been recently dragged into the spotlight. My mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and she underwent a double mastectomy only weeks ago. The cruel irony was not lost on me. I had long been researching top surgery, and yet she was getting hers removed without much say in the matter. Watching her go through it, helping her through her recovery, only made me wish to be in her place. Not just to take her pain away, but to take mine as well. I would gladly go through the pain she went through if it means a lifetime of relief from my dysphoria. And given that my mom told me she wouldn't wish that recovery on her worst enemy, it stuns me how desperate it makes me.
I'm so sick of not having confidence in my body. I'm sick of binding day after day, and enduring the dysphoria when I need to take a break from binding. I want to be able to wear whatever I want without cleavage to "give me away." I want to be free.
Last semester, I attended UW Milwaukee as a Digital Studio Practice/Art major. Unfortunately, I had to withdraw the following semester due to a decline in my mental health. The stress of college classes, failing several of said classes, and dysphoria all culminated to a point where I couldn't go back. So I don't have access to any possible help that UWM may have offered for transgender care.
Top surgery costs about $10,000 on average. I am using my parents' insurance and am entirely responsible for the cost, travel, and our high deductible. Our insurance does cover top surgery, but the lowered cost hardly matters when you add on the deductible, travel, hotel stays, and recovery.
I am doing whatever I can to save up. I currently work at Hot Topic and I've begun saving up my paychecks. I'm selling stuff, starting commissions, and I plan to apply for a personal loan. This fundraiser just serves to help ease the burden and, hopefully, speed up the process.
If you decide to donate, I cannot express enough just how deeply I am grateful. I am willing to do some art for you as a thank you. Given that I am not in college this semester and that we're in the post-holiday slow period at work, I have a lot of time on my hands. If you can't donate, it's free to share this, and it could help me out immensely.
If we exceed the goal, any of the extra funds will go to help pay for my mom's medical bills and to help trans friends pay for their transition.
Please help free me from this dysphoria. From these lumps of fat on my chest that just SCREAM "female." Please help me become my true self.
Thank you.
Corren Schroeder
(2/10/2020)
Organizer
Corinne Schroeder
Organizer
Appleton, WI