Chest Surgery Recovery for Maya Celeste

Hello friends, family (bio and chosen) and larger community! My name is Maya Celeste, and I’m a queer non-binary Mixed writer, creator and community organizer in Brooklyn, NY. For twenty years I have been carrying the physical and psychological weight of my breasts, and this spring I am finally having the gender-affirming surgery I have been dreaming about since I was fourteen years old.

After a long and arduous process being shuffled around within the medical system, I am set to have a non-binary radical reduction on April 26th, 2023! This procedure will serve two important purposes: to alleviate the chronic pain issues I have struggled with for over a decade, which have escalated in the past few years and include severe TMJ, migraines, the beginnings of scoliosis, and daily muscular and skeletal pain. It will also align me more completely with my gender (and sometimes lack thereof), and give me the amazing gift of fluidity!

Everything is looking good for my insurance to cover the medical costs (whew), but I am reaching out to ask for some community care during the time I will have to spend healing post-surgery. The job that currently financially supports me is not one that offers PTO, and because of the physical nature of my work, I most likely won’t be able to return for a full six weeks. As such, your donations will go towards covering rent, food and essentials during this six-week recovery period.

Thank you all so much for reading, and for whatever kind of support you can offer! I feel unendingly grateful for the care I have already received in this process, and even more so for all your future support.

xx

M