Ease Cole's Top Surgery Recovery Journey

Hi, my chosen name is Cole, I'm an almost 28 year old transgender man who has been living with debilitaing chest dysphoria for over 10 years. In August of 2021, I started the process of gender affirming therapy & the referral process for top surgery. The wait list was over 2 years.

After a long time of fighting for my life-saving surgery, today I finally got insurance approval for my double mastectomy, and got my official surgery date of September 19th, 2024.

I am so relieved that all of the endless paperwork, therapy sessions, bottles of testosterone, tiresome traveling to Portland for my consult, tears of fear and joy, countless hours of research & preperation have paid off and lead me to this moment!

Which leads me to my reason for asking for help.

Though this process has been worth it completely, it has not been easy on me or my patient & loving husband who has been with me every step of the way.

This is the only clinic in the state that my insurance would consider, and it is 4 hours away in Portland (we live at the southern border of Oregon). Since my surgery team is in Portland, I will need to stay close-by until my required 5 day post-op check up. This leaves my husband and I no choice but to stay for a week in Portland.

There is also a 6 week follow up (that is required by insurance) where we have to travel back to Portland to make sure I'm healing well.

This appointment is on my birthday! It's also 10 days after our 5 year wedding anniversary, and I will have a flat chest, so we are hoping it will be an amazing trip. Although it does just add to the strain of the situation a bit.

The expenses of the trip are within our abilities, but my goal with asking for help is to take some of the strain off of my husband. He will be driving the whole way and being my caretaker during the healing process, he makes the money in our relationship with our current circumstances. Though he would never complain, I know it will be a lot on him. So I'm hoping by making this, I can raise support for some of the following:

-Traveling expenses (gas, food for our stay)

-A comfortable and safe place to stay for my first week of healing (likely an AirBnb)

-Healing necessities like scar oil, mastectomy pillow, bidet, and other items to help me & my caretaker. (These can also be purchased directly if you prefer to help that way)

-Emergency preparation, for example during an unexpected problem with healing/longer healing process. This could lead to extra unplanned trips to Portland, to see my surgery team if my local clinic cannot provide the care my team requires. It could also lead to more time off for my husband.

-Aid in missing work pay. My husband will be taking off work to care for me for 2 weeks minimum, which is doable for us but never easy

-We have to get a pet sitter for our cat (our dog will be coming with us to Portland). We have a trusted friend to do so and *will compensate them fairly either way* :)

-Helps so I can invest in nicer quality items for healing, I can then pass onto someone else who is getting top surgery when I no longer need them

-Celebration items like a teetus deleteus cake, nice dinner, other (last priority)

Ideally, having some financial support would allow us to have a *nicer* place to stay, and to enjoy our trip rather than save on the side of our current expenses.

Since we have to stay for a week, and return a month and a half later for my birthday, I am just hoping to raise some money so this can be an easier process.

And so we can celebrate it all rather than stress on the details, after so long of waiting!

Thank you for reading and considering contributing to my surgery travels & supporting my caretaker :) Any amount is truly appreciated & helpful, as there are small items we need for this process too. Anything makes a difference, even sharing!

All of the support has made all the difference in getting me to this point. I couldn't have done it without my husband, family and friends who have been cheering me on!

Thanks again and please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns of how your money could be used for these circumstances.

-Cole