Gender Confirmation Top Surgery
Donation protected
I'm a trans man and have been on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for a year and a half but have been "out" and living and working as my authentic self for 2 years.
I've gotten by on wearing binders and using KT tape to flatten my chest but I suffer from costochondritus (which is when the joints where my ribs connect to sternum and spine inflame and all breaths and movement is excruciating -- there's no cure and no pain medication touches it) which makes binding in any form a ticking time bomb. Never mind that I've spent hundreds of dollars on binders over the last nearly three years and it's gotten to the point where my body is rejecting my doing this with increasing fervor and less time between one flare up and the next.
I'm a U.S. Navy vet whose husband is still active duty Navy, which means I've got access to TriCare Prime but the only thing my insurance will pay for is my therapy and HRT -- and that was even done begrudgingly. Despite my medical conditions making even healthy binding risky at best, the only way my insurance will cover any form of top surgery is if I have a history of breast cancer in my family or have a lump in my chest that is deemed malignant -- which I do not, on both cases.
Look, I'm not the type of person to do this, to reach out and ask/beg for money. I'm the the type of person who if he can't pay for it by earning the money himself through work, or by left over money saved after bills are paid, he doesn't do it at all. But at this point, I've lived with a chest that isn't right for nearly 18 years and I cannot do this anymore. But I can't afford to take out a loan for the surgery, I cannot afford the surgery without a loan, and my insurance won't approve the referral to a surgeon. I'm at my wit's end.
So I'm asking y'all, donate what you can, when you can. And if you can't? That's fine, too. I understand full well that times are hellacious economically right now and the last thing many people think to budget for is some GoFundMe page.
I guess that's all I have. Thank you for taking the time to read this. And if you donated or shared this page? Thank you for that, too. Blessed be.
I've gotten by on wearing binders and using KT tape to flatten my chest but I suffer from costochondritus (which is when the joints where my ribs connect to sternum and spine inflame and all breaths and movement is excruciating -- there's no cure and no pain medication touches it) which makes binding in any form a ticking time bomb. Never mind that I've spent hundreds of dollars on binders over the last nearly three years and it's gotten to the point where my body is rejecting my doing this with increasing fervor and less time between one flare up and the next.
I'm a U.S. Navy vet whose husband is still active duty Navy, which means I've got access to TriCare Prime but the only thing my insurance will pay for is my therapy and HRT -- and that was even done begrudgingly. Despite my medical conditions making even healthy binding risky at best, the only way my insurance will cover any form of top surgery is if I have a history of breast cancer in my family or have a lump in my chest that is deemed malignant -- which I do not, on both cases.
Look, I'm not the type of person to do this, to reach out and ask/beg for money. I'm the the type of person who if he can't pay for it by earning the money himself through work, or by left over money saved after bills are paid, he doesn't do it at all. But at this point, I've lived with a chest that isn't right for nearly 18 years and I cannot do this anymore. But I can't afford to take out a loan for the surgery, I cannot afford the surgery without a loan, and my insurance won't approve the referral to a surgeon. I'm at my wit's end.
So I'm asking y'all, donate what you can, when you can. And if you can't? That's fine, too. I understand full well that times are hellacious economically right now and the last thing many people think to budget for is some GoFundMe page.
I guess that's all I have. Thank you for taking the time to read this. And if you donated or shared this page? Thank you for that, too. Blessed be.
Organiser
Rhys Crabtree
Organiser
Charleston, SC
