Good news: I’m having gender-affirming top surgery on 7/24/23! I’ve wanted this for a long, long time now, and I finally have a chance…if I’m able to afford to recover fully. There’s no set in stone timeline of recovery from top surgery, but generally people take 3-4 weeks off work. However, since I have long covid, my surgeon says my recovery time might be longer so it’s uncertain when I’ll be able to return to work.

Bad news: My original plan was to take a medical leave of absence to recover from surgery and apply for short term disability pay and FMLA at that time. However, I was forced to take that leave of absence much sooner than anticipated for new/different medical reasons and am not sure how long I’ll be allowed to extend that leave. I was approved for 2 weeks of FMLA and short term disability pay but my request to extend that leave is pending as of 6/21.

My insurance should be covering the medical procedures for surgery prep and the actual surgery but I need help paying for living expenses during the time I will not be able to work.

It’s taken me years to get to this point and I’m so close! I just need your help to make it there ️‍⚧️