<div><strong>UPDATE (April 1st, 2025)</strong>
</div>
<div>I got confirmation yesterday that insurance will cover this procedure! So I've lowered my goal to $2,500 in hopes of just covering the cost of supplies I've bought/will buy for recovery and the lost income from the month.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, shared this fundraiser, and shared their stories and tips for fighting surgery anxiety  The procedure is tomorrow, so if I'm offline for awhile, don't worry, I'm just snoozing a lot.
</div>
<div>—
</div>
<div><strong>Original</strong> <strong>Description</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Time for me to get something off my chest... Okay, sorry, no more puns. I promise! Don't throw tomatoes. Groceries are so expensive these days.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>About the surgery</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Speaking of expensive: <strong>Top surgery costs $6,060 dollars!</strong> I don't have that many dollars, which is why I'm asking for your help.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I was originally scheduled for top surgery in May 2023, just a few days after I graduated with my bachelor's degree. It was supposed to be a fresh start all around and help me finally get my life together. Unfortunately, my insurer at the time denied it and I was unable to pay, so it was cancelled.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Currently, my insurance says they will cover it, but in this political climate, that could change at the drop of a hat any time between now and April 2nd, 2025, when I am scheduled to undergo surgery. <strong>I don't want to spend these next few weeks worrying about whether or not I'll get a phone call five days before surgery telling me not to bother again.</strong> Besides, you've heard all the stories of getting hit with surprise bills afterwards. You know how it goes.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This $6,060 doesn't even include the fact <strong>I will be out of work for a full month</strong> because, you know, getting your chest cut open kind of makes it hard to work stock at a grocery store, and as a part-time worker, I don't get any PTO.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>About me</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I came out as transgender in 2015 but didn't start HRT (testosterone) or explore top surgery as an option until 2022 because I kept waiting for just the right time—I'll look into it after I transfer, after I finish college, when I move out, when I get a job with insurance, etc. Then, on November 6th, 2024, I called the surgeon's office and scheduled a new consultation despite knowing I didn't have enough in my savings and I wouldn't be able to save enough with my part-time job.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If I've learned anything in the last few years, it's that there is no perfect time to make a major change like this, and at my big age of 27 years old, it's time for me to learn how to ask for help. So here I am, knocking on the internet's door with my hat in my hands <strong>asking for your help either by donating to my fundraiser or sharing it for visibility. </strong>If you could even throw like $10 my way and share my posts, that'd be so rad and I'd love you forever.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Other ways to help</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Another way you could really, truly help me is to tell me your best tips for getting over surgery anxiety because the closest I've gotten to surgery is getting my wisdom teeth out. Give me your best "I got surgery and everything was chill and I worried for nothing" stories. Bonus points if you or someone you know has gotten top surgery (or a double mastectomy) and you have specific tips for recovery.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>As a final note:</em> If my insurance does end up covering this procedure, the funds will go toward keeping me afloat while I'm out of work for a month and be otherwise redistributed to other trans people.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you!
</div>

Anonymous

Spencer Lewis

Steph Bass

Carly Goulianos

Morgan Errett

Jean M DeNardo

Sydney Springer

Sara Mattio

Jantien Harmke Voorintholt

Brenna Rabinowitz

Alexa Vecchione

Michaela Thurow

Montrose Fell

Rachel M Donner

Jacob Pride

Kelsey Silvagni

Kendle Benatti

Help Ben Actually Get Top Surgery This Time

Support urgent earthquake relief and past recovery in Venezuela.

Apoya la ayuda urgente tras el terremoto y los esfuerzos de recuperación en Venezuela.

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

Support Comments Allowlist

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

checkout headers audience

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Just $600$ to go! Make an impact.

Help Ben Actually Get Top Surgery This Time

Just $600 to go!
Make an impact.