Help Lu Get Top Surgery!

Hey everyone! I am finally in a place between work, life, and mental health where I can have top surgery. Despite some pitfalls, I have found a surgeon in-network with my insurance, who will do the type of surgery I am interested in having, and who is actually within a reasonable travelling distance (4 hours) from me. My consultation is on December 2, so a lot of the costs are currently open-ended while I wait for answers from the surgeon, but they are as follows: $1,000 for deductible. $1,000-1,200 for hotel if I have to stay the full week. $1300 for missed work for my wife and I. This is only for a week and can go up to about $2,000 if I am unable to have PTO to cover the two week recovery time. This cost may also fall down to $0 depending on if I can qualify for paid FML through the state. $500 for food for the two of us for a week. $250 for tolls, gas, and other meds. I am not including things since as buying an entire temporary wardrobe since I won't be able to put shirts on (can't lift my arms!) and whatever small miscellaneous things come up. This bring the total to a little over $4,000 for everything still. However, this may DRASTICALLY changed as we get closed to the date. I will change the amount as it goes, but I am leaving it at $5,000 for now. I still plan on using savings to help buffer out what isn't raised as well as to cover any overage or things like new clothes and supplies to make me comfortable as I heal. Here is the timeline I am currently looking at as well leading up to surgery: Here is the timeline, once I have my consult it takes 4-5 weeks for my insurance auth. Once I have that, the average date is 2 months out. I will get a cost estimate 4-6 weeks before that, with the whole amount due 2 weeks before my surgery date. However, this is high end estimates and it can be much sooner, hopefully keeping in line with the mid-Jan to mid-Feb date I would like to have. I left the original post below (though GFM removed all the formatting) since some things have changed since I started this GFM.  Thank you to everyone who donates, shares, and does whatever they can to help me. It's absolutely appreciated and means the world. I would not be able to afford this without help. ---------------------- (Original GFM post for transparency) Hey everyone! I am finally in a place where I can consider top surgery. This has something I've wanted for many years, but I havent been in a place where I could even consider the massive costs, time for recovery, and time off work. I found a doctor with results I like, in network with my insurance, and who specializes in the specific type of surgery I want. However, he is on the other side of the country from me in California.  Currently, I am still setting up my appointments with the doctor and looking at trying for a surgery date in mid January to mid February. This gives me enough time to figure out all the costs from the surgery itself to travel, hotel, food, etc. This is why I am starting the GoFundMe now. Based off a preliminary call with my insurance, I am looking at about $5,000 for the surgery itself.  Plane tickets round trip are around $300 each. So for my wife and I, that's another $600. An average hotel is $130 a night and the doctor suggests staying in the area for 7-10 days. That's another potential $1,300. Travel (Lyft/Uber) and food will be another $600 or so. We also need to consider missed pay for the time I am out. Hopefully by the time I have surgery I will have a week of PTO, but recovery is two weeks minimum. This ends up being about $1,000 in potentially lost pay. As you can see, the little fiddly costs add up and we need to consider a lot! I will be using about $2,000 of my own savings to help with costs as well as help cover the GoFundMe transaction fees. The goal is currently $5,000 as it covers the surgery. However, as the scheduling process continues and the costs become clearer, this may go up. I will explain any actual cost changes and why as they happen. On initial estimate,  I am looking at about $7,000 for everything, but I do not want to set the goal that high until I have an exact number from the billing department of the clinic.  Anything raised over my goal once we have a complete picture will go towards Trans Lifeline which is a trans specific suicide hotline.  Thank you everyone!