Max's top surgery recovery fund

Hi, I'm Maxime (otherwise known as Max) and I'm a 23 year old trans man living in BC, Canada. About a month ago, after almost three and a half years of waiting, I got the call for my top surgery date. I couldn't be more happy or excited-- I've spent over 10 years in a body that hasn't felt like my own. I'm fortunate to live in a country where gender affirming surgeries are free, but unfortunately, the time off work I'll be needing to take to recover is not.

I was originally going to have my surgery either June 17th or 25th, depending on when my surgeon could get a microsurgeon assist. However, both of those dates fell through because she couldn't get the assist on either date, so it got pushed up to May 28th, 22 days from the time I'm writing this (May 6th). Waiting for an alternative date is not possible as my surgeon is taking a year long sabbatical starting in July, and my chest dysphoria is debilitating and puts a heavy strain on my mental health.

This is where things get complicated for me. In short, finding employment has been near impossible for me this past year. I was out of work for nearly 9 months and was only able to secure a job starting May 12th, two and a half weeks before my date. Both my savings and EI have been used up to cover expenses over my 9 months out of work, and because of my lack of insurable hours (what I would have gotten from working and what would make me qualify for more EI), I won't be getting medical EI. This means I won't have a source of income for almost two months post surgery.

Funds will go towards:

• Covering 2 months' worth of rent ($1, 800)

• 2 months' worth of my phone bill (totalling around ($150)

• Recovery supplies (totalling around ($260)

• My post op binder as required by my surgeon ($65)

• Groceries

• Prescriptions (mental health medication and testosterone)

I know things are tough right now for more than a few of us, so any donation at all (or even sharing this) is so incredibly appreciated. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Thank you for your support ❤️