Hi. I hate being vulnerable online but this is really important to me.

I’ve experienced chest dysphoria for as long as I can remember. It’s really a constant. I tape my chest almost every day just to be able to go outside or to be without feeling intensely aware/conscious of the discomfort I feel in my body. Sometimes more than I probably should, which isn’t great.

I tape almost every day just to feel somewhat okay. Which is not the best for my skin, my ribs, breathing or general wellbeing and quality of life. But it’s the only thing that makes existing feel manageable right now.

The problem with doing this all the time is that tape especially can be rough, it pulls at your skin, and over time it’s left me with rips, scars, and wounds that I rarely even feel comfortable to give the space or time to heal. The times where I do force myself to give my skin a break I feel immense discomfort and a need to isolate, inability to go about my day let alone leave the house.

Top surgery is something i’ve been thinking about for years. For a long time it didn’t even feel like something that could realistically happen for me. It still feels so out of reach to me.

i’m from an arab country and i don’t have support for this, so i’m navigating the financial side of it alone.

Living in this body, living like this gets exhausting. A lot of my day to day life revolves around hiding, compressing, taping, adjusting. top surgery would remove a huge source of physical and mental stress and let me exist in my body more comfortably. I wanna be able to look in the mirror and see myself.

It would take away a huge source of daily distress. It would mean breathing easier, moving freely, getting dressed without a whole strategy, and finally feeling more at home in my skin.

I feel weird asking for help, truly. But if you’re able to donate or share this, it would mean more than I can explain. Anything helps.

And if donating isn’t possible, sharing this is genuinely huge and massively appreciated.

Thank you for supporting me, rooting for me, or even just reading this it really means a lot.