NO MORE BOOBIES FUND
Donation protected
Hi, hello, howdy, I'm Eliot and I'm getting gender-affirming top surgery!
I'm holding this fundraiser to help with out-of-pocket costs. Even though I am #blessed to now have comprehensive health benefits through work (which everyone should access to, healthcare is a human right!), there will still be substantial out-of-pocket costs associated with my gender-affirming surgery and recovery.
I will have to pay a $3,000 deductible, and since I am not yet entitled to medical leave at my job, I will lose all income while in recovery. Hence the No More Boobies Fund! My $7,000 goal will also help cover living expenses while I spend time in recovery without that medical leave, including rent & bills, food to eat, and petsitting care for my cat Poncho while I am laid up.
My surgery timeline is a long road, but one I am so excited to travel!
- Letter of Recommendation - law still requires a mental health clearance for gender-affirming surgery. I was able to obtain this from my primary care team on July 11th 2023.
- Surgery Consult - this is a meeting with the surgeon to go over and map out my procedure and recovery thereafter. I have this consultation scheduled for December 11th 2023.
- Surgery Date - this will be when I get the top surgery, which is an outpatient procedure, meaning I will not have to stay in the hospital afterward, barring any unforeseen complications. This will get scheduled at the consultation, but I've been told to expect to look about a month and a half out for booking the surgery.
- 6-week Recovery - this is the standard recovery period after top surgery, the end date of which is entirely dependent on when I can schedule the surgery and my body's healing response. I'm figuring I will be out of commission through the end of February.
I feel like I've suffered from background Gender Dysphoria my whole life. As a youngin' before there was much language available to me around non-binary identity, I would joke that I felt like a gay man trapped inside a female body. I remember making this "joke" as early as kindergarten.
While my identity has evolved and been afforded the language we now have in our cultural sphere of understanding, I still feel that this Assigned Female At Birth (AFAB) body of mine is not reflective of who I am or how I wish to present myself to and be perceived within this world.
I've never felt connected to my breasts - not in a sexual sense, not in a self-image sense, and certainly not in a procreative sense. They have always felt "other" to me, and I've done everything I could to minimize them - sports bras gave way to compression bras which gave way to binders. So I've decided to pursue top surgery as putting together another piece of the puzzle that is me.
As a person with no real biological-family ties, the support of my friends and chosen family has meant the whole world to me over the past several years of really settling into myself. And any financial support you can show for my fundraiser is incredibly appreciated! I would not be here without you all. I love you all so much!
Organizer
Eliot Gilkeson
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA