Hello,
Thanks for taking the time to stop and read this. For those of you that may not know me, my name is Samuel Ellis but I go by Sam with most everyone, every where. Nice to meet you, if you don't know me and Nice to see you again if you do. I am a 39 year old transgender man (assigned female at birth and then transitioned male medically, legally and socially), usually abbreviated as FTM. I have been transitioning since August 22, 2017 (my boy-thday lol) however, I remembering feeling male from as early as 4 years old. I just didn't realize that transitioning was a thing until I was much older, and realizing that it was something that I needed to do for myself took until I was older still. I am a registered nurse (RN) and have been in the medical field in some fashion since I became and EMT in 2004. I rarely work less than two jobs, and I work extremely hard to give my patients and coworkers the best I have to offer. I am married to an amazing partner that is completely accepting and supportive of the person I am and together we have a small army of furry critters keeping us busy in our home.
The point of this fundraiser is to help me actually be able to afford to have "top surgery", or the gender affirming surgery to remove the female breast tissue that my body decided I needed but my brain definitely does not want, and never has. I remember asking my mom when could I donate these "things" or get rid of them almost as soon as I started getting them. Even with medical insurance, the cost of top surgery alone - as it is usually specifically excluded from any plan offered by my employers - is usually in the $26-30,000 range. This does not take in to account the time off work I would need to recover, pain medication and follow up visits that may be needed. I have been feeling like the process was so cost prohibitive that I don't really allow myself to think about it very often. It has gotten to the point that it is effecting my health mentally and physically so I started looking in to my options.
I discovered that there are doctors in Mexico that are board certified in the US and Mexico, that offer gender affirming care in Mexico, specifically to keep down costs for their patients. I have found a doctor that has had amazing results, great reviews from patients and is extremely communicative and open about the entire process. Through them, the surgery will cost just less than $12,000. So this is the direction that I will be headed in for this process and I am hoping that I will be able to do so within a year from now. I will also be donating to this fundraiser, and using it basically as a savings account for myself, to make sure that the funds are used for this use only.
If you know me, you know that I absolutely suck at asking for help but I am one of the first to offer it when it's needed by someone - whether they're someone I care about or it's a friend of a friend. So, for those that do not know me, this is somewhat out of character for me, but I am not sure what else to do. I need to have this happen, and I am already working as much as I can to try and get ahead of my usual bills and debts. It seems like every time I make any progress, and might have the ability to start to pay into a savings account life happens and I have to take from my savings account and use it for a larger than expected bill, or suddenly I need work on my car, or some other odd situation I hadn't planned on. I am sure that you all have similar experiences at some point. Any way, if you can't afford to donate, I completely understand. If you could maybe share this so it might get to someone who could, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for taking the time to read this! Take good care of yourselves.
Sam
Here is the break down of costs, to explain why I am asking for the amount I am asking for:
Top surgery: 12,000.00
Passports x 2: $330 (me and my wife)
Overnight stay after surgery: $400
Lab work and medications: $400
Psychiatric evaluation 3 weeks prior to surgery: $200
Gas from home to and from surgeon: $600 (300 miles/tank x 1165miles x 2 at $4 a gal)
3 weeks off work (average): $4500
Hotel x 3 days (if needed): $360
Total Cost: 18,790.00
20,000.00 - 18,790.00 = 1,210 for food/emergencies/ cushion.
