Hi, my name is Mack (he/they). I am a multiply-disabled trans guy from Southeastern Lexington. I am incredibly engaged in local trans & disability organizing, though often from my sickbed.
I had saved up for top surgery (which I am scheduled to have October 10), a procedure that my whole care team agree is urgent and will be lifesaving for me. My chest dysphoria is horrible and incredibly debilitating. I have been binding my chest for unsafely long periods of time (often with makeshift, DIYed binders) for going on a decade due to my immense dysphoria. At 13- even before I realized I was trans – I was so distressed by chest dysphoria I attempted to remove them with safety scissors, and learned I was trans through researching DIY binders.
However, I have had several medical issues that have quickly drained my savings. I am also currently unemployed and struggling to find a job due both to my disability and to government funding cuts shuttering opportunities for me.
I just learned yesterday that I also need other surgeries to help me breathe to stay alive due to my Pierre Robin, apnea, and related respiratory issues. These will include a handful of smaller surgeries, which should be mainly covered by insurance, as well as a massive lifesaving surgery next year (distraction of both my upper and lower jaw). This surgery will have me hospitalized in intensive care for 2 weeks and then put me in recovery for an additional 3 months.
I am currently asking for $300 to cover top surgery after insurance, but I may raise this cost once I have information about other future surgeries.
