a pound of flesh

So, hey, my surgery is tomorrow. For those of you just joining us, I am FTM and have been seeking chest surgery for uh...... over ten years. It's been a long time since I was able to leave my home without tightly and uncomfortably binding my chest flat, just to be able to have a normal life and not be looked at strangely by other people.

There seems to be a myth in the common imagination that a "sex change" is a single event that happens to you, one visit to the hospital, all done. This is obviously not the way it really works. Medically, you've got hormones that take months/years to reach full effect, and very possibly multiple surgeries and other procedures like electrolysis and whatnot.

And then there's money. This stuff costs tens of thousands of dollars, and the majority of health plans don't cover one cent of it, though that is slowly changing. I am extremely lucky to have my hormones covered by a low-income health plan here in Vermont. But it doesn't cover my surgery.

Getting the money has been a long road. I doubt I would have ever had enough, except that seven years ago this month, my mother died of complications from her cancer treatment, and my brother and I inherited her house. I am now seeing some money from the sale of that house. Combine that with _hannelore's father very generously offering me the use of his credit, and you got yourself a surgery going on.

There is a lot of stuff surrounding this, because my mother never wanted me to transition, much less have surgery, and I am basically using her money to do it. But, well, I waited seven years after she died, which seems like a good fairy tale number, so I feel relatively absolved.

Anyway, I am kind of losing my mind from stress over this and other things, so just think nice thoughts for me. I probably won't be able to update immediately after surgery, but soon enough I will make my glorious return.

a pound of flesh

So, hey, my surgery is tomorrow. For those of you just joining us, I am FTM and have been seeking chest surgery for uh...... over ten years. It's been a long time since I was able to leave my home without tightly and uncomfortably binding my chest flat, just to be able to have a normal life and not be looked at strangely by other people.

There seems to be a myth in the common imagination that a "sex change" is a single event that happens to you, one visit to the hospital, all done. This is obviously not the way it really works. Medically, you've got hormones that take months/years to reach full effect, and very possibly multiple surgeries and other procedures like electrolysis and whatnot.

And then there's money. This stuff costs tens of thousands of dollars, and the majority of health plans don't cover one cent of it, though that is slowly changing. I am extremely lucky to have my hormones covered by a low-income health plan here in Vermont. But it doesn't cover my surgery.

Getting the money has been a long road. I doubt I would have ever had enough, except that seven years ago this month, my mother died of complications from her cancer treatment, and my brother and I inherited her house. I am now seeing some money from the sale of that house. Combine that with _hannelore's father very generously offering me the use of his credit, and you got yourself a surgery going on.

There is a lot of stuff surrounding this, because my mother never wanted me to transition, much less have surgery, and I am basically using her money to do it. But, well, I waited seven years after she died, which seems like a good fairy tale number, so I feel relatively absolved.

Anyway, I am kind of losing my mind from stress over this and other things, so just think nice thoughts for me. I probably won't be able to update immediately after surgery, but soon enough I will make my glorious return.