Help Eleanor Recover from Surgery

Trans household raising funds for surgery bills, associated recovery costs, and ongoing survival needs.

My wife, Eleanor, needed facial feminization surgery to reduce her significant dysphoria. The approval process with her insurance was long and drawn out, and after two years and two pre-op appointments, they denied her. Luckily, we were able to get her onto different insurance and resubmit her paperwork, which ended up being approved. After we received the approval, her surgeon reached out to us to tell us that he had a cancellation at the end of November, so he could get her in quickly. Not wanting her to have to wait another year (the typical waiting period for this kind of surgery), I encouraged her to go for it.

Eleanor is in need of a network of care and support as she navigates her recovery. We are seeking funds to help us pay for her hospital bills.

In addition to the cost of the surgery itself, we also need assistance paying for some of the related costs that come along with surgery, such as:

- Transportation to and from post-op appointments

- Liquid and soft foods for the next 6 weeks

- Prescription and OTC medical supplies like painkillers, ointments, ice packs, etc.

Finally, as many of you undoubtedly know, we have been trapped in a state of financial precarity for a long while. I was out of work for 8 months, and then shortly after I found a job, Eleanor was forced to resign from her job because of near-constant harassment by her manager and other coworkers. And the terrible cultural climate for trans women in the United States has made it difficult for Eleanor to get hired. It is very hard to provide for two people on one salary in Seattle, especially as food and energy costs continue to climb. We don't eat out. We don't buy things for fun. We have basically stripped our budget completely bare, but we are always short at the end of the month anyway.

Because of this, we are also hoping to raise some additional survival funds. It is our hope to use these funds for:

- Food

- Mental health and dental appointments that have been delayed for months due to other bills

- New clothes and shoes to replace ones that are falling apart

- Reducing credit card debt

These funds would allow us to more easily meet our basic needs without having to go to extremes (like doing laundry in our bathtub because that's the only way we can afford it). They would also allow us to cut down on some of the credit card debt we've accumulated, which would reduce our monthly bills and make life more stable for us. Most importantly, they would allow us the peace of mind that we will be able to pay for both Eleanor's recovery, and our day-to-day bills, while she is healing up and still out of work.

All our love and thanks in the world to anyone who donates.

- Ethan & Eleanor