Ways to Raise Funds

I’m waiting on responses from a couple of surgeons – so I thought I’d do a post on different ways to raise money.
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Regardless of where I end up going for surgery – there are going to be some costs involved. Whether its Serbia or (if by some miracle a surgeon sets up in Australia sometime soon) in Australia – there will be costs.

As much as I’d love for it to be otherwise – we don’t have a whole lot of extra money lying around the house that we can put towards this, so I’m looking at other ways to raise the funds until we win the lottery. Although granted we might be a bit closer to that win if we actually played!

Online Surveys
One of my personal favourites. There are websites you can go onto where you sign up to participate in surveys about… Well, pretty much anything really. If you qualify and complete the survey – you get some money. It’s not much (I think the average for the site I’m on is $1.50 per survey), but it’s better than nothing. Once you get to a certain amount, you can either get paid out, or you can exchange it for a gift card.
The wife and I have a system where I get a $20 Woolworths gift card, give it to her, and I get the money. Win, win.

Searching the Internet
There is a website called Qmee.com that you can sign up to, that pays you for being able to see what sites you click into when you search things. It isn’t available in Australia yet – so I can’t give much more information on it; but it seems like a good idea. You can sign up to be notified when it does come to your country.

Reviewing Websites
Another favourite of mine. UserTesting.com pays you for reviewing websites. You download the software and record your screen whilst reviewing websites. The site usually pays about $10 USD for each 15-20 minute review that you do.

Write/Publish an eBook
If only I had the time! You can write and self-publish books on sites like Amazon for other people to read and purchase. Perfect for your inner-writer.

Online Tasks
Sites like ClickWorker and Fiverr pay you money for completing tasks. ClickWorker is aimed more at the administration side of things, and you are sought out rather than putting yourself out there; however with Fiverr you are able to submit ‘Gigs’ that people buy for $5 at a time. If you have to choose between the two – I’d probably go with Fiverr. ClickWorker seems to rarely have any jobs going; and when there are jobs available – you only really get paid a couple of dollars a task.

Mystery Shoppers
I love the idea of this one. For those who don’t know, mystery shoppers are people who come and buy things for the express purpose of seeing how well that particular shop is doing in a certain area. Tasks can be anything from “go and buy a cup of coffee from XXXXXX’s cafe” to “go and test drive a motorbike at XXX’s in Sydney.” Prices for each task vary depending on what you’re being asked to do, but are generally anywhere from $10 – $45 AUD.
I say I love the idea of it, because that’s a pretty good price for just test driving a vehicle, but most of them are (obviously) weekday tasks – which makes them quite difficult to do if you work full-time.

Crowd-Sourcing
This seems to be the most popular way of making a bit of money these days. Crowd-sourcing lets people donate to your cause – no matter what it is. There are a huge variety of sites out there – and they all charge different amounts for you to put your cause out there. Sites such as GoFundMe are very popular, because they’re a generic site that can be used for anything, and their fees are quite low. However you can also get sites that cater to specific needs such as Indiegogo – which looks more at the creative scene.

Selling Things Online
Ah technology… Not only can you buy things online – but you can sell them too. Websites like eBay and Gumtree are the most well-known out there, but you can also go on sites like Etsy and create your own things (if you have a creative flair). They’re also a good way of getting rid of any excess rubbish lying around the house!
Again, watch out for fees – eBay for example charges a percentage rate of anything that sells, however Gumtree (at this stage) doesn’t.

Chocolate
A nice ‘set and forget’ way of doing things, you can go onto the Cadbury website and request some boxes of chocolate to sell at your workplace for fundraising. Not a good way of making a significant amount of money – but better than a kick up the pants. And for those from my work who are reading this – I’m got some in the office, feel free to pop around and buy some :p

Work
When it all comes down to it though, probably the best way of making some money is to get out there and work. There are some tax implications with having a second job – but an income is an income. As long as you do everything correctly and get paid a semi-decent wage to cover the extra tax you’ll have to pay – it’s a good way of getting an extra bit of money.

Surgeon Option: Dr Loren Schechter

Introduction

Dr Loren Schechter works in Chicago in the United States. He performs both phalloplasty and metoidioplasty surgeries, and is regarded as one of the better options in the States for this type of surgery.

He works out of three hospitals:

• Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
• Weiss Memorial Hospital
• Thorek Memorial Hospital

Surgery

Dr Schechter uses the Radial Forearm Flap (RFF), Anterolateral Thigh (ALT) and Musculocutaneous Latissimus Dorsi (MLD) Flap method for his phalloplasty surgeries.

The total phalloplasty is done in two stages with a third stage used only if it is required:

First surgery: Vaginectomy, phalloplasty, scrotoplasty, and urethral lengthening.

Shaping of the glans may be performed at the time of the initial procedure (however, depending on the choice of surgical technique, it may be performed in the second stage).

Testicular implants and a penile prosthesis are placed at a second and, sometimes, third stage.

It is recommended that patients undergo hysterectomy 3 months prior to phalloplasty surgery,

Prosthesis

According to information received from Dr Schechter’s office, generally a hydraulic (both two and three-piece) prosthesis is used. The pump may be placed on one side of the scrotum, and the reservoir may be placed in the abdominal region. One or two cylinders may be placed in the penis.

I could not find any information on whether it was inflatable or semi-rigid.

Surgery Costs

All surgery costings are in US Dollars ($)

Pre-Operative Consult – $100.00

Surgery – Approximately $75,000 – $125,000 depending on the technique used. A $500 deposit is due within a week of booking your surgery date.

Testicular Implants – Could not find any information.
Penile Prosthesis – Could not find any information.

There are no mention of any pre-surgical tests, however the paperwork does state:

“Prior to surgery, Dr. Schechter will review your medical history and coordinate clinically indicated lab work. At the time of your evaluation, you will be interviewed, undergo a history and physical examination, sign consent forms, have your photographs taken, and receive instructions.”

Costs for surgery in AUD are subject to currency exchange rates. Please also note that these costs are based on no health insurance.

Transport / Accommodation

Because I don’t have a date as such, I’m using a three-week period in June 2016 at the moment for costs of accommodation and travel.

For flights from Brisbane to Chicago return, I have an average cost of $1023 AUD. I’ve also put down about $1000 AUD for miscellaneous transport needs (such as travel to and from the airport). Assuming I will require 3 surgeries, this comes to $4069 AUD in transport costs.

As for accommodation – you’re looking at about $2500 for two people for three weeks, If there’s only you going – you can start looking from about $1,100. That’s only looking at hotels and apartments though.

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I’m fairly happy with the results I’ve seen of Dr Scechter’s work – but the possibility of having to spend over US$150,000 just isn’t feasible. Judging by today’s exchange rate I’m looking at somewhere in the region of $200,000; and  I just don’t think I’m willing to spend that much money. That being said, if it turns out somehow that private health would cover it – I think I’d be happy enough to come back for another look.