Hi all, my name is Leif, you may also know me as Palmo (my dharma name). I'm a queer parent of two beautiful trans boys, a Buddhist, and an amateur musician. I'm also studying to be a counsellor with the goal to help people via Buddhist modalities, but I'm currently experiencing health problems and am on medical leave. *Updated* It turns out many of my symptoms, like a constant flu like feeling, were being caused by my teeth. I had several chronic latent infections in teeth that were too damaged to be saved and so had to be extracted. Because of this I have no molars in my jaw. I can't eat solid food anymore, I'm living off porridge basically (with no sultanas either). I think we take our teeth for granted until something goes wrong. I can't share a meal with my family, I can't eat churros - my kids favourite treat - with them anymore. Every day is a challenge just to find a way to eat anything at all. I'm embarrassed to go out in public (thankfully I can mask up) and am constantly stressed, both because of the dental problems themselves and the cost of fixing them. I want to be a counselor and help people who are suffering, but who's going to hire someone with no teeth? Teeth are one of the biggest things we're judged on, consider all the toothless hillbilly jokes you've heard. This has greatly affected my self esteem, my ability to enjoy life, and to go on outings with family and friends (I can't meet my friends at a restaurant for a meal). So much of our culture revolves around sharing food and I'm completely shut out of that. Tooth infections can cause worse complications than just what I've experienced so far. They can cause sepsis, heart problems, and grow deep into the surrounding bone - I narrowly missed that last one, but I did have to have part of the bone removed in my last extraction due to the severity of the infection. Had the infection not been treated when it was I could have needed treatment in hospital and suffered facial disfigurement. If I can't treat this, at best I'll spend the rest of my life eating baby food. More likely, the problems I have will keep getting worse and I'll be trapped in a cycle of tooth decay, painful infections, and difficult extractions, almost certainly leading to bone loss and disfigurement. I'm trying to raise money for my health, my quality of life, my future, my self esteem, and quite possibly my life. Here's the cost breakdown; 1) a partial denture to replace the molars in my jaw so I can eat again; $3,000 2) four crowns, which I need to cover my four top front teeth; $8,000 ($2,000 per tooth) 3) root canals and additional smaller work like fillings (at least $1,000) I'll be receiving the official quote this week which I'll post in an update but the goal here is actually short of what I need (edit: I've increased the goal by $2,000 so it should be enough now). I've set aside my tax return so in total, including the amount you see here on this page, I have $3,500. So I'm still very short. I'm not expecting to raise all of it but as a student with children, I don't have much of my own money at all. My kids are currently having to go without so I can save for this, which isn't fair but I have no choice. I tried attending the dental school and they botched multiple teeth then kicked me out of the service for having a panic attack in the chair (I wasn't violent or aggressive, I was crying to myself). Since my dad died I don't have any family to help. My bio dad hasn't contacted me in years since my oldest son came out as trans and he blamed me, and my bio mother has disowned me after she used a car loan to scam me and I refused to give her more money. And there is no one else to ask except you guys reading this. If you got through all that, thank you so much for reading. I don't have anything physical to offer in thanks but I am an ordained Vajrayana ngakpa (ngakma is technically the feminine form) and I can offer prayers, pujas and rituals for you. Thank you again