Gratitude, and I need a favor :)

I just want to express my unending gratitude for the support and love, and all of the very lovely gifts that have been showered upon me. I have an amazing family that extends past my bloodlines that is so full of wonderful that I am actually sitting here with joyful tears running down my face just typing this. I don’t think that I will ever be able to thank all of you enough for the love that you have shown me. It is truly overwhelming.

I am also thankful that through the favor of an acquaintance that turned into a friend, I have job with a company that not only pays me a living wage, but provides me with excellent benefits (including meeting the love of my life on my first day there, though I did not know it yet.) I don’t know what I would be doing right now if I was not working here, and didn’t have my health coverage. To say that I would be up shit creek would be an understatement. I know that at some point, they may start to deny coverage of my treatments, or I might lose this job for some reason, and I will be asking you directly for monetary assistance if I need to. Today is not the day I am going to ask you for that.

To backtrack a bit:

When this all first started, Hospice Austin, an organization that I volunteer for called me for a massage for a patient. I had just had the first biopsy done the day before, and told them I could not, and told them what was happening. After my diagnosis, I let them know that I would have to take a break from my volunteering. It totally broke my heart to tell them that. A big part of my life for the past 10 years has been the chance that every once and a while, I would be able to give to someone that needed comfort in a direct and immediate way. I love to be able to do that, and now I can’t. I also can’t go to any of the animal shelters to walk the dogs or anything else that I have done in the past. I realized cancer was taking away the only avenues of service I have been walking the last several years. I felt even more adrift than ever. What good am I to anyone at this point?? What purpose can I possibly serve in this world if I can’t help anyone and need all this help myself? The facebook posts I put up throughout the day that most of my friends ignore isn’t going to cut it. I was already starting to feel like a moocharooniepieface.

Then last Tuesday, some wonderful and long-standing friends of mine began talking about a beloved friend of theirs and her situation, and how they were trying to help (while they were at my house helping me, mind you. I tell you- I am a lucky girl.) All of that started me thinking about how I can still feel good about myself by helping others when I can hardly leave the house for fear of infection. And so a delightfully selfish idea came into my head: blog about it and see how much help you can be to her, and others like her. I need a purpose in order to get up in the morning out of my bed (you know, besides the man, family, friends, and pets that I love more than anything.)

So here is my first completely selfish plea:

I am going to ask you to donate to someone that is also in a life-threatening situation, but without all the benefits. I don’t know her well, and can really only call her an acquaintance, but no matter what has happened over the past 15 years since she moved to the area, she has always been polite to me when we have run into one another at social events.  (I cannot say the same thing for several  “I’m cooler than you” folks that pretended to be my friends over the years.) She always at least smiled or said “hello” before continuing whatever conversation she was having before I came by.

More importantly, she is very dear to many people that are very dear to me. She has been supportive of them in their time of need, and no one I know has a bad word to say about her. She’s gorgeous, charming, talented, nice, and loves dogs (I know, we all want to hate her, but we can’t- she’s too nice.) She has organized and performed at fundraising events for my loved ones. She created, and spectacularly performed an amazing burlesque as DARTH mother effing VADER for Shayne and Louisa’s birthday. That alone should have you reaching into your wallet this very effing minute, even if you did not get to see it.

But what really should have you thinking about giving to this fair woman, is that despite the fact that she works her arse off (for multiple jobs before she couldn’t anymore) she has no health insurance and has a medical condition that needs IMMEDIATE attention. When I say immediate, I mean that as I understand it, she needs treatment yesterday. But they won’t even think about scheduling it until she has a large down payment for the procedure that could save her life. It is true I really don’t know the whole story of her medical journey, but I have heard this theme repeated in my friends lives too many times recently. It is all the same story. Not all of them have ended the way we wanted.

I won’t go into any philosophical,  political, or moral diatribes right now, but we all know that this is wrong.

So anyone that has been thinking about who might need your help lately, or thinking about sending cash my way, I found someone that deserves it and needs it.    NOW.

Her friends have organized a benefit show for her with an auction full of really cool shit and a ton of amazing acts. If you can go to it, that would be awesome- please take photos and post them so i can see you having fun. If you cannot go to it, here is the site for the benefit and auction which has direct donation info as well (it is still being worked on and set up, so please look at it often if you are thinking about the auction and going to the benefit.)  Please be sure to use the “send to family/friend as a gift option so she does not have to pay PP a ton of fees.

http://erennie.wix.com/tynkerhelp

Also, there are these badass items   http://tabitha.bigcartel.com/

Please give, and give as much as you can as often as you can. I will be gifting monthly as long as I am able.

She shouldn’t have to ask anyone for this kind of help. No one should. And no one should be refused life-saving treatment, ever. Medicine should be about healing, not about money-grubbing.

So please, I am begging you, help this delightful lady out. Whatever you can spare.  She deserves the chance to fight.

Yours in complete selfishness,

j

 

 

 


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