Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment, and Fundraising
In July 2024, I was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer, specifically squamous cell carcinoma. No one is ever truly prepared for such a diagnosis. It changes everything and forces you to reconsider what you thought was important. The focus must shift to treatment, and so it began with surgery to assess and remove cancerous cells. That phase is complete, I have completed a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. I am now in recovery, which is honestly harder than the treatment. The side effects compound and continue to compound.
My voice is changing as a result of the treatments, and I’ve experienced significant weight fluctuations. I won’t get into the full list of side effects, but I’ll mention fatigue. I never fully understood what fatigue meant until now. Yes, I’ve always known what it feels like to be tired, but the exhaustion from chemo and radiation is different. It’s not just being sleepy; it’s as if my internal engine runs out of steam. Getting up after a nap can feel like an insurmountable task.
The Fundraising
I want to take a moment to express my frustration and frankly my amazement at how little support there really is for cancer patients. Oh sure, the Institute has a gaggle of people all employed to tackle issues, but when it come to meaningful support they are pretty useless. If you’re lucky, you can a a Fred Meyer food car worth $250. But it is once-in-a-lifetime. So spend that one wisely.
If you, happen to exhaust a bunch of your life savings dealing with the expense of cancer treatment, good luck finding any grants of financial support…. Until you are evicted and homeless, and then, you become eligible. That right there is a broken system.
The purpose of this section is to invite you to support me through my cancer journey – I will accept donations, but my preferred method is to sell my art artwork.
The link below will take you to a section of my website where you can view and purchase my work. Please note that shipping costs for orders outside the Seattle area will be additional.
Make a donation
If you wish to donate to help with care costs, here is a form to make a contribution.