Help Michelle kick cancers ass!

*update at the end!!* Our precious baby, Michelle, has been all but diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Two weeks ago, Michelle went in for a check-up where her doctors discovered two large cysts on her ovaries. One is a whopping 8 inches in diameter - the size of a 5-month-old fetus. Her most recent bloodwork results, combined with the fact that the cyst has grown this large in the past 6 months, leads her doctors to believe that it is cancer. The good news is that it has not spread!

Michelle is an amazing artist, friend, and human being. Her capacity to love and care for her friends is enormous. Since moving to Seattle in 2020, Michelle and her dog, Archie (pictured below), have become Capitol Hill icons. She is very independent and reaching out for help can bring up complicated feelings. Anything contributed goes a long way and means so much!

We are fundraising for the cost of her surgery on September 5th to remove the cysts. The procedure was initially estimated to cost 90,000, but she got it discounted (lol) to 60,000. She does not have any health insurance to help with the enormous cost. We are reaching out to our friends and family in the community for support so she can pay for the care she needs.

The fundraiser is only covering the cost of the surgery - which at the discounted price is still 60,000. It does not include the cost of living during her recovery and lost work time. Any additional funds raised will go directly to helping Michelle pay for rent, utilities, and groceries.

If you are unable to donate money but want to help out, please contact me (Van) for what would be helpful (i.e. dropping off prepared meals (vegan only!), running errands, walking Archie, artwork/cards/gifts to support her through her recovery time).

Thank you so much for reading, contributing, and sharing this page. We will keep everyone updated during the post-op. Please send Michelle lots of love and keep her in your thoughts!

Michelle and Archie.

UPDATE!! Michelle's surgery went perfectly. She is now healing very well and in high spirits! Thank you all so much for your donations and words of support. Raising this much money in such a short amount of time is incredible.

One of the cysts was indeed malignant and ended up being even larger than the doctors initially thought- containing 2.4 LITERS of liquid (imagine a 2L soda and then another soda bottle) and the other being a different kind of cyst the size of a baseball. If you are interested in the gore, she has pictures posted on her Instagram, as well as more regular updates: @lordmxchelle

Please continue to share this page and send Michelle healing thoughts!!! Thank you all.

The first pic is from August 17, before the cysts were removed. The second pic is from September 10 after surgery.