Cuz Fu(k Cancer

You know me. You've known me for years. I don't normally ask for help.

But now ... now I have no choice

In Jan of this year, my partner went into the hospital with double pneumonia. What they found was that he also has congestive heart failure and his heart is working at about 30% capacity. They admitted him and he stayed for a week while they got everything under control. They're still working on that 9 months later.

In March of this year, I went to the ER with a 104.5 temperature. I thought it was just the flu. It was - Flu A and Strep A ... and I was septic. They admitted me with the expectation was I would be there for a few days.

A few days became a week.

A week became 5 weeks.

They couldn't bring my fever down, so they went in to find out why. What they found is that I had no immune system.

A bone marrow biopsy done during that first week discovered that I had - have - Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia.

I was put into isolation for the next month - I was also neutropenic - while my body was pumped full of antibiotics, arsenic trioxide, and extra large doses of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA - aka Trentinoin). I had few visitors, other than the specialists, and everyone who came in was masked, gloved, and gowned. While I was there, I contracted C-Diff from the IV antibiotics. That, thankfully, has cleared up - LOL! We take the small wins, right? ;)

On April 27th, the next bone marrow biopsy showed that I was in remission. April 27th, coincidentally, was also the 10 year anniversary of my mothers death due to stage 4 lung cancer. I can't imagine what my family was going through, reliving the fear and anguish of my mother's death as I was in the hospital fighting for my life, also from cancer, and them so far away this time. But I digress.

As of right now, I am still in remission, but I am also still on chemo treatments. Every 15 days, I take a 15 day round of oral ATRA. Each round costs $700, and that's after the insurance coverage. May, July, September, and November, I can only work half days because I am receiving arsenic treatments through the port in my chest. I hope those will stop soon, but I won't know anything until January 2025.

APL is 95% curable with a long term prognosis of 80%+. I have beat this. I *will* beat this. I will live a long, long life filled with all the good things. So mote it be.

As if the medical challenges this year weren't enough, there's one more piece to this puzzle - my partner's 9 year old daughter. We have primary custody of her for the foreseeable future. And *she* is why I'm asking for help.

The bills are insurmountable and they will only keep going. All savings is gone and we are in debt. That's to be expected and if it was only that, I wouldn't be here. The loss of income due to the treatment/doc visits/etc is what's hurting us the most. It's past our means to pay rent, put gas in our cars, buy groceries. We are hitting food banks just to put something in her tummy while my partner and I are skipping meals.

We are both looking for second jobs, ones where we can stay at home for her. We are paying off what we can, when we can. Sadly, due to the employment income we *do* have, we don't qualify for assistance. I know. I've looked there too.

That's why I'm turning to my community. We're in dire straits. Credit cards are maxed out and there's no way we can get loans. We're absolutely tapped out and about to lose everything. The kiddo's bio-mom is doing the best she is able to step up for her kinder, but she's currently homeless, working part time, and barely able to take care of herself let alone her child.

I know times are tough for everyone. I know we're all scared and exhausted. Anything helps to get us past this hump. Because I believe that better times are ahead, so long as I'm alive.