Help Libby Recover From Cancer

Dear friends, family, and kind strangers,

If you know her personally you already know that Libby Ferrara is a skilled artist and poet, an adventurous hiker, paddler, and skier, a self-sufficient cabin builder, a devoted dog parent, a loyal friend and sister, and more. Over the past few years Libby has built up her jewelry business, Stray Goose Studio, to be her sole source of income. She also bought land and built herself a cabin in Seward, AK, where she lives with her beloved husky mix Eila. Libby is not usually one to ask for help, but now she needs support as she undergoes cancer treatment.

After months of unexplained (and unpleasant!) symptoms, and numerous tests and scans, Libby was diagnosed with stage 2 colorectal cancer in late June. She is scheduled for surgery on July 27th to remove the 4cm growth. It appears the cancer has not spread to her lymph nodes or other organs, so if all goes well and follow-up tests come back clear she may be able to avoid chemo and should be back to a relatively normal life this fall. This is a big relief, but the recovery will not be easy.

Libby will be hospitalized for several days after surgery, followed by a long recovery with many restrictions, including no driving. Her mom will fly out for the surgery and initial recovery, followed by a rotation of friends helping with rides, errands, dog care, and other needs over the next few weeks. During this time Libby will need to stay in Anchorage to be closer to medical care. This means renting a place to stay for several weeks, along with all the other expenses of traveling to and living in another place. It also means huge medical bills, for the tests she has already had, the surgery, and follow-up care, until she meets the out-of-pocket maximum for her high-deductible insurance plan. Meanwhile, she will still have to pay the mortgage on her land in Seward and all of her other usual bills.

As a self-employed artist, Libby doesn’t have sick days, vacation time, or other benefits. She has already had to make many trips to Anchorage for appointments and tests, spending money on gas and lodging, missing work, and losing income. Now she will lose much more income while incurring huge expenses while recovering from surgery.

Let’s rally around Libby and help offset some of these expenses so she can focus on getting healthy — even small amounts add up! All funds will go directly to Libby to pay her bills. $8,700 will go to medical expenses (this is the out-of-pocket max on her health plan), and any additional money will go towards the cost of spending several weeks in Anchorage while also paying normal bills at home in Seward.

Thank you so much for anything you can give, as well as for sharing this page widely! Keep your fingers crossed for a good outcome from the surgery and follow-up tests and we’ll keep you posted with updates here as we have them!