Donate: Laura's Medical Care Fund

Hello beautiful people,

My name is Kristen and I am a friend of the Alger-Holloway family here in Nashville. As some of you may know, Laura will undergo a double mastectomy with reconstruction this coming Tuesday, Jan 16th.

Initially, this was an information-gathering exercise to consider surgery as a preventative measure, as her genetic risk of breast cancer is quite high. But in late September, while in the process of deciding whether or not to move forward with the preventative surgery, her doctor called with the news that they found a mass in her breast. Previous scans and imaging were unfortunately unable to detect the mass due to its location, nearly touching the chest wall/pectoral muscle. This difficult placement caused additional challenges with the biopsy process and after two failed biopsy attempts, it became clear the next right thing to do was to move forward with the mastectomy and reconstruction. The mass (and all of the removed tissue) will be biopsied and will finally reveal whether or not there is any malignancy and therefore further treatment necessary.

Laura will need to take at least three weeks off of teaching to heal and at least that long without auditioning (losing the opportunity to make money). Like so many artists, Laura and her family have limited health insurance coverage through the marketplace, despite paying hundreds in premiums each month. All told the surgery itself is estimated to have their total out-of-pocket costs around 10k, not counting the loss of wages from not teaching, hiring subs, etc all while they are still digging out from the tornado/pandemic/actors strike combo over the last few years.

Your support will offer Laura the peace of mind in accessing this preventative, life-saving care and the time and space required to heal.

With deep gratitude and love,

Kristen