SUPER SECRET MEDICAL COSTS
Life comes at you hard and fast, and then your husband gets diagnosed with Stage 3B Rectal Cancer!
My husband and I are both freelancers. Rob is a Muralist/Senior Art Director and…I’m a cartoonist. I buy (silver) tier ACA insurance for $750 a month, and our medical team is great, but you can’t pay them in art! I keep BEGGIN Wash U and BJC to just accept my poverty, but alas...They want ONLY MONEY.
I could pay YOU in art, though.
On June 8th, when I got the first of the many-medical-bills-to-come, I treated myself to a little public freakout. I posted on social media and had a lot of (incredibly kind) folks reach out with cash donations. I wasn't ready to accept that sort of freely-given help (though I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, I really do) from strangers, colleagues, work acquaintances, or honestly, even really close friends. But things have changed! Help!
If people want to help me feed money to the medical machine, who am I to say no? I also love Rob! AND I WANT HIM TO LIVE WELL!
If enough people helped me feed money into the machine, there might even be a comic at the end of it.
Things really suck right now, and I feel really sad, scared, and uncertain about so many things that felt really clear weeks ago. I’m embarrassed that I have to ask for help, despite being truly grateful that help was offered so quickly. Since July, I've spent 178 billable hours navigating medical and financial aid systems. There are days when I feel very hopeless, and like it’s time to walk away from art, but then folks reach out and tell me my work had an impact, and it keeps me there a little longer.
ANYWAY. YA’LL WANNA BE AN OLDE TIMEY ART PATRON? YA’LL WANNA HELP ME DURING A TIME OF MEDICAL HARDSHIP? I appreciate you!
**** IF YOU SUPPORT ME, YOU CAN ALSO HELP ME BY PROVIDING A GIFT LETTER, EXPLAINING TO WASH U, BJC, AND NORTHWESTERN THAT YOU ARE GIFTING US THIS MONEY DUE TO MEDICAL HARDSHIP. And folks? It's really hard. Radiation is EXPENSIVE!
***** If you're here from Wash U, Barnes Jewish, or Northwestern! Hi! I told you during our financial aid meetings that I was out here beggin' for money! BEHOLD! MY SHAME! MY POVERTY! Can you just show your supervisor this page so the process goes faster?
