*January 2026*

It's a new year and time to give a refresh to this introductory piece.

This year has started off with far more medical drama than anyone would want. The struggles with the stomach lesions continues, but it's all good news from oncology. I am getting better, but no one can guarantee dates so I'm just holding on happily to faith that soon my stomach (with the help of modern medicine) will have evicted the nasty tenants. My spine fracture has taken well to robotic procedures. It is rough going in ever 6-8 weeks, but I prefer that to major invasive surgery. My next surgery is on the 6th of February. Happy to say that my chronic kidney infections are under much better control. I was diagnosed as borderline or full on Type2 diabetes last year (That way of diagnosing makes no sense to me either, but I understand what they actually mean. The glucose readings are high enough to be Type2, but the possibility exists that we can reverse it.) So far we've kept it under good control. I had to have surgery in both my eyes because of a weird thing called pterygium (the white of your eye starts to grow over your eye), plus a retinol hole. So far everything seems fine with that, but I was told that the retinol hole will need mote treatments in a few months. I am still under the care of the hematologist for the clots in my lungs. These were diagnosed mid-October. Here's where things start to get weird. Almost 3 weeks ago our middle son became quite ill. A hospital stay with many tests show he has some neurological issues due to a reaction to medication. He will be seeing a neurologist and cardiologist for at least 6 months. Last week my husband woke me up screaming for help. He was having horrible pain in his chest. Of course I thought heart attack. I almost fainted in the ER when they said he had blood clots in his lungs. I told the ER doc about my own diagnosis and ongoing treatment. The shocked expression said it all. Soon we were surrounded by doctors and everyone had questions. He was admitted and I stayed with him because we were isolated. They called in specialists to figure this out because blot clots aren't contagious. Although my husband is home now (on the same blood thinners I take) he'll be going thru a lot more testing. So will I. The hematologist is quite curious about this. So are we! We are also concerned if something is going on which could affect the children.

Finances are going to be a nightmare since son and husband have medically ordered recovery time. That puts work on hold. I have applied for remote work, but thankfully I didn't get the jobs. I say "thankfully" because I have not been feeling well and my doctors were furious that I was thinking of returning to work at this time. I promised them I would not return to work until they gave the ok.

I will add that the most important thing right now is that I need to get our health insurance paid asap (the due date is - gulp - today). We thought we'd have it covered, but spending most of this month in hospital wiped out what small budget money we had. Unless I win the lottery I don't know how to get the $898 covered.

There's a lot more going on, but we can to that in future updates. I think this has brought things up to date for the year. Thank you for reading this far!

Remember, there's more information below. They're the introductions from the past two years. In case you are interested.

I hope you are all healthy and in a warm place. Stay safe!

Wishing you all well!

Coco

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*From 2025*

Dear friends,

Our friend Coco got very sick in 2016, severely limiting her ability to earn a living for her family. During the pandemic her daughter had a Covid-related stroke. Both Coco and her daughter need daily care and Coco has regular appointments for cancer, serious intestinal trauma and a spinal fracture. Her two younger sons both suffer from autoimmune diseases. Life is pretty much a round of medical appointments, and, as it’s the U.S..requires payments for monthly medical insurance, doctor’s visits, and co-payments for medication. But Coco and her family have been hanging on.

Every dollar they raise helps to cover all medical expenses.

Farah Mendelsohn and Ellen Kushner

(The above has been lightly edited as our needs have become slightly less with the help of all of you!)

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*From 2024*

Hi. I am Coco & I really need your help. I have been struggling with medical issues since 2016 when a tumor was found in my uterus & I had to have a complete hysterectomy. The hysterectomy led to a tilted bladder, which led to chronic kidney infections, which led to more hospitalisations than I can count.

⭐ On the advice of a friend I will add here that my needs are urgent at this time and...

1. GFM does take a percentage - the platform needs to have funds to keep running

2. It takes at least 14 days to get your GFM donations deposited into my own account

3. Because I am struggling with urgent daily financial needs, I am posting other methods by which donations can be made, which make the funds available immediately, if you choose to do it that way instead. Of course, it is entirely up to you how to donate. GFM donations will reach me eventually & be very helpful.

Here are alternatives which will get me the funds immediately:

Venmo @coco-pazzo

CashApp $CocoPazzo

Anyone wanting to use PayPal or Zelle can find the information in the latest update *January 2026*⭐

Jumping to the most recent issues, I have been dealing with stomach cancer, a fracture in my spine (I’ve just undergone a second surgery for it, and more are lined up for when I recover from this one). So far this year (2024) I've spent about 8 weeks in hospital. Yes, you read that right: I was hospitalised for double pneumonia in February. A CT scan for the pneumonia led to the discovery of malignant nodules on my thyroid gland. A week's stay in ICU after a thyroidectomy led to another hospital stay when it was discovered I had been infected with ESBL (a superbug in the eColi family, known to be passed around in hospital settings when a patient has an IV or a catheter.).

Along with my own illnesses, I have 3 children who are under medical care. I have POA for my daughter, who was left permanently disabled by a stroke brought on by COVID in April 2020. She has neurological deficiencies, cardiac issues, partial paralysis, aphasia, Type1 diabetes. She is on physical/occupational therapy. My youngest son has not truly recovered from 2 concussions in January. The other suffers from autoimmune illness and is under treatment. They have both been hospitalised lately, so must do their studies online.

I have always been the main bread winner in the family. But finally my brutal cascade of illnesses has rendered me unable either to run my catering company or to work as a personal chef. Although I have been doing what I can with small remote jobs, I am not earning enough to keep things going. Thankfully, the family has been able to cover housing & utilities, but that leaves out health insurance premiums, medical co-pays (including endless prescriptions for 5 people), car maintenance, car insurance and gasoline to numerous medical appointments every week.

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this & thank you for your donation of any size, or for sharing this request with big-hearted friends like yourself.

Coco

Please note that this fundraiser was started in fall of 2023. $4000+ of the donations shown above were made before the end of 2023. That money was spent on medical copays, late bills, gasoline, & groceries.