Calling All Villagers: Support Caregiving for Ken

Calling All Villagers: A Fundraiser to Support Caregiving Expenses for Ken Keegan During Advanced Stage Prostate Cancer

As friends, colleagues, and artists who have been touched by the love, friendship, vision, and life work of Ken Keegan and Rusty Morrison, we are making a circle of hands around them in this difficult time. As co-founders of Omnidawn, Ken and Rusty have poured their hearts and minds, and personal assets, into creating a living village of us as authors, readers, artists, and humans. We are calling all villagers.

Ken is currently in Stage 4 of prostate cancer which has metastasized to his bones. He has had many chemo treatments but none succeeded in the ways you would hope. Ken returned home from Kaiser on Thursday 8/26 on a hospice plan after spending almost a week in the hospital.

Ken and Rusty must now bear nearly all caregiving expenses connected to Ken’s stay at home themselves.

Kaiser's hospice service has provided a hospital bed, table, commode, and walker (though Ken is too weak to use it). Also, they will be sending a hospice nurse a couple of times each week to monitor Ken's care.

At the same time, for Ken to be able to go and stay at home, Kaiser requires someone who is capable of in-home care providing and who is strong enough to lift Ken. Ken is too weak to do the things that a person must do. The good news is that Ken and Rusty have already found and hired a terrific, highly qualified caregiver, who they both appreciate.

Ken may live many more months. Even a year. We are happy that Ken is back home with Rusty, and we want to help make his stay at home as comfortable and peaceful as possible. We very much want to support enabling him to stay at home for as long as possible.

Our goal is to raise $25K to help cover some of Ken and Rusty’s expenses related to caregiving assistance for Ken from hospice specialists (as Rusty is not trained nor physically strong enough to cover all of his needs), as well as out of pocket medical expenses such as regular blood transfusions, medications, etc. and loss of income for Rusty as she tends to Ken’s needs.

Please join us by contributing to this train of hands of love. Our village is large. Our capabilities vary. Any amount is welcome. Any amount you can give would be a great help and mean so much.

Feel free to share this widely among friends and communities. Thank you!

With love,

Nathalie Khankan

Maw Shein Win