Dawn's Healing Journey Needs Your Support

Nearly a month ago, my sister Dawn was hit with her second stroke of the year. This came right on the heels of a 3-week hospital and rehab stay for Pyoderma Gangrenosum, a rare, incredibly painful inflammatory skin condition characterized by painful, rapidly developing skin ulcers. Due to the rapid impact of both issues and long recovery times, she has depleted her vacation and medical time and is now on unpaid medical leave.

If you know Dawn, you know that she loves her job as a librarian and she hates to ask for help. As you can imagine, this all hits hard, just as she seemed to be hitting her stride—she has a roommate and friends who make her laugh, make her do shots to celebrate her birthday (a first for her), and Thanksgivings spent in San Juan (I included this photo because I swear it’s the happiest I’ve seen her in a long, long time).

All this to say that she’s been doing everything she’s needed to do, yet the waves seem to hit like financial tsunamis, and because my freelance work has been slow (if you hear of a gig for me, please let me know ASAP), I can’t afford to support her for much longer. She is currently in an Assisted Living Facility because her left side weakness means that she is unable to do much on her own at the moment. My hope is that a month or two in the ALF will allow her to focus on getting stronger on her left side and healing the ulcers that have cropped up on both legs.

In true Boyer spirit, she is fighting hard, but it’s not an ideal situation. I’m asking for any and all assistance to cover her rent and expenses for the next few months, in addition to covering her time in the Assisted Living Facility, which is not covered by insurance and costs about the same as NYC monthly rent (IFYKYK).

I know that times are less than ideal economically, but if you have anything to spare, (including knowledge/intel on how to proceed with social services in Florida) we’d more than appreciate it! On top of everything else, Dawn’s phone got stolen in rehab, and her iPad is on the blink, so she is only available by Fb Messenger. However, snail mail words of love, support, encouragement, and corny jokes are also welcome—just message me and I’ll happily share her mailing address.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. xx