Annalisa's Cancer Recovery and Stability Journey

Hello! My name is Annalisa. Unfortunately, I have been diagnosed with cancer again, and I need your help. Without it, I face the very real prospect of homelessness.

I’ve struggled with consistent, accessible employment since 2013, when my first cancer surgery disabled my body in ways that capitalism is extremely hostile to accommodating or recognizing. I did not lose any of my valuable skills or work ethic, I merely became a person who needs accommodations in the workplace.

Since getting illegally fired from a steady job in 2018, I've struggled immensely to have stable income. I usually work gig and seasonal jobs since then. It's never enough to survive on, let alone thrive, build, or grow. I try to leverage my art skills to make money, and I have spent most of the last five years teaching myself about art as a business, but lack of resources and technology creates more barriers.

Job instability because of my first cancer, and the expenses of my disability aids and housing, are the main issues keeping me in poverty. I also have astronomical amounts of student loan debt. I regularly face the very real prospect of homelessness every 6-12 months.

My cancer treatments are in Ann Arbor at U of M. This is two hours from my home. My car is currently unsafe to drive any considerable distance, so I can never use it to get to my treatments, and an unreliable vehicle severely limits my job opportunities as well.

***Covid has made everything employment-related 500% harder, as an immunocompromised person***

I recently took a Medical Editing course to try and switch to a work from home field that paid well. It's very complex, and it requires technology that I don't currently have, but I think I can do it. Then the return of this cancer just swept that off the table. I'm hoping to finish the course and begin the testing and employment portion when I've recovered enough.

One of the biggest challenges at the moment is not knowing how much this surgery is going to entail. It's going to require removal of parts of my skeleton and skull. I am being told to prepare for the following possibilities: a permanent speech impediment, partial facial paralysis/weakness, nerve damage in my left arm, and possibly difficulty swallowing. I may also undergo a bone graft from my leg. There may be further treatments after surgery, depending on how that goes. I will have multiple follow up appointments, and scans and monitoring for the rest of my life.

I have repeatedly been told to expect recovery to take longer than I think.

After my first cancer, it took a full year for me to even begin feeling recovered, and there are many abilities that never returned to their pre-cancer level, such as my energy and stamina. I am so scared of how harder life will be with further disabilities.

Any combination of these physical impairments will impact all work I do with the public, including marketing my art business. Changes to my face also impact my ability to protect myself from Covid.

All of these obstacles would be made more manageable with money. I am asking for help. I am very uncomfortable asking for help, but I don’t have options right now. I need community care to see this thing through. I love my friends, family, and community. I want to live, and continue to be an active part of what makes Kzoo so wonderful and unique.

Thank you so much, and please, wear a fucking mask. It saves lives.

With love, Annalisa

[Organized with consent and compassion by Kaitlin & Sasha]