Friends, family, comrades, and enemies, I am back again asking for your support in affording my medical supplies. If you’ve organized with me, loved me, gossiped about me, had a crush on me, or even felt annoyed by me, would you help me get the tools I need to live a life without agony?

My name is al and for the last decade, I've been an organizer in my free time and my professional life. You can probably find me working on a campaign for liberation.

I have a chronic condition called Primary Lymphedema. I was born without enough lymph channels in my legs. My feet, legs, and hips are constantly swelling in ways that impacts every moment of my daily life. I go from a good day of feeling tightness and discomfort to most days where intense swelling leads to shooting nonstop pain up my legs.

My lymphatic disease is spreading, and I have been dealing with new symptoms over the last few months, like randomly collapsing because of nerve issues.

During the summer, with the humidity, I am constantly managing my pain. I have to make calculations if I’m to wash the dishes, that means I can’t go see friends that evening. Or if I want to ride my bike to the beach, that means I probably won’t be able to walk the next day. With humidity and heat only getting worse each year, my lymphedema is slowly progressing towards the next irreversible phase of the condition.

Standing still is the worst pain for me - the swelling is just accumulating. So if you’ve ever talked with me while standing, know that I was doing calculus in my brain the whole time of how long I can be on my feet without ruining the next few days of my wellbeing.

There is no cure to lymphedema. Only treatment. Treatment includes manual lymph draining massage ($100-200 per session), compression garments (thousands of dollars), microsurgery, and bandaging.

Because of a recent federal law, my insurance company is required to pay 70% of SOME of my compression garments. Leaving me to handle the 30% and the full cost of the compression materials they won't cover.

I've already paid over $3500 to reach my deductible for care. Here is what I need help with:

-$560 compression garments for my feet

-$2100 compression garments for my legs (2 pairs!)

-$1800 for overnight compression

Total - $4,460

If there happens to be anything over this, it will go towards helping my medical bills ($2k+) for understanding how my disease is spreading.

All of these supplies should be free. Organizing for universal healthcare is one of the important fights for our time. In the meantime, I’m so appreciative of my community for care and support during all these painful days.