For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Anna. I’m a songwriter, a dog lover, and your everyday outdoors-loving Pacific Northwesterner. Like an increasing number of young people , I was recently diagnosed with cancer. Since September, I’ve been going through cancer treatment while working full-time to maintain my health insurance. I’m turning to community support to offset some of the unexpected medical and housing costs that have come along with my diagnosis and treatment.

When I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in August, at age 37, it came as a huge surprise. I had heard the statistics about colorectal cancer rates rising in younger people, but I never thought it could be me. I had listened to the doctor who told me not to worry when I came in with symptoms. By the time I got a diagnostic colonoscopy, there was a mass with lymph node involvement, meaning it had advanced to stage III.

In the fall, I completed chemoradiation, where I took oral chemo pills and went in for targeted radiation treatments after work every weekday for 28 days over the course of five weeks. In early December, I started three months of CAPOX chemotherapy, which includes a combination of intravenous chemo infusions and oral chemo pills. I am now more than halfway through this phase of treatment. It is possible that I will need to have surgery after chemo is completed.

The side effects have been brutal, and I’m still managing residual side effects from radiation even as I tackle the chemo side effects. I have worked the whole time, only taking days off for holidays and treatment days every three weeks when I have to go to multiple appointments in one day at Fred Hutch and IV chemo infusions over the course of a few hours. I’ve kept my spirits up with the help of my incredible friends and family. My sister Marit and my boyfriend Eli have both advocated for me and comforted me as I manage appointments and side effects. My mom Karen and my family friends Diane and Anna Robinson have come to appointments to take notes and ask questions, and they have also provided comfort and hope.

I have had to work full-time throughout this process to keep my employer-sponsored health insurance, which is covering the bulk of my treatment costs. Balancing work with treatment has been incredibly difficult, but my amazing partner Eli has put everything on hold to make it possible. He cares for me around the clock. He runs the household; he cooks every meal; he cares for my dog. He makes sure that I am eating as well as I can, and he makes sure that my dog and I go for a long walk every day with him. He treats every side effect like a complex problem to be solved, and he collaborates with my sister to ensure that my appointments and prescriptions are in order and that we have all the necessary support (e.g., transportation, dogsitting) to tackle them. I would not be able to do any of this without him, and I’m humbled by the care, compassion, and dedication that he has shown for me while facing such a massive challenge so early in our relationship.

During the first phase of treatment, Eli was living out of a suitcase at my condo in Seattle to help me get to my daily appointments. Since the second phase of treatment only requires me to be in Seattle once every three weeks, I’ve moved into Eli’s home in Olympia. This has enabled Eli to care for me more effectively, and it has provided a calm, quiet, and safe environment for my healing, much more so than my home in Seattle. Due to the burden imposed by my treatment regimen, I have been unable to finish moving out of my home in Seattle. I’m hopeful that I will be able to move soon, but in the meantime, my housing expenses have become more challenging to manage.

I share my story here with the hope of gathering support to offset these unexpected medical and housing costs. I am hopeful that I will survive, and that I will emerge with a changed but working body. I am hopeful that being forced to reckon with my own mortality will make me a softer person as well as a tougher one, and that experiencing this trauma will provide me with opportunities to help others when I’m better. I hope to spend many more years writing songs, hanging out in the woods and at the beach with Eli, snuggling dogs, and becoming best friends with my soon-to-be niece, who has been an unknowing passenger on this ride while my sister has helped manage my treatment.

Thank you for listening to my story; I am grateful for any support at all–even just a quick share.

With gratitude and hope,

Anna