UPDATE (12/8/2025): One week ago I had my MRI, which was largely uneventful, then got the bill which was VERY eventful, since my copay for the scan with contrast was $5,800. I plan to pay as much as I can now so that they're less likely to deny me care on the basis of previous nonpayment. But meanwhile. it was time to un-pause the fundraiser. Please help out of you can.

It's Monday, December 8. My husband has been down in Puerto Rico visiting his sister (THANK YOU ALL -- YOU MADE THAT HAPPEN) since the day after my MRI. He gets back tomorrow (Tuesday) and then I go to the Dik Dok offices on Wednesday to find out how bad my prostate cancer is or isn't. It could all be a false alarm, but my brain has run way ahead of the currently available information and invented a tumor wrapped around my erectile and anti-incontinence nerves. so it's diapers and impotence forever, of course! Why wouldn't it be?

On top of all this, my youngest kitty baby has been losing weight at a frightening rate. He is also our most people-shy and melodramatic child. He's terrified of visitors, all visitors. He has one friend, my best friend Tucker and that's all the people he wants to meet.

The house call vet came, sedated him, drew blood, got urine, and some other samples, woke him back up and were gone again. But Malcolm has been acting completely traumatized ever since, breaking my heart by refusing to eat and hiding from me.

He's going extra hard because Ben isn't here and he knows he can wreck my emotional equilibrium if he keeps it up. BUT ANYWAY, now even my cat has crazy healthcare debt, too, so if you can, please give. Every little bit helps.

His majesty, in happier times,

My name is David Ferguson, and I’m reaching out during one of the lowest times of my sober life. I recently lost my job just as I was preparing to apply to graduate school programs, and now I’m facing the uncertainty of a possible cancer diagnosis. I won’t know more until December, and the waiting is heavy. My husband, Benjamin, is doing everything he can to keep us steady, but his sister is very sick in Puerto Rico, and he hasn’t been able to visit her as much as he should. I can't kid myself that my reduced earning capacity after my heart attack in 2018 isn't making that harder on him. We just don't have discretionary travel money.

On top of all this, I’m still carrying the weight of medical bills from that heart attack in 2018 and a platelet disorder diagnosis in 2023. The stress of these old bills, along with new co-pays and the costs of upcoming tests and possible treatments, is overwhelming. I want to be able to work out payment arrangements for the old bills, cover my medical expenses, and, if it turns out I have cancer, get the treatment I need.

I'm also hoping to set aside some funds for admission fees and other expenses as I work toward returning to school for a master’s degree in writing—a dream I’m not ready to give up on. But all of that requires (ugh) money. I know that everyone is barely hanging on right now—spiritually, physically, and financially. I know that mine is just a little sorrow in a world that sometimes feels like it’s coming apart. So many of you have already given so much to help me keep going when things felt impossible, and I am deeply grateful. Thank you for your love and support—I promise if you can find it in your heart to help I will never stop giving back everything I can in return.