Help Kristen Straight Battle Cancer

Kristen needs our help during this difficult time as she battles cervical cancer.

This summer Kristen’s job of over six years decided to downsize their staff which included Kristen and many other employees. Two days after Kristen learned that she lost her job she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. It has been a scary and daunting last few months as Kristen met with doctors and scheduled her surgery while searching for a job and trying her best to stay afloat.

On Friday, September 15th, Kristen had her first surgery and we are currently waiting on results to see if she will need additional surgeries or treatment. At this time Kristen is struggling with her medical debt and living expenses as she heals from her initial surgery. Her healing time is a minimum of six weeks and she really needs our support while she heals. Kristen lost her insurance coverage when she was downsized from her company and she has been paying out of pocket for COBRA through her limited unemployment payments. She also had to pay a cash deposit for her first surgery before they would even schedule her. Although we are still waiting for the post-op follow-up (scheduled for Oct 4th) the oncologist was fairly sure that Kristen will need additional surgery to perform a hysterectomy sometime in late Fall. The hysterectomy and MRI will require more cash deposits and payments from Kristen’s limited funds.

This fundraiser will help support Kristen from now until the new year so she can heal with minimal stress, have any additional surgeries necessary, and pay her out-of-pocket medical bills and her basic living expenses while also continuing to job hunt.

Kristen is a self-sufficient badass art lady who has helped bring so many projects and events to life. She’s been part of so many great things here in Reno like the Space Whale, Sculpture Fest, The Burning Man Temple, Mega Prayer, Reno Punk Rock Flea Market and so much more. She never likes asking for help and was very hesitant to start a fundraiser but sometimes we all need the support and love of our community to get us through. Please consider donating to help this amazing and thoughtful human during this stressful time.

We will be updating this fundraiser when we know more about her treatments and the results of her first surgery. Kristen has been diligently looking for work since late Summer and is hopeful to get back on her feet once she is healed. If you have any questions feel free to reach out. You can send Kristen your love and positive messages directly but also please be mindful that for our neurodivergent friend who is going through this traumatic time, it can be very difficult to respond. Know that your messages are seen and appreciated.