I’m creating this GoFundMe to help Stacy Monday and Tommy, her service dog. Stacy needs assistance, and she is so used to giving that it is difficult for her to receive from others who care for her and would want to give support if they knew of her hardship. Her needs are relatively modest.

A total of $5,400 would pay off her debts and give her a small cushion of savings to fall back on. This is where those of us who love Stacy come in. Please consider donating if you can to help lift this burden off our friend's heart. If you can’t, it would be wonderful for you to share this on your social media. Every bit helps so much.

Just under two years ago, Stacy began experiencing crippling pain in her right abdomen and deep purple rashes on her arms. These new symptoms piled on top of her existing Complex PTSD, long-haul COVID, and severe asthma and allergies. With no insurance (due to working as an artist and gig worker), she waited to see if the pain and rashes would go away on their own. After several weeks, I convinced her to go to the ER – twice. The results of a battery of tests were inconclusive, and the situation was really frightening for her, me, and others who knew how much pain she was in. The pain was increasing, and there seemed to be no way to move forward with diagnosis or treatment.

Through all of this, Stacy persevered, working one day per week at the Hampton Inn in Clinton, TN, and attempting to continue being creative and artistic despite almost constant incapacitating pain.

Stacy has been extremely resourceful throughout her life. And, everyone who knows her knows she is scrappy. She spent a lot of time searching for possible resources to help her find answers to this conundrum. Finally, it was suggested to her that she might go to the Kim Health Center in Knoxville, as they specialize in providing medical care to the working uninsured. Going to the Center was a turning point for Stacy. The staff have treated her with boundless kindness and dignity, especially her primary care doctor, Dr. Jerica Robertson.

On her first visit to the Center, Stacy was told she had cancer on her arms and face and that more tests were needed to determine the cause of her abdominal pain. The preliminary tests suggested other cancers, and it was time to start seeing specialists.

Using referrals from Dr. Robertson, Stacy was able to enter KAPA (Knoxville Area Project Access) to see specialists who donate their time to help people who have low incomes and are uninsured. The next year and a half saw her undergoing many tests and treatments. Over these months, Stacy got confirmation that she had three kinds of skin cancer, along with cancerous polyps in her colon.

In addition to the cancers, she was found to have diverticulitis, excessive scar tissue from her hysterectomy several years ago, a twisted colon that is embedded in her abdominal scar tissue, and severe internal damage from the years of childhood physical and sexual abuse she experienced.

Fortunately, all cancers were at early stages and were dealt with easily. I'm grateful to be able to say that Stacy recently found out that she is cancer-free. Although she is cancer-free, her conditions have lifelong consequences for her, including needing management of her chronic pain, dietary changes, and a specific exercise regimen.

And now, just when Stacy's medical situation has stabilized somewhat, Tommy (her service dog) has needed quite a bit of medical care. He has recently been diagnosed with dementia and a seizure disorder. The seizure disorder can be treated with medications. We are monitoring his dementia symptoms, and it's good to have answers that will help her move forward with Tommy's care.

Despite all of the good news and hope, there is a heavy and persistent weight on Stacy.

Frugality is ingrained in Stacy's values and her way of life. She has been living the “van life” since the beginning of COVID, when she lost her art studio, her job at Hilton, and her rental house in quick succession. So, being the creative soul and intrepid traveler she is and, making the best of a crummy situation, she bought and refitted a Nissan Quest. She, with her service dog, Tommy, then went to as many National Parks as she could. For three years, she had many adventures while selling her art from the van and online, and picking up spare jobs that were safe. Living in her van makes her bills quite low, and as she uses many found and reimagined objects for her art, she is able to keep the material costs for her work at a minimum as well.

SIDE NOTE: The great thing about living in her van is that it has become a very safe place for her. Stacy's life has been deeply impacted by her Complex PTSD, which stems from her experiences of childhood physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Living in her van, she can see everything in her “home” with just a glance around, and this has proven to be incredibly helpful for her and given her an unexpected and needed sense of security.

However, these last two years have upended her budget and her way of life, and definitely her sense of security. While much of her medical care has been low-cost or free, she has had to pay for medications for herself and for Tommy's vet and medical care, and for her ER visits. Even discounted visits to the ER are not cheap. She has stayed inside our house on and off during her illness and has insisted on paying rent. Her van has developed an electrical problem and needs to be repaired, which places constraints on her transportation, which has been allayed by her ability to borrow one of our cars at times.

All this has been while she has struggled to work. Despite her best efforts and much to her dismay and ongoing anguish, her situation has forced her to exhaust her savings and to borrow money from friends. While she is now able to cover her current expenses, digging herself out of the financial pit she's in seems insurmountable.

Stacy is working hard to get her life back on an even keel and to integrate new habits and protocols into her new reality. She is gaining strength and keeps busy, mostly creating and selling her art, though she is still at the Hampton Inn one day a week and doing odd jobs here and there as she is able.

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I would also like to take a moment to tell you why I love Stacy and why my husband, Sean, and I invited her into our lives…

It began for me on September 5, 2022, when Stacy caught me in the knees with a huge sunflower at the Labor Day Sunflower Celebration. Meeting Tommy, her service dog, sealed the deal. I'm in for the long run.

Since that day, Stacy has become my art partner, business partner, address-mate (she and Tommy the pug live in her van in our driveway), and best friend. And she has become my inspiration.

Stacy is incredibly generous with her time and her talents, volunteering for a myriad of causes. She has taught me the joy of being one among many who serve the needs of others and of witnessing the impact this has on their lives. She also practices this bigness of spirit in small ways, going out of her way to give a compliment and staying in touch with people she knows from decades ago, in addition to her newer friends.

Stacy and Tommy have become integral members of the household that Sean and I already shared with our cats, Bagheera, Hroo, and Kodo. When she decided to move back to Knoxville to continue her work as an artist, we invited her to locate her studio in our garage and park her home in our driveway.

Living with a professional artist has been a novel experience for me, even coming from a family of artists and being married to one of the most creative people I know. As I got to know Stacy and we became best friends, she encouraged me to see my crocheted creations as art, which I had strongly resisted, seeing myself as "only a crafter." She cracked open what was left of that shell, opened doors for me, and I have proudly claimed the title of artist, leading to our art partnership. We have now transformed several rooms in the house into dedicated creative spaces, and Sean, Stacy, and I have our own little artists' commune, complete with fur babies to create new challenges for us on a regular basis.