Help Lisa and Pepper in Their Time of Need

My name is Lisa. On Christmas Eve 2021, my life and the life of my three children changed forever when Albert, my husband of almost 30 years, lost his fight with cancer. 2021 as a whole was incredibly stressful and heartbreaking as Al was receiving treatment for angiosarcoma, a rare and very aggressive cancerous tumor that develops in the blood vessels, which presented as an open wound on the top of his head, while living with COVID restrictions and heightened fears of the virus due to his immunocompromised state. It was so hard watching the cancer and the supposed cure weaken him. He prided himself on being a provider for our family, of being the guy that fixed things, and he hated being sick, hated needing help doing the smallest things. He had radiation treatment in February and a round of chemotherapy in March and April, and it was looking good for a small amount of time, but by June it was obvious that the cancer continued to spread. He signed up for a promising clinical trial over the summer, but that treatment failed him, so by October he was back to getting a more aggressive form of chemo. He had to go to the ER a number of times and was hospitalized for over a week's time because his blood pressure was dangerously low and he needed to get a transfusion. 3 pm December 23rd, 2021, was the last time I saw my husband awake. He had a regular appointment, and they sent him to the ER where the decision was made to admit him for IV antibiotics. He had 2 major heart attacks that night caused by his rapidly dropping blood pressure, and I had to tell them to not resuscitate if he had another. I sat with him in the hospital ICU in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve, watching his numbers fall despite all the drugs they were giving him, and after telling them they could turn off the machines keeping his blood pressure up. I held his hand as his heart stopped. I lost both my husband and my best friend that day. It was the absolute worst moment of my whole life, and I have been floundering ever since.

As anybody who lives in the USA can attest, medical care is punitively expensive, and though we had insurance, the cost for Al's cancer care was high. Our savings were pretty much wiped out that year between medical costs and paying for everyday expenses with no income coming in. Financially, things have been so hard since the day Al passed. The first year after Al's death went by in a blur of paperwork and sadness, followed by a deep depression and panic attack-inducing anxiety that I am still dealing with today. There was some talk about setting up a GoFundMe in the fall of 2022, but it never made it past the initial discussing it phase, and then so many bad things kept happening—horrible fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods—and I kept thinking, "Other people need help more than I do." But now I have to ask for help. Because of a little life that relies on me.

I have a cat named Pepper. She has been my joy for many years, a spirited little fluffball with a huge purr, but she has specifically filled the role of emotional support cat for me for the last 3 years. I love her. My children love her. Albert adored her. She is only 11 years old, but she is sick. I've Googled her symptoms, and I am afraid it is either kidney disease or diabetes. She's going to need blood tests, x-rays/ultrasound, a full work-up, and medications—and I can't help her because I do not have the funds to do so. I have nothing now. Costs have all gone up so much; my rent alone has gone up $500 in the 3 years that Albert has been gone, and I am painfully aware that I only have a roof over my head because of my wonderful children. But I am hoping I can get some help to pay for Pepper to get to the vet and maybe some more to help with some of my own mounting medical/dental/vision costs and credit card bills. I have been slowly drowning in debt for the last 3 years, just trying to keep my head above water, and though my pride is taking a hit asking for help, I am exhausted and feel so helpless and alone. I know there are so many others out there who need help, but I hope that people can open their hearts to helping me and Pepper also.