Help Robin Access the Care She Needs During a Critical Time

My name is Juli, known online usually as Sonoma Lass. I'm appealing for help for my dear friend Robin, who is in dire need of support for expenses related to serious medical issues and the loss of her job. (She was going to create this fundraiser herself, but she had another medical setback while working on it and currently hospitalized.)

Here is her story in her own words:

Hello, and thank you for taking a moment to read this. My name is Robin. If you know me from the world of books, you may remember me from Dear Author (as Janet), or other places where I spent years (!) writing, reading, and connecting with others in the genre Romance community and beyond. But over the past two years, my life has drastically changed -- and today, I'm humbly asking for help.

In a short period of time, I have faced off with a brutal succession of serious medical issues. The first serious condition was lymphedema, which I have been battling for more than two years now. It became so severe that I could not walk. I was hospitalized in the spring of 2023 after a serious fall, with the idea that I would receive intensive treatment for the lymphedema and physical therapy to get me back on my feet. While in the hospital, I had an overdue mammogram and received a diagnosis of breast cancer. I also caught COVID in the nursing facility to which I was released, which resulted in COVID pneumonia and a bout of really enthusiastic sepsis. Plus, there were the emergency admissions for kidney failure and congestive heart failure, although I had no previous trouble with either heart or kidneys. I spent the rest of 2023 and most of 2024 in the hospital or in various skilled nursing facilities, until I was finally sent home in late 2024, still unable to walk and needing the care of home health aides.

In that time, I used up all my available medical leave; I was then laid off from my job. While trying to recover enough to take a new job, my bacterial pneumonia returned, and I was hospitalized with extremely high CO2 levels as a result. I was sent home again at the end of June, still needing home health assistance but without any income to pay for it.

I knew I would require caregiving assistance every single day, but I have no funds available from insurance or a salary, and I have used up my savings. Because I have worked in public service (lower pay for supposedly better benefits HAHAHAHA) and lived independently for most of my life, I was always nervous about the bottom falling out for any reason, but I still feel unprepared and overwhelmed. Thus, I began working on this request for short-term help while I coordinate some long-term financial and healing strategies. Then, on the morning of July 10, my oxygen levels became dangerously low due to another bout of bacterial pneumonia, and I am back in the hospital.

This GoFundMe will help cover:

• Ongoing caregiving support at home, when I am released from the hospital

• Medical transportation and mobility assistance

• Essential home modifications or equipment

• Out-of-pocket medical costs not covered by insurance

Every contribution helps, no matter the size. If you're not in a position to give financially, I’d be very grateful if you would share this page. As someone who has made a living with words, I'll admit -- these are hard words to write. But I’ve almost died at least four times in the past year, and I figure if I’m stubborn or resilient enough to keep coming back, I need to get hold of my life and get myself back on my feet, literally and figuratively. So, thank you for listening.

With gratitude,

Robin