Help Tracy Rebuild Her Life Amidst Cancer

Hi! My name is Gretchen, and this fundraiser is for one of my bestest friends, Tracy. She has been dealing with Multiple Myeloma, and I have been along for the ride. This diagnosis hit me hard. I was so hopeful with the stem cell transplant, but being in remission did not last as long as we hoped. Before we knew it, the cancer was back. This news was like a knockout punch for me...Somehow, Tracy has managed to step up to the plate again - changing her life - with a smile and her vibrant energy. I am so inspired by her ability to handle all of this and continue to make amazing and fun artwork! I feel lucky to call her a friend. I am here to support her with all of my heart. Continue reading to hear Tracy's story of her journey:

Our BIG fundraising even will be held on June 7th, 1-5 PM, 220 A Anderson Ave - Chas Davis Studios - We hope to see you there for exciting silent auction items, tarot readings and more!

We will be donating 5% of the funds raised to to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. The foundation is on a mission to find a cure and Tracy would love to see that happen for sure!

It’s not the easiest to ask for help, especially when it involves asking for money. As I sit to write this for my upcoming fundraiser event I’m feeling voulnerable as I’m about to reveal my journey. What is too much information to share and what isn’t enough? While you read what’s to follow, remember that this isn’t just a story about my cancer journey; I am the person living it day to day with overwhelming anxieties as I find a way to make my path ahead healing and manageable for the life I now live.

I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in August of 2022 - a life altering event I did NOT see coming...I never thought I would say I’m so thankful that I fractured my back since this is what led to the discovery of the cancer. I had just moved the business to my home studio to rebuild it from the brutal effects of the pandemic. June 1st was the first day I was officially moved. June 5th I set off on a solo road trip to Colorado - a little refresh before I was to start rebuilding meNu. June 12th the most horrific crackle down my back had me laying on the floor of my air B and B - I didn’t know it then that my back was fractured. Needless to say, there wasn’t a whole lot of rebuilding the business when I returned in mid June. By the fourth of July, I was now suffering spasms and pain like I never knew and the cancer journey began.

For those who know me, I’m a get shit done type of woman...I wasn’t going to let the cancer dictate my path forward. March of 2023 was the big stem cell transplant. I was hoping for at least 5 years of remission, and thought it would be a whole lot more, 20 would have been ideal. After recuperating from the transplant, I went out and got myself a part time job working in retail in March of 2024. I loved it so much, it was stress free, the people were amazing, and I won free clothes all the time! It was just enough money made to cover my car payment and the RG & E. In the late fall I was asked if I wanted to apply for the manager position that had become available. I sure did! This was just this past fall of 2024. I got the gig! I was so excited, it felt like life was getting back on track, I was going to go off of disability and no longer be constrained to earning piddly squat. The first week of full time work was brutal, I was having increasing back pain, losing weight, going to bed as soon as I got home...I knew after the second week, it was just too much and I gave notice to step down and began scheduling appoitments to check on my back. Before I had the chance to get the MRI results from the back doctor, oncology had confirmed my cancer was back. The news was delivered in the same room at Rochester General as the initial diagnosis. I was completely broken in that moment. I only got about a year and a half of remission from the stem cell transplant, I thought “how did I fail so badly”. My back was so much more damaged than the previous severe fracture, the back doctor even asked how I was sitting in his office so ‘comfortably’.

This second time around the cancer came back with a vengeance, more aggressive, a pain like none before and so many scans and scares of secondary cancers. From December of 2024 to now I feel like going to the doctor is my full time job. My new treatments have consisted of two shots in the stomach once a week - leaving me with a compromised immune system and side effects that limit my availability. If it weren’t for my strong circle of friends offering continued support, I don’t know how I would be here typing about my journey. From providing rides to radiation, bringing food, sending gift cards for food, and checking in on a regular basis. I can’t express how fortunate I am to have such wonderful people in my life.

Some of the realities I have to face going forward: I will never be able to work a full time job. Between the cancer treatments and my permanently damaged back, I have to move forward with limited access to income. It’s not enough to buy food and pay all of the expenses of living,but I’m making the best of it. I most certainly didn’t think my successful business would be closed, my debts unpaid, and my career would be in retail? But I’m happy to go back to work one day a week at the retail job just this Spring of 2025...It doesn’t provide much financially, but it does provide my heart with happiness being around the people. I hope to add a day of two a week to give a sense of security with the two bills that job is responsible for paying. I dislike being uncertain about my path forward, but that is the reality of this cancer. I will go in and out of remission through its course and I feel that makes me unreliable in many ways.

For those wondering about my creative outlet as a maker, I will be continuing to make my stationery goods and offering those in small batches as I am able to make things on my own timeline. My former business is being dissolved this year and it is a very bittersweet moment. I put my life’s work into that business, I worked so hard to build it and make it the success it was and watching it crumble so quickly has left a permanent hole in my heart. I hope that the new stationery line will fill that hole some and provide an outlet for me to survive financially in the future. I know that life is precious, but I feel I know it whole lot more now and I want to spend my time doing what I love until the end. xo Tracy