Help Joanna Fight Stage IV Cancer

Hello dear friends; this Go Fund Me campaign is for an incredible human, Joanna Szachowska. Joanna has recently been diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer that has spread to her spine and pelvis. Joanna is an artist and ceramics teacher living in Yucca Valley. She is a beloved figure in our small desert community and needs financial help.

Joanna has gone from being an energetic person who enjoyed an active life of creating art, teaching ceramics and cooking amazing vegan meals for friends and clients to being unable to walk, work or drive. She is now housebound and fully dependent on her beloved daughter as her caregiver.

Joanna has been experiencing excruciating back pain since February 2022. Her primary care doctor minimized it and sent her to physical therapy. This treatment did not help, and the pain continued to get worse. Her doctor assured her it was most likely nerve pain from her double mastectomy in 2019 and reconstruction in 2021. Last month her pain became so bad she could barely walk, so her doctor finally authorized an MRI. It showed Stage IV tumors throughout her spine and pelvis.

Joanna has a golden heart and remains a shining light of optimism. She is currently receiving treatment from the City of Hope in Duarte, which is a 2-hour drive from Yucca Valley. Her doctors there are kind and compassionate. They are encouraging that although Stage IV cancer is considered incurable, there are still treatments to help it from spreading. Joanna will soon be starting an intense regimen of Radiation Therapy.

Joanna is humble and kind and finds it difficult to ask for help. As an artist and a teacher, she depends on her ability to use her hands to earn her income. Her cancer has progressed throughout her back and spine, and she lives with debilitating pain, making it impossible for her to create work and teach. Joanna has brought so much beauty to the High Desert community through her work as co-owner and co-founder of Dust Ceramics.

We are now asking for support to help Joanna live free of financial stress so that she can focus on her treatment and healing. We are hoping to raise $10,000. This money will go to rent, food, gas and the purchase of a specialized medical bed which is not covered by insurance. We are unsure how long it will be until Joanna is able to work again. We imagine it will be at least 5-8 months where Joanna will be needing care. Every little bit helps. Thank you so much for your time, energy and support.