Life saving surgery for Kathi Misterly

I am reaching out to the community to set up financial assistance for a very good friend and long-standing local businesswoman, Kathi Misterly, as she battles the resurgence of cancer and the financial devastation she is and will continue to experience in the upcoming months. Community neighbors may recognize Kathi's name because she is one of the owners of Rebel Run, a fantastic local doggy resort/kennel who has been taking care of our, and maybe your dogs for decades. Kathi is the sweetest person you could ever want to meet and get to know, on top of being loving and attentive to our animals when needed. Kathi is going through an unimaginable and heart-breaking situation right now! She has been fighting cancer for the last 8 years or so, and last week she was told the chemotherapy treatment isn’t working. Despite her doctor's timely and repeated orders, requests for treatment, and his impassioned pleas to her insurance company, Anthem Insurance, for early diagnostic measures and treatment, they have stonewalled and denied these life-saving measures. Apparently, these delays and denials allowed her cancer to return and cause additional serious issues. So, on January 18, 2022, she'll be admitted to the hospital to have part of her colon removed and must remain hospitalized for at least 5 days. Her surgeon informed her that recovery, in the best-case scenario, typically takes 6 weeks, during which time she must completely shut down Rebel Run, her only means of income. Optimistically, she hopes she'll be able to return sooner than that. This could have been avoided but for her insurance company, Anthem Insurance Co.'s refusal to approve the early diagnostic tests that were needed to detect this cancer in the first place.

To make matters worse, despite Kathi working for 38 years, she doesn't qualify for disability because of the impact of the Coronavirus shutdown. The California Employment Development Department ("EDD") only uses the prior 18 months' proof of income to calculate benefits. Since everything closed down due to the Coronavirus, during that critical 18 months she wasn’t collecting a paycheck. If ever there has been a need for assistance, surely this is one. I know if we all band together, we can help her out!

Thanks

Denine Kerns