Hi, I’m Elisabeth. I’m a full-time corporate recruiter and a part-time theatre director/improv coach. In 2015, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease (age 25) and juggled a life of pain, dietary restrictions, and unending fatigue. Then in 2018 came the mysterious chronic migraines which were all consuming. Then in 2023, I was diagnosed with brain cancer (age 33). I’ve undergone surgery, radiation, and chemo (8 months), and while my tumor is stable, it is inoperable. It lives in my right side motor cortex, which controls the movement on my left side. We only found this because I had a series of intense seizures, which thankfully are under control now thanks to medication. I will be on these meds for the rest of my life unless new technology appears or a miracle happens.

I work 40-hours a week. I manage doctor appointments, MRIs, colonoscopies, tons of lab work, and use most of my PTO for sick days or these appointments. Everything is very expensive. I am grateful for my job which provides me my income and health insurance. I live on a single- person income, and even with my job’s help, I still can’t keep up with medical bills.

Some of my meds cost thousands of dollars per month, and that’s not including doctor visits or medical procedures, or biopsies, or ER visits.

The thing about chronic illness (and chronic cancer) is that every year, I have these expenses. I pay off bills for one year and start saving for the next or take out a loan (like this year).

I have to pay off my 2026 loan for my health insurance by July 1st. I took the loan because all my health expenses hit at the beginning of the year, and I can’t pay it all.

My New Year’s resolution was to start asking for help, and I need my community to help me. Would you consider contributing to my expenses for this year? If there is a surplus of generosity, I will begin saving for next year’s health expenses.

Any amount helps! Even $5.

Thank you for being my community.