On Nov 27th 2024 I left NY to go to Japan with friends, my dream country to visit. On Dec 5th I became confused, disoriented and collapsed in the Akihabara train station while with a friend and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.

When I initially landed in Japan I felt sick, thought I had maybe caught something on the plane. I powered through the trip, took over the counter medicine and even went to a local clinic. But my symptoms got worse and worse, and weirder and weirder. I developed random bruises all over my body and bleeding from my gums, among other things.

The doctors told me I had Leukemia (and a bacterial lung infection!).

I was rushed to another hospital where I was in their ICU for life saving treatment - blood transfusions and platelets, antibiotics, oxygen, steroids, etc - and then in an isolated room for 54 days, bedridden, undergoing chemotherapy.

Doctors confirmed via bone biopsy that I have Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL). It's a rare and aggressive type of blood cancer.

Essentially when I was admitted to the hospital I had no immune system, not enough blood, and 85% cancer cells.

My original plan was 10 days in Japan and I was flying back on Dec 7th. Had I just flown back home instead of seeking medical attention, the doctors said they suspected I may not have made it off the plane.

Thankfully the treatment I received in Japan was top tier and I am forever grateful to the team of Doctors, Nurses and Specialists who oversaw my condition.

However, I received life saving treatment in another country... with no insurance.

But why didn't you make a GoFundMe while you were in Japan?

Because a lot of moving parts financially were happening...

1. Travel insurance ended up paying out the full policy even though they didn't have to. That covered 1,000,000 Yen = roughly $67,000 USD which covered the initial period of Dec 5th - Dec 18th.

2. The hospital gave an initial estimate of over $250,000 USD that only increased due to the length of my treatment and the expensive chemotherapy I needed.

3. Due to #2, the financial team at the hospital spoke to the President of the hospital to negotiate my bill. They understood I was a foreigner with no insurance and my circumstance was rare and unique.

The President of the hospital decided to reduce my bill.

There are absolutely no words I can express to the President and the hospital team my gratitude for this kind and above and beyond gesture.

4. I was unsure what the costs at home in New York to continue my treatment would look like. At this time it seems that most of those costs will be covered by insurance or the new hospital and they are minimal enough to ignore for now.

5. ...and I've just been really busy with treatments and overall fatigued. I also sat on this writing for weeks debating whether or not to even post it.

So, after travel insurance and the reduction by the President of the hospital in Japan, my out of pocket expenses paid have calculated to 14,075,544 Yen, or 90,000 USD.

This does not include other expenses such as travel home, or my Dad coming to stay in Japan for 2 months with me. I will not be including that in the gofundme though.

On Jan 20th I was discharged from Japan and returned to New York, where I am now continuing the next phase of my chemotherapy treatment that started on February 10th.

My new treatment in New York is 5 days a week for 6 months. Some days I need to travel into Manhattan which means my chemo days are 6 or more hours a day between travel and treatment times, and other days are thankfully starting at a local branch but still takes me upwards of 4 hours a day.

I've developed neuropathy (nerve issues) in my feet and have some difficulty walking or standing for very long, and in my hands where I've lost some fine motor function in my fingers. Skin reactions like allergies, indigestion and severe exhaustion and weakness. This is due to the chemo treatment I am receiving. I'm also not allowed to lift more than 5 lbs with the PICC line installed for chemo (or I shouldn't be anyways).

I have been out of work and have no idea when and how I might be able to return at this moment, between chemo time and just purely the chemo side effects on my body. So everything additional right now is also coming out of savings.

Short term disability in New York is only paying out $167 per week for something like two months. That's literally the maximum, they don't pay anything higher.

I reopened my artist shop online to also help bring in a few dollars and have been clearancing out the few remaining merch items I have left. So far, after artist payments, it has currently brought in about $450.

Additional Update: Shortly after I returned home I caught an intestinal virus which unfortunately led me to being hospitalized due to my health situation (required by my doctor), resulting in an additional $2,800 bill.

Another update: Here and there some other small medical bills are coming in for extra tests and such as I have side effects. I will not be adding these small bills to the gofundme total.

Yet another update: since writing this gofundme and sitting on it for nearly 2 months, I've returned to work on a limited part time basis which I'm balancing with my daily treatment schedule. It's at least something, though it's been difficult with how I feel.

To be honest, I really debated making this GoFundMe but multiple friends have urged me to open this fundraiser and for their support I will forever be grateful.

Thank you to everyone who reached out to me, who even came to visit because our paths lined up in Japan. Thank you for wishing me a Happy Birthday, or a Merry Christmas, or a Happy New Year. Thank you for sending me snacks and candy and pictures of cute animals. Thank you for streaming 8 hours of Among Us group plays so I had something to watch. All of those things helped make my time in the hospital easier.

Another Update - August - I'm adjusting down the fundraiser amount due to a $2,000 private donation from family <3