Octavia Hunter
Donation protected
Friends,
As many of you know, that stealthy devil, cancer—the one Octavia thought had been ‘zapped’ eight years ago, has returned.
The signs of recurrence started showing up in August when she was gripped with pain in her back and under her heart. Eating, walking, even lying down became unbearable. Dwindling were her daily bike rides, walks, her ability to carry her camera gear, and finally to accept jobs. No amount of ibuprofen, flu medication (her GP’s prescription) helped.
After months of return visits to her GP, and to almost every type of medical practitioner she could think of in search of a diagnosis and viable treatment, she asked her doc to look further for the cause—begging him to order a CT scan; which he finally did, reluctantly, stating that...OK, it might be a hernia. Argh.
She had the CT scan the day before she left for her winter trip to the UK/Europe to visit her boyfriend Stephen, her mother Eva, and me. She had hoped that visiting each of us would be healing, and better than being cooped up and alone in her house. But she was still trying to manage the excruciating pain with Advil, breathing, stretching and meditation, none of which helped. In any case, what she’d hoped would be a healing vacation, or at least a distracting one as she waited for the CT results was anything but.
Finally she got a call, not from her GP, but from her Oncologist’s nurse from eight years ago. This was unexpected by us, because honestly none of us had even considered this might be cancer. But, thanks to protocol, whenever a CT scan is prescribed to a cancer survivor, the scan is sent to the patient’s Oncologist. Octavia’s had received and reviewed it and was “very concerned.”
Soon afterward, Octavia returned to Portland where she immediately had a PET scan, another CT scan and a biopsy, and on Feb 2nd, she received the diagnosis: tumors in her spleen and in the lymph nodes near her heart; same cancer as before but undetected since it metastasized away from the areas where it had been eradicated years ago. Bugger cancer.
On Feb 14th Octavia had a port inserted. On Feb 17th she had her first date with chemo. While the cancer is reportedly incurable, the goal of chemo, prescribed every 21 days for a minimum of 6 months, is that it will decrease the tumors, minimize their spread, and reduce the pain. The pain now is being managed by the correct meds; and thankfully, slowly, she is able to move her body, move around, and sleep again which she’d reached the point of barely being able to do.
We’re grateful Octavia has health insurance and that she lives minimally. Her landlord too is one of the good guys, who keeps her home in good repair and hasn’t raised rent in the six years that she has lived there (shout out to Jerald), so her rent is affordable. She also had savings that she has been able to live on for the past 4-5 months since she’s been unable to work. But as of this month her funds are nearly diminished.
We are aggressively applying for Disability and any grants she might qualify for, but most of these, if awarded, will not begin for another five-six months to a year.
This, my friends, is why I am reaching out to you. I believe and hope with even small contributions from many people, we can create a cushion for her; enough to pay her expenses for the next 5-6 months until the Disability is in place, and/or she is able to work again, which along with healing, is our BIGGEST WISH of all.
I hope if you are able, you’ll consider contributing to her fund and help alleviate very real financial concerns, so she can focus on healing.
I don’t need to say it, you all know it, Octavia is a big, bright source of joy, love and laughter all bundled in a tiny, little package. I want her to get better, and I know you all want that too. Heartfelt thanks to all of you for the loving, caring, kind support you’ve all expressed and demonstrated already. We’ve both been floored by it and want you all to know we are incredibly and unbelievably grateful and humbled by you all.
Love is the greatest salve.
As many of you know, that stealthy devil, cancer—the one Octavia thought had been ‘zapped’ eight years ago, has returned.
The signs of recurrence started showing up in August when she was gripped with pain in her back and under her heart. Eating, walking, even lying down became unbearable. Dwindling were her daily bike rides, walks, her ability to carry her camera gear, and finally to accept jobs. No amount of ibuprofen, flu medication (her GP’s prescription) helped.
After months of return visits to her GP, and to almost every type of medical practitioner she could think of in search of a diagnosis and viable treatment, she asked her doc to look further for the cause—begging him to order a CT scan; which he finally did, reluctantly, stating that...OK, it might be a hernia. Argh.
She had the CT scan the day before she left for her winter trip to the UK/Europe to visit her boyfriend Stephen, her mother Eva, and me. She had hoped that visiting each of us would be healing, and better than being cooped up and alone in her house. But she was still trying to manage the excruciating pain with Advil, breathing, stretching and meditation, none of which helped. In any case, what she’d hoped would be a healing vacation, or at least a distracting one as she waited for the CT results was anything but.
Finally she got a call, not from her GP, but from her Oncologist’s nurse from eight years ago. This was unexpected by us, because honestly none of us had even considered this might be cancer. But, thanks to protocol, whenever a CT scan is prescribed to a cancer survivor, the scan is sent to the patient’s Oncologist. Octavia’s had received and reviewed it and was “very concerned.”
Soon afterward, Octavia returned to Portland where she immediately had a PET scan, another CT scan and a biopsy, and on Feb 2nd, she received the diagnosis: tumors in her spleen and in the lymph nodes near her heart; same cancer as before but undetected since it metastasized away from the areas where it had been eradicated years ago. Bugger cancer.
On Feb 14th Octavia had a port inserted. On Feb 17th she had her first date with chemo. While the cancer is reportedly incurable, the goal of chemo, prescribed every 21 days for a minimum of 6 months, is that it will decrease the tumors, minimize their spread, and reduce the pain. The pain now is being managed by the correct meds; and thankfully, slowly, she is able to move her body, move around, and sleep again which she’d reached the point of barely being able to do.
We’re grateful Octavia has health insurance and that she lives minimally. Her landlord too is one of the good guys, who keeps her home in good repair and hasn’t raised rent in the six years that she has lived there (shout out to Jerald), so her rent is affordable. She also had savings that she has been able to live on for the past 4-5 months since she’s been unable to work. But as of this month her funds are nearly diminished.
We are aggressively applying for Disability and any grants she might qualify for, but most of these, if awarded, will not begin for another five-six months to a year.
This, my friends, is why I am reaching out to you. I believe and hope with even small contributions from many people, we can create a cushion for her; enough to pay her expenses for the next 5-6 months until the Disability is in place, and/or she is able to work again, which along with healing, is our BIGGEST WISH of all.
I hope if you are able, you’ll consider contributing to her fund and help alleviate very real financial concerns, so she can focus on healing.
I don’t need to say it, you all know it, Octavia is a big, bright source of joy, love and laughter all bundled in a tiny, little package. I want her to get better, and I know you all want that too. Heartfelt thanks to all of you for the loving, caring, kind support you’ve all expressed and demonstrated already. We’ve both been floored by it and want you all to know we are incredibly and unbelievably grateful and humbled by you all.
Love is the greatest salve.
Organizer and beneficiary
Shawn Wright
Organizer
Portland, OR
Octavia Hunter
Beneficiary
