Hello, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and other lovely humans!

My humorous and earnest fundraiser, "Uterine Liberation Fund aka Spay My Kat," was a grand success. You donated enough money for me to take the necessary time off from work and still pay my rent and expenses for the month. 

I'm so eternally grateful that I was able to take this huge step for my health.

My energy has been better, even though I am still healing, and I'm blessed to no longer have the pain, anemia, and consequent fatigue as described in that fundraiser. 2020 is going to be a much better year. OH! And some of the best news is that the pathology report said no cancer and no pre-cancer. With my medical history, that was a relief indeed!

Unfortunately, even though I was paying out of pocket for pretty good health insurance last year, there's a big chunk of coinsurance that isn't covered.

I'm applying for financial aid from the hospital, but there isn't any financial aid to cover the charges from the lab, the surgeons, or the anesthesiologist.

Right now I am struggling to stay on top of my bills and expenses as I return to work, and I don't have any spare cash for these extra bills. I am currently asking for just enough donations to cover the anesthesia, surgeons, and lab bills. If the hospital denies my application for financial aid, I will add the rest of the charges to this fundraiser request, but my income was so low last year, I am optimistic that the application for financial aid will be approved. 

By the way-- and this has nothing to do with my fundraiser, so feel free to skip this paragraph if you aren't curious--  if you aren't familiar with hospitals and insurance, you might find this tidbit interesting-- the hospital charged $75,049 for the surgical procedure alone (not counting any of the medications or other costs, and also not counting the fee from the surgeons themselves). Insurance only paid the hospital $17,305 of that fee. And I'm left owing about $700 for that part. I'm not sure how the hospital can get away with charging $75,049 per surgery (and they do several surgeries a day!), and I am really not sure how the insurance company gets away with shorting the hospital close to $60,000 of that charge. (I do know insurance companies did the same to me as a massage therapist when I used to take insurance-- my fee was $115, but the insurance company would pay me only $59, about half of my actual fee, which is why I stopped taking insurance!) Other random charges were $4074 just to spend the night (not counting the IV or medications or anything), and $1581 for "Injections" (which are listed separately from "Drugs/Solutions"). My head swims looking at these figures, trying to make sense of it all. It's such a weird world.

The total I owe (not counting the hospital fee of $699.64, which I am optimistic will be waived) is: $1357.36. That's how much I am asking for help with. Because the payment options on this platform take a 3% + $0.30 fee for each transaction, I am asking for a round figure of $1400. 

I am really hoping this is the last of my medical and financial troubles (intertwined again, as they were when I had cancer ten years ago) for the rest of this year, and that in a few months' time I will be regaining my physical and fiscal health.

Thank you for giving any amount you can spare-- obviously if you can give more than ten bucks, that's amazing, but if several people give even ten bucks, it adds up! (If you only have $5 to give, please just send me some love instead, because I don't want my financial burdens to create a hardship for others! I'm just hoping to lean on some folks who truly have surplus right now!)

And I promise that once I am on my feet again, I will return to giving my own ten bucks (or whatever I can spare) to similar fundraisers by other folks, as I have done for the past several years.

I truly believe that we can take care of each other on this planet, if we just take turns leaning and supporting.

Right now I am asking for support, and I look forward to letting folks lean on me again when I'm fully recovered.

Thank you! <3 

-Katrina