This week I used social media to spread the word that I needed a household with a spare room close to my new chemo clinic in Marin County, California to adopt me. I am not familiar with California, have few contacts there and knew no one living in Marin County.
Adopt Me!
As a community organizer, I frequently ask people to donate for a cause. I prefer not being the cause but life dealt me a needy hand in 2010. I pursue cutting edge treatments to extend my life, and thus I need to travel. I haven’t yet figured out a way to get donated flights but I can make flying my primary cost. I bring my own food, find free housing and use public transportation.
I transferred my treatment to California last round (and yes I owe you a story on that). Friends living a county away in Sebastopol offered to house, shuttle and feed me, which they did with zest. I even got a great dog companion and to review a brand new film (My Straight Son from Venezuela) as part of the deal. The commute, though, was wrong in every way. So sadly I sought out a new host family closer to the clinic.
A Great Place!
How to get adopted (again) in a community I didn’t know? I started by asking patients being infused at the same time. They referred me to the oncology social worker. She was very nice but listed out only former programs, all cancelled, which would have helped me in years past with no replacement options. I was slightly aghast at the model. Actualizing a current safety net for patients was clearly not going to happen.
So I drafted a little note and started sending it out to whoever had California connections. I posted it on facebook. I sat back and waited. In the interim a stranger sent me an email. He had just read my article in the Fall Quarterly edition of YES! Magazine
Find My Article Inside on Livingly Dying!
on Livingly Dying and was writing to thank me. He closed his note with a Marin County address. I wrote him back and said, “Hey, thanks for your note and guess what, I am getting treated in your county and need housing.” He quickly offered support and soon his friends were spreading the word. Long story short, a community of helpers in the nearby community of Mill Valley has sprung up.
Local Host Sought in Greenbrae/Larkspur (Marin County) Community
Do you have a guest room and a big heart? Oregon cancer patient travels to Marin Specialty Care Clinic for cutting edge cancer treatment. Current travels bring me here every other week for two nights. During the day I am being infused at the clinic. I am a fit, vibrant woman. I need little support outside of a place to sleep. Questions/Ideas – marcy@rop.org
Some friends and family wonder why I don’t get a motel room. I even kind of like motel rooms – free ice and cable!
Lonely…
My rejection goes beyond pure budget woes although the truth is the travel of the last two months has run more then my travel for an entire year of flying to U Penn for treatment. Containing costs is the boring reason. Continuing to thrive is a bigger reason. I value community, I value barter, and I value direct contact with new people going beyond their comfort level. Finding community hosts keeps me feeling that I am living a life beyond medical care.
I fly out Tuesday for my next treatment cycle. It will make me sick for a full week — I dread the infusion. But these past few days I have focused on feeling good right now, finding new community and meeting them via the internet as I count down (not to being sick) but to a new adventure. My new host tells me, “Dinner is at six.” as she inquires on best foods. Two women have volunteered to drive me between the clinic and Mill Valley – one has a textile studio in her back yard that I hope to tour as a fellow textile artist. Perhaps I can borrow a bicycle from some one else? Keeping my true identity as I also accept my reality as a terminally ill cancer patient is not a bad balance to negotiate.
This summer I have vacationed ; ) in the Bronx Riviera, Harlem east and west, midtown Manhattan, Sebastopol and now I am off to discover more attractions of Northern California. Yes, I fit in 31 hours of chemo as well that brings me to my knees but until I am down I will enjoy the distractions. Thank you to the dozens and dozens who have spread the word and considered or signed on for a more active role in making my Marin County excursions the vacation I never dreamed of.
More soon on how I went from the Bronx clinic (the people’s clinic aka Bruckner Oncology) to a Marin Clinic with organic snacks and bountiful views – quite a change in zip codes!
livingly dying 