Today is my Birthday

I want presents! Two specific presents!

I wake up every morning and follow the same routine. I stretch out, and think about everything for which I am grateful. This starts with my pillow and blankie, and the fact that I live indoors, with a roof that doesn’t leak, potable water, indoor plumbing, electricity (most days, damn you PECO) and that I make enough money so that everyone in my household can eat every day. I am SO VERY privileged. I am grateful for another day that I didn’t make the obituaries: being in remission from cancer makes you incredibly appreciative of every day.

But today is my birthday, and I’m asking for things from you, dear readers.

First and foremost – GO GET ME A VOTER! This is what I want more than anything else for my birthday. Try to move an undecided voter a few inches. Go visit your neighbor who doesn’t think voting matters. Reach out to that relative you don’t want to talk to, if only to yell “PROJECT 2025” at them. Make sure the checkout clerk at the store, the waitperson at a restaurant, a random person in a parking lot is registered to vote.

Can’t get me a voter today? Then sign up for a 2 hour shift of canvassing or phone banking this weekend. You’ll find my voter on Saturday or Sunday. If you do NOT live in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina or Georgia, use this link to find a way to call voters in those states. Use the filters to find phone banks in a swing state.

My other ask is for money. NOT FOR ME. But for people who have crushing medical bills they cannot possibly pay. The billed amount for my cancer treatment ran close to $800,000 through the end of 2023, and there are all sorts of follow-ups. I am really lucky that I have great corporate insurance. Otherwise, I’d likely have lost my house and be living in my car. Or dead.

Undue Medical Debt (previously RIP Medical Debt) is a 4-star rated 501(c)(3) that buys bundled medical debt. For every $10 donated, they buy $1,000 of medical debt for people who cannot afford their bills.

For a lot of people, they get sick, they owe money, and they end up having their wages garnished, or worse. 17 states, and some local governments, have banned the lawsuits and garnishments, but most have not. If you can give TEN DOLLARS here, you can help save a life.

For all the different cancers, there are “5-year survival rates”. There are also survival rates for things like heart attacks, strokes, etc. The published rates are aggregated, that is, for everyone who, for example, made it to remission from a specific type of cancer. But, as my oncologist told me, those rates are often variable, based on a number of factors that cannot be changed, like age and gender. BUT “financial viability” feeds into survival rates. The kind of cancer I had has an aggregated 5-year survival rate of about 50%. But because I live indoors, have food to eat, and can afford the 5 years of monitoring and tests my potential for survival is much higher. If the cancer comes back, they will catch it early, and I could afford additional care. A lot of Americans do not have that luxury: if they owe the hospital money, they will be denied follow-on, non-emergency care.

Ten dollars! Please. Help save a life. Don’t tell me if you give – I’m just putting it out there as my request, independent of outcome.

So that’s what I’ve got for today. Please - GET ME A VOTER to help save democracy!