[cancer|personal] The fundraisers
by
I hardly know where to begin. Perhaps at the beginning?
In the past three days, almost $50,000 has been raised in my name in two separate fundraisers. Both have made goal, both are still ongoing with stretch goals and level bonuses.
The first is The Lakeside Kickstarter to support continued filming of the ongoing documentary project. Waterloo Productions has been very generous with its time and resources, but the twists in my healthcare journey have thrown kinks into their budget. I really want to thank everyone who contributed to keeping that project afloat, because I think this is an important atory to tell.
The second is the Sequence a Science Fiction Writer Acts of Whimsy fundraiser, which made its initial goal in five hours and as I write this is closing in on its second stretch goal. There’s some pretty hilarious level bonuses in this campaign. Th Acts of Whimsy fundraiser is intended to pay for genome sequencing of my tumors, an expensive procedure not yet part of the standard of care nor covered by health insurance. We’re running out of treatments for me, and such a test may provide new insights into treatment direction. (This is explained in detail at the fund raising site.) Again, I cannot possibly thank everyone who participated and continues to participate.
That such a process in the middle of this very hard week could take place has amazed me. Boggled me. I had no idea there was this much support out there. So many people have given, almost 800 as I write this, some of them so obviously at a stretch it makes my heart ache. People I know for a fact are out of work and looking for jobs, people I know for a fact are living on limited budgets, as well as friends, fans and strangers from all walks of life and economic circumstances, each as generous as they can be, some generous beyond reason.
Likewise the Internet support, from blogs and Web sites and tweets, all the way from individual writing blogs to Boing Boing, Whatever and supportive tweets from the Bloggess. That signal boost has been amazing.
You people are amazing. But I think I said it best in this video from yesterday.
Thank you. I love you all.
More from my site

RT @jay_lake: [cancer|personal] The fundraisers: http://t.co/FH0yLKhf
I’m glad its working Jay. I hope it continues. Cheers!
An update of yesterdays and ongoing efforts by everyone for Jay Lake https://dev.clockpunkclients.com/jaylake/2013/01/11/cancerpersonal-the-fundraisers/
Sandra Childress liked this on Facebook.
James Stevens-Arce liked this on Facebook.
Deanna Hoak liked this on Facebook.
James Anderson liked this on Facebook.
RT @jay_lake: [cancer|personal] The fundraisers: http://t.co/FH0yLKhf
Are you the first sf/f author to get their genes sequenced… that would be so (like) meta?
I have no idea, but it’s possible.
Gus Hinrich liked this on Facebook.
Natashja de Wolf liked this on Facebook.
Jeffrey Richard liked this on Facebook.
Alice Bentley liked this on Facebook.
Sarah Hendrix liked this on Facebook.
Ann Crimmins liked this on Facebook.
Rita S. Crossley liked this on Facebook.
Fanny Darling liked this on Facebook.
Ruthanne Reid liked this on Facebook.
Leslie Claire Walker liked this on Facebook.
Elizabeth Bourne liked this on Facebook.
Lex Machina liked this on Facebook.
David Dyer-Bennet liked this on Facebook.
Florin Corneliu Pîtea liked this on Facebook.
Margaret Organ-Kean liked this on Facebook.
So stinkin happy these kickstarters are doing so well. We’ll continue to pimp as much as possible.
Jay, I bravely watched your video even though I knew I would cry during the whole thing. This whole fundraising has been so wonderful to watch, knowing the many people who care and cheer you on puts such a big smile on my face, too. I wanted to say that your sharing so openly your cancer war has helped me keep up the good fight with mine. Now, to the battle and to the win. Love you, Jay.