We came for the politics, but we stayed for the community. This is genuinely true for oh so many of us. However long any of us have been here (and welcome to the newcomers), after a short while, the names behind the comments and diaries become friends. They become family. And some we are gifted with meeting in real life.
I knew ZenTrainer mostly from the PWB diaries. I finally met her in person nearing midnight on a rainy Thursday at last year’s Daily Kos Connects Asheville conference in North Carolina. We were roommates, along with peregrine kate, who was already a dear IRL friend (really, you meet the best people in this community). I stepped into the hotel room door, exhausted from 17 hours of travel, took one look at ZT, and instantly knew I liked her. Yes, she’s that fabulous in person.
And now she needs our help. ZenTrainer never asks for help. Not for herself, anyway. She is one of the most giving, supportive, and generous people I have ever met, and I know this is really difficult for her, to accept assistance in any way. But this is what we do. We help each other out.
ZenTrainer is a breast cancer survivor. Along with peregrine kate, she facilitated the Monday Night Cancer Club diaries for years. But as anyone who has ever had surgery knows, the first surgery is not always the last. The cancer is gone, but the resulting disfigurement is still there and seriously needs to be addressed. This is a medical, and not a cosmetic, issue. She is going in for further surgery on December 9th. She will need some serious recovery time, and when you depend on doing physical work for a living, that can be tough. Her words to me, from two email messages:
“Well, my surgery just got approved. My knees went a little weak when I heard the news. I dread it in a way, but at least my insurance is going to cover it. My surgery is December 9th and my insurance gets cancelled December 31st.
“I have been sick a lot this year so I have no savings at all. For my last 2 surgeries the only restrictions I had were that I couldn’t lift anything or vacuum. I clean houses and train dogs for a living so I just had a friend drive me to work and he vacuumed. I did a lot of Vicodin and did all the cleaning. This time though, I can’t clean at all, not even wipe a counter for 6 to 8 weeks! Because something like a “seroma” could occur and at that time I will have no insurance coverage. What I will need is my mortgage and expenses covered for that time.
“You know, I am fiercely independent and hate asking people for anything... And boy do I feel like a loser for having to ask, but I’m stressed enough as it is, I don’t want to stress about losing my house. When I first got cancer, I missed 2 payments on my house and B of A jumped at the chance to foreclose. I was able to get a mortgage modification then. It lowered my payments to almost affordable by extending the loan to 40 years. I’ll be 94 when my house is paid off!
“Recovery sounds like a whole lot of NOT fun. I won’t be allowed to lift my hands over my head or bend over for a few weeks. I won’t be able to drive for that long either. And I can’t go to work for 8 weeks. I am going to have to have someone help me bathe for 4 days or so and for a few weeks, help with my pets... I have to sleep propped up for a few weeks also. ...they advise strongly to set up a table with water and a TV remote control; they really want you to lay around doing nothing for as long as possible in order to heal.”
Besides her mortgage payments, plus utilities and other basic living expenses, she will need to hire some home health care help for at least the first week, and she will need help caring for her pets, as well. We are setting a goal to raise $7500. to cover these necessities. So far she has received $1657. Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far.
Here are two things that make ZenTrainer a shining star in my world; one personal, one public. Let’s start with the public.
Nobody has done more at Daily Kos for downticket candidates than ZenTrainer. According to her page here at Daily Kos she has written nearly 100 diaries with the tag 90for90, with the aim of promoting Democrats in local races. She has done a ton of promoting and organizing for 90for90.org. Everything she has done for these candidates, and therefore, for all of us, she has done without pay. ZT does it because it’s the right thing to do, and although exhausted at times for health reasons, she is absolutely tireless when it comes to doing this very important work.
Then the personal:
Last October, I had my own health scare. After a biopsy in November, it was found I didn’t have cancer (the tumors and polyps were all benign), but I still had a huge health concern that required major abdominal surgery. This was scheduled for December 14th, nearly a year ago.
ZenTrainer, who I had just met in Asheville less than two months prior, and who lived 800 miles away at the time, volunteered to come and stay with me for a week while I recovered. I was floored. It didn’t happen due to various other pressing circumstances, but she tried really hard to get there to help me with my recovery. In lieu of that, and totally NOT requested by me, she sent me care packages. She sent comfy cotton-knit nighties for my hospital stay, she sent various healthy snacks and comfort foods for afterward, she sent cozy fleecy footie socks, she sent a packet of thank you cards so I could thank everyone else who helped out. She even sent toys for my cat. ZT wanted to send me more things, and I had to tell her, no sweetheart, you’ve done more than enough. Still, she kept checking up on me to make sure I was okay, all during my two-month recovery period, and then some.
She lives paycheck to slim paycheck, but she keeps on giving to others. I know plenty of you have similar stories. This is what she does.
ZenTrainer is super-generous, and super sweet on a personal level. She’s funny and super-sharp, too. She’s an amazing human being and I am honored to count her among my friends. And then you add in all the work she has done to help make this a better country, with a better informed electorate; all this work has gone unpaid. So far. It’s now time for our dear ZT to receive. Her job now is to heal. We’ll take it from here.
Thank you all so very much!
Here is where you can send funds:
PayPal: send using the “family and friends” option to zenpaws AT msn DOT com
Check: make to Tracy B. Ann and send to P.O. Box 293372, Nashville, TN 37229
Please also send cards and any other recovery treats (gluten-free if edible) to the address above.
Sara R’s ZT diary from Wednesday is here. And Murfster35’s ZT diary from yesterday is here.