The problems I have in life cannot be solved with money.
The cost of Edyta’s cancer treatment is covered by German public healthcare. She’s staying in Charité, one of the world’s top hospitals, her ward under the direction of the world’s leading experts in treating lymphoma. The treatment she’s getting, staggeringly complex and planned out for the next two years, hadn’t even been available a year ago.
Compare that to the hospital in Poland where she was treated the last time, and there is really no comparison. We’re in good hands. Not to mention that the Polish hospital was converted to a corona-hospital two months ago. All cancer patients—in the midst of their treatment—were sent home and told to come back when appointments become available again.
It’s not the first bullet we dodged. In the UK, our lifelong love affair, but never quite home, had we moved there to work the plum corporate roles we had on offer, we’d now be staring into the grim reality of creaking National Health Services and drug supply chain disruptions.
I try to remind myself of all that because we’re immensely privileged to be where we are now, and we’re grateful for it.
And while no amount of money today can make my wife’s cancer go away, a small amount, donated to the right research group, can make somebody else’s future cancer easier. That’s why I decided to donate all my Patreon proceeds from December to cancer research, hoping that maybe 20-30 years from now, people don’t have to go through the same ordeal we’re going through.
To my current Patreons, I want to say thank you. You can feel smug now, for having donated to a worthy cause. To everyone else, regardless of your cultural persuasion, I want to wish a very Polish wesołych świąt! Look after your loved ones, and make sure they know how much you care.
