It’s Time to Help Out This Inspirational Medium Writer

You know I’m talking about Shannon Ashley, because she’s inspired you too.

Photo by Sue Carroll on Unsplash

I wanna pop in to urge you to donate to (or share) Shannon Ashley’s GoFundMe, to help her pay for her very-much-needed lipedema surgery. What’s lipedema? Well, if you’re not familiar with it, you might be surprised that an estimated 11% of women have it. Shannon’s GoFundMe explains what lipedema is, how bad hers has gotten, how it’s severely impacting her day-to-day life, and how surgery will make things so, so much better for her.

Shannon’s honesty, empathy, writing talent, parenting style, and work ethic have inspired the fuck out of me (c’mon, you know you can say the same), and she deserves all the good things. But right now, she’s just asking for what should be basic healthcare.

You can find out way more about her sitch by reading Shannon’s recent writing (or just go to the GoFundMe page already).

But I just want to share this little anecdote about a time Shannon helped me. I chose to write about it at the time —almost 2 years ago — because Shannon’s thoughtfulness and generosity absolutely wowed me, but I know I’m not the only Medium writer she’s helped out like this:

A Medium Writer Sent My Family a Box Full of Rainbows and Unicorns

Yeah, she was and is that generous Medium writer. She goes out of her way to help others and to model that generosity to her sweet daughter.

I know how hard it is to ask for help, and so I wish Shannon could get the medical care she needs without her having to ask, and without needing to share personal photos and stories about how hard her lipedema has made her life. But we don’t have that kind of healthcare system yet in this country, and so her vulnerability is her only hope right now. Well, that, and the generosity of all of us.

Shannon’s got a fucking heart of gold, and she’s been through way too much. So she turned that pain into both empathy for others and amazingly relatable writing.

Ugh, I can’t wait for Shannon’s life to someday get easier. Let’s try to help make that happen sooner rather than later.

Thanks.

P. S. You haven’t seen new writing from me in a while, because during the pandemic I’m budgeting zero time for publishing. BUT I’m hoping you’ll hear a lot more from me when my kiddo starts in-person school in the fall. xo.