Asking for help and accepting assistance is the hardest thing I've ever done.  In fact it is still a struggle for me.  I tried - and I still try - so hard to not be a burden, and to do it all on my own.  But when I was ready, a group of wonderful people jumped right in and started helping!  And by knowing I had them to fall back on, immediately a whole new level of strength and hope opened up in me.  I would like to use this page to thank a few of the wonderful people who have helped me and continue to help.

The Benefit Concert on November 10th raised $2,000 which will go towards my 2008 doctor's visits.  I have been putting off seeing a doctor because I can't afford the office visit and thanks to this fundraising, I will now be able to see a holistic doctor and a rheumatologist soon and get updated blood tests and medications.  I will update the "Please Help" page with more information on reaching my first health care goal.

Thank you everyone who made our first benefit concert a huge success!

Thanks to the musicians, Valentina Alykova and Liudmilla Khmelev-Startsev, whose extraordinary talent amazed us all.  The music was breathtaking.  Thank you for sharing your talents with us.

Thanks to all who purchased tickets and made donations - I appreciate your support.

Thanks to St. Paul Lutheran Church for providing the space and helping us organize this.

Thanks to Pasta's restaurant in Littleton for the donation of wine .

Thanks to all the volunteers of Team Fabulous, in particular:

Jennefer Weeks, Donor and Event Organizer who made it all happen

and the very talented, hardworking and loving team of

Elizabeth, Mitchell, Alfred, Teresa, Kevin, Ahmed and Bert, thanks for all your assistance.

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word and who helped me. 

If love is the most powerful medicine, I received a powerful dose of caring and it feels great!
                                                                   -- xoxo Anastasia

My Personal Support Group:  This group is called Team Fabulous - I am constantly amazed by this truly fabulous group of people.  Before Team Fab, having to do everything alone overshadowed all my struggles.  I had no immediate family, and no extended family.  That meant going to the doctor's alone, receiving the doctors's the bad news alone, then leaving the doctor's office alone and driving myself home to deal with the news.  Sometimes a friend would call after an appointment to say, "So, how did it go?"  But for me, this often felt like just one more burden, having to explain everything to someone who was out of the loop.  There was such a heavy blanket of stress over everything I did, worrying about whether I would have the energy to go through with things.  So often, I would have to cancel a doctor's appointment because I didn't have the energy to drive myself there and back-- and after cancelling, that would mean I would have to wait another 1-3 months for an available appointment.  Or, I would be too woozy by the time I was done in the waiting room, so that I could not remember what to ask the doctor or remember what the doctor told me.  It was very frustrating to go and get a prescription, then be too tired to go to the pharmacy and fill it, so that I would have to wait up to a week before I could get the medication. 

Immediately after my friends formed the Team Fab group, they  began to accompany me to doctor's appointments.  Having an understanding friend to talk to in the waiting room, someone taking notes so that I will remember the doctor's advice, being able to sit back and close my eyes on the ride home while someone else drives, having a friend who will go fill a prescription for me - these things have literally changed my life.  Team Fabulous members also put together the fundraising events, organized my paperwork, negotiated reduced rates, researched alternatives.  Their support gave me the will to go on.  It has changed my life physically AND psychologically.  Thank you each one of you.