Scam?

I share this to provide some perspective. Those of you who are connected with me on Facebook may have seen this already.

I am also posting it for the "historical record." I try to have things in one place, although it doesn't work too well. But I try.

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I posted this on Facebook earlier:

By now you must have heard that I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year. I have written and talked about it so much, it would be hard to miss - even with Facebook's odd posting "rules."

It is an "old" story by now. It is one you have probably heard more than you have wanted to about. It is certainly one that I have shared more than I want to about.

The thing is...my situation - while in the process of changing - is still very much one of need and without any real options. I had applied for Food Stamps because I wanted anyone who wanted to help to know that I was doing all that i could for myself.

The thing about Food Stamps, though, is that they will require me to go to job training, apply for work, and accept any employment offered me. While you might think that a good thing, let me tell you why it is not.

First of all, at most I will receive $200, so any hoops I jump through will be for this amount of money. It is no small amount, I would LOVE to get that from someone, but it isn't "free" money. It will cost me. It will cost me in time. It will cost me in energy. It could ultimately cost me the business I am working so diligently to create. I could also wind up with nothing, and be energetically depleted.

I do not have the energy I had pre-diagnosis and treatment. It is said chemo runs through your body at least 6-12 months after treatment. That means I am still affected by it. I could pretend I am not, but it doesn't work when I am sitting somewhere in the middle of my day and my eyes are closing despite my desire for them to stay open.

Yes I could try to force them to stay open and force myself to have energy, but it might just be that my body needs the rest. I cannot take care of myself that way if I had a J-O-B.

I am more than happy to do whatever I can to make an exchange of some sort for any help you may offer. I have a lot I can offer. Maybe you can advertise on my radio show or site or my blog. Shortly i will be coming up with all kinds of ideas and options.

If you don't want to just give me money, maybe you would consider doing something with me business-wise.

I have begun to charge my credit cards for my needs, but I will not be able to charge the nearly $700 I am going to need for health insurance beginning next month.

I am trying to be calm, but I REALLY am running out of money. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. I need to keep my insurance given everything that has happened, and I really don't want to find myself in a big financial abyss.

I am really in trouble.

PLEASE help if you can. Please tell others. You might be surprised what someone who is a stranger to me would do if you vouched for me. I have had some strangers be more generous than those I know personally.

I would not ask, unless i absolutely had to. And this is a HAVE TO. If I had raised what I was looking to raise when I first asked, I could have stopped asking months ago. In some ways it would seem I don't have the right kind of "cancer story." I am not looking to get married, I don't have the "love story," I don't have kids.

I am just me. An individual who is struggling and doing the best she can to make it. I am an individual who would do whatever she could to help another, and I am an individual who really just needs some help.

So please. Please do whatever you can. I am running out of ways to ask.

Thank you and thank you for any help that you may have already offered. I could not have gotten as far as I have without it.

You can send money to me via ThankYOU@PayPal.com or use the site http://gofundme.com/rioj8.

The radio site is http://WorldofPerspectiveRadio.com/ if you want to know more about what will be available, please be in touch.

You can learn more about what I am doing in relation to cancer by visiting http://relatingtocancer.com/

You can learn more about me and my journey with cancer at
http://relatetocancer.com/

You can see a number of videos I have created along this journey at http://relatingtocancer.com/videos.html

You can see more about me and the myriad of things I have done at
http://jolope.com/

You can learn more about hypnosis at
http://DeeperandDeeper.com/

You can see a number of free wallpapers I created at
http://cedonaah.blogspot.com/

There really is a lot to me. If you get value from anything that I have done, it would mean a lot to me if you would be willing to share and/or contribute to me.

Thank you.

I then posted this status a bit later:


Earlier I posted another request for help. A real sweetie shared my gofundme page on her profile. The conversation then was about how pages like mine are often scams. If you share about my page, please say something about me.

Please let those who know you know that I am not scamming. If you have any question in your mind as to whether or not I am scamming, talk to me - I will do what I can to put your mind at ease. I know the world we live in - and in cases like this it cansuck - big time.

This is what I posted as a response:

Thanks for sharing this. You are so sweet to do it. To anyone else, if you wonder if I am a scammer or not, I invite you to take a good look at the page that I created, and my blog http://anewme515.blogspot.com/. I knew there would be people who would question the validity of the situation. It is in part why I am as open as I am. There are many facets to me, and I am self employed. My reputation hangs on what I say. I am not about to be anything but honest about my circumstances. I have also offered people things in exchange for their donations. If there is something I can do in exchange, I will do it. If you have any questions about me and my situation, you are free to ask me. I also have some people vouch for me as well who are willing to have you be in contact with them. Of course I could be a really good scammer. But I really must suck at it, as I have barely been able to raise the kind of funds real scammers do. I understand your caution. You should be be careful. At the same time, please consider investigating a situation before making a judgment. Someone may be in real need. And I am not talking about myself, although it certainly could include me.