Matt Yee needs your help.
The exuberant entertainer, for decades a fixture on cruises around the world, is currently battling liver cancer. Matt was the 96th stranger interviewed for this site, and we met at a restaurant on a cruise ship somewhere in the Caribbean Sea back in January 2017. He told me about how he reinvented his life, leaving a career in law behind to pursue his dream of entertaining, including a wildly popular drag cabaret act.
Last November, his life changed again when he was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer. Matt has since launched a GoFundMe to raise the funds he needs to pay for expensive radiation and other treatment, as well as basic living essentials. Here’s what he says:
Needless to say, this was a HUGE, life-changing, frightening surprise. Treatment had to begin immediately. I’ve undergone radiation. I receive immunotherapy every 3 weeks. I spend countless hours and days in doctors’ visits, getting poked, prodded, tested, scanned. Unfortunately, I developed unexpected, rare reactions to the immunotherapy and ended up in the ER, then spent 10 days in the hospital over New Year’s. I lost 20 pounds in those 10 days, and bled profusely – to the point that I needed 6 infusions.
After consulting with my doctors and much soul-searching, I’ve realized my 20-year entertainment career is over. Returning to health and staying there is my new job. As a result, all my dates had to be canceled.
The pressure of living with stage IV cancer has been compounded by financial concerns. I no longer have the performing income I’ve relied on for 20 years. It is gone. In my business, when you don’t work, you don’t get paid. I’ve already had to dip $20,000 into savings and the journey is just beginning. That’s really scary.
Every cent helps, so if you’re able then please consider making a donation to Matt’s GoFundMe.
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