On Life’s Messy Joys and Becoming a Recurring Donor

About two years ago, I received an unexpected and unwelcome diagnosis. After decades of following guidelines for routine cervical cancer screening, known by most women in the US as the Pap smear, I tested positive for high-risk HPV (human papillomavirus). My results indicated precancerous cells on my cervix and I would require a colposcopy and biopsy for further testing. I was worried, but my provider assured me that given my history of routine care and readily available treatment options, my outlook was good. 

It wasn’t the first time I found myself juggling my own serious health issues while working to improve access to health care for other women. I’ve been passionate about public health, and reproductive health specifically, since I was a young girl; Our Bodies, Ourselves was both my well-worn reference and bible as a young woman. At the time of my HPV scare, I had recently worked to help open the first free-standing, midwife-owned and operated birth center in Massachusetts and had ensured that families receiving public health care could access our services – but I wasn’t entirely well. I was in my early 40s and in the midst of major life upheavals.  I was getting a divorce, selling my family’s home, and raising three children (two of whom were about to graduate from high school and a third in elementary school); all in the wake of a necessary medical leave from a beloved job due to disability caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

Life was messy; filled to the brim with painful losses, sober reckonings and yet full of new possibilities – the “full catastrophe” you might say – it was a messy joy.

Writing to you now – the worrisome cells gone from my body and appreciating calmer life seas in overall good health –  I’ve been coordinating the shipment of thousands of HPV test kits to Kenya and Ethiopia so that our field teams can proceed with their HPV screen and treat programs. I joined Grounds for Health as the Operations and Finance Associate this past winter and while I’m new to the team, I am deeply aligned with my colleagues who dedicate so much effort and heart to helping women and families live healthy lives in coffee growing communities.  

Katie and her three sons.

Any friend of Grounds for Health knows that while the outlook is good for most women who receive timely health care, cervical cancer remains a major cause of mortality in less-resourced countries, especially in rural farming communities. So it was an easy lift when this past Mother’s Day, I became a recurring donor of this modest yet mighty organization I now have the privilege of working for. 

It’s astounding what our nimble and dedicated team accomplishes; I am continually learning how we make an impact in global efforts to eradicate cervical cancer. 

For $10 a month, I am helping women across an ocean receive essential, potentially life-saving health care, care that I have been so fortunate to receive myself. 

Attending to life is a labor of love – we come and go from this world dependent on each other – life is made all the more rich when we embrace the enormous gift and responsibility of taking care of one another. So I send a wholehearted thank you to my colleagues at Grounds for Health for the innovative work they’ve been doing in the world since 1996 and invite you, dear reader, to consider joining the web of care that connects us all by becoming a recurring donor. 

Our collective outlook is good in each other’s embrace.

Written by Katie Parsley