[The following images are © Ashley Lebedev, unless otherwise stated]
I have some health updates for you guys which I will tell you about soon (nothing too exciting, don’t worry) but I’ve been too busy doing the updated things that I’ve hardly had any time to write or edit or do anything creative. I’m switching medications and weaning up to a therapeutic dose of the new one right now; I’m not quite midway through the transactions. I feel pretty horrible; intense migraines all day and night, nausea, exhaustion (beyond normal levels even), pain flairs and insomnia. But I don’t feel like I should be complaining about any of that after hearing what Ashley Lebedev, aka Bottle Bell Photography, has been going through.
© Ashley Lebedev | Bottle Bell ™
I knew that Ashley had some health problems, but that was about all I knew. We both live inside the fine-art-conceptual-magical-ethereal-fantasy-fae-creating-characters-building-our-own-props-and-costumes-and-sometimes-self-portrait-taking-photographers-world, which as you can imagine, doesn’t have a HUGE number of members. We’ve known each other online for several years and I’ve come to know Ashley as being endlessly creative, genuinely positive, extremely talented and an all-around lovely person.
But I didn’t know that she was dying.
© Ashley Lebedev | Bottle Bell ™
It turns out that Ashley is far, far sicker than I realized. Her doctors don’t even know exactly what the problem is, only that she is dangerously sick and will die without intervention. But intervention is hard to get if you don’t know what you’re fighting. Ashley recently launched a GoFundMe to help finance her journey toward health, which will likely include some very expensive stays at medical facilities, special tests and treatments, all not covered by insurance.
© Ashley Lebedev | Bottle Bell ™
This is going to be VERY expensive. And Ashley needs our help. I am asking you all to please help her, even if it’s a very small donation. I know money is tight for most of us these days, I get that. I wish I could have donated a much larger amount of money to her campaign. But the thing is, even if we all only gave $5, it would make a difference.
© Ashley Lebedev | Bottle Bell ™
Ashley needs us. And the world needs Ashley. It would be a much darker, sadder place without her bright, beautiful soul. So please, donate to her cause if you can. And whether you can or can’t help with money, you can also help just by spreading the word about her fight!
© Ashley Lebedev | Bottle Bell ™
I know that she will also welcome any prayers, Reiki, good energy, lit candles, etc, sent her way. I know that she can get through this, but she will need our help. Let’s overwhelm her with our love and support! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!!
All images above are © Ashley Lebedev and are included to show what a beautifully talented artist she is. I’ll round things off with my latest image here at the bottom.
The Living Sepulcher © Sarah Allegra, model – Dedeker Winston
Mythic Pictures 