GOING LIVE WITH LOVE: SONGS OF SUPPORT FOR JESSA ROQUET

Jessa Roquet is a beloved and integral member of the Twin Cities music community whose life has recently been turned upside-down by a diagnosis of stage 4 liver cancer – all in the time of Covid-19 spreading like wildfire across the globe. As a single mother of three daughters and a (pre-Covid) gigging musician, Jessa has a full-life, and now must do all that she can to preserve it.

To help show support and raise funds to cover Jessa’s medical bills, and keep her basic bills paid, 26 local musicians will be performing 15 minute sets via Facebook Live from the group page “Going Live with Love: Songs of Support for Jessa Roquet” from 11-6pm on Saturday, May 9th, 2020. Donations to Jessa will be raised via her GoFundMe page, or sent directly to her via Venmo.

I had the pleasure to talk to Jessa in these hardcore times, she invited me to her lovely and warm home via Zoom and we chatted a bit about herself, her band Gambler’s Daughter and how she’s determined to beat this thing one day at a time like the awesome superhero she is.

Maureen: Hi there, thanks for having me, how are you doing despite these hardcore times?
Jessa: Hi there, well, I’ve been feeling good, I had a immunotherapy session last Friday which is every three weeks and that wipes me out for a few days and today I also do some IV alternatives like Vitamin C and stuff to boost my immune system to fight cancer, hoping that they are going to work together to help shrink the tumor. Today I feel less tired after Friday’s treatment, I don’t do much work out, I mean, I’d walk in the woods or so, but is like when you’re pregnant, you might not be moving a lot, but your body’s on a full time job.

M: I totally understand that feeling, I’m also a mom. For what is worth, and I don’t know if it helps, but to me you look amazing and beautiful.
J: Thank you very much (she smiles) I’ve drawn a little weight because I’m still trying to figure out food since I changed my whole diet to basically anti-inflammatory food to basically help with the pain the treatments cause, and I’ve been very afraid that if I eat something I’m not supposed to or if I don’t might help or not. Also, I think the shock of having cancer took me to a better relationship with food.

M: I can understand the shock of it, is not something you would expect to happen to you and also during these times.
J: Yes, to me was a really stressful week when they (the doctors) told me that I had cancer, because it was the same day that the state decided to shut down everything because of CoVID- 19 and to learn social distancing, and it was the worst weekend ever.

M: Especially because in your situation, going through the notice that you have this awful disease and then on top CoVID-19 which makes you a risk patient, I’d be terrified.
J: Yes, is a scary situation, but I have decided to not focus my mind in CoVID-19 because I have to be focus on learning about this cancer and fight it like crazy. Of course I’ve learned about Co-VID as well and had kept myself and my kids as isolated as possible, but my mind is set on fighting this cancer, the only place I go out is the clinic and everything is either delivered by my friends or delivery services and stuff, I have to be wise but also I don’t want to stress myself out with more of it.

M: I think is the best that you can do. Could you tell me what is intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and how serious is it?
J: Ok, they (the doctors) found a tumor and then I had a biopsy done, the results came back on march 12th positive for cancer, they wanted to know which one, so for a while I was diagnosed with cancer unknown primary. Then they diagnosed me with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, this really difficult-to-pronounce word, which we’ll call ICC (she laughs). Two days before I was supposed to start chemo, I got a genetic test that said the tumors were more like 90% regular liver cancer and only 10% intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, so they decided to switch my treatment to immunotherapy instead of chemo, since they thought it’d fit better due to the genetic make up of the tumor. The tricky thing with my case is that this type of cancer usually appears with people who has it in their genes or have cirrhosis, hepatitis and so, and that’s not my case whatsoever. So, they still don’t know why I got it, now after I started the treatment, they said they’ll look for hepatocellular carcinoma, which is a type of cancer that only appears in kids and young adults with healthy livers. So is even more rare and there aren’t many studies about it, but they’re starting to research that for me. I know I have liver cancer, but I found out that you can have more than two types of cancer, so that’s the path I’m walking. Is like bile duct cancer, that’s why it spread so fast and got to stage 4. Right now, I’m not a candidate for surgery because of the size of the tumors and where they’re located which is close to my heart. Is not as clear as “Hey you have cancer, this is what you’re going to do” is more like “Hey you have cancer, and there’s a whole world of treatments that you could go through, some might work for your type of cancer.. or don’t”. That’s the long answer (burst in laughter) The short one? ICC starts in the bile ducts, and you can’t fully see it until it spreads to the larger part of the liver and regular cancer usually starts because you have a sick liver.

M: Wow, I didn’t know it wasn’t that straight up. You know today I listened to your latest album, Serotinous Skin which is on Spotify and I found it extremely beautiful and calming, it was the best of my day. Congratulations for that and since is such a beautiful and really personal album, do you think that the ICC has affected your creative process?
J: Well, thank you very much. I’ve been working on it for the past years with some old songs and also new ones, but it came out of a lot hardship and growth and I worked with Patrick, the producer at the library, we have a lot of ideas and a lot to work on; I had landscapes of how I wanted the music to sound and each song is very diverse because they all have a different journey, but it was a labor of love and it was amazing to have work with him and the band. I feel happy because first things first, I created it for myself, I needed to finish those songs, I needed to get them published. I’m thankful that the release of the album was back in February, but there’s been also grief since I was booking shows and planning a little tour and then the world shut down in march (laughs), but at least I had it release earlier than the shut down and got that little local celebration with the people I love. Since the album released I haven’t been focused on writing, but my health and fighting cancer, I started writing a song before the diagnose and finished it after the diagnose so that felt really good, but in general I’ve been journaling and listening to podcasts to explore other people’s creative process. Right now, it feels important to me to write poetry, letters to my kids and just get my thoughts clear, so they can become songs.

M: is a whole mix of feelings right there, to which I wanted to ask, how are you managing this diagnosis during the current pandemic?
J: Honestly, I’m extremely thankful for every day that I’m here in this earth, that I have my girls and people who cares for me, and in order to fight cancer I’ve had to reorganized my mind in those ways, and that’s not to discount the anger, pain and sadness, because yeah of course, I’ve been very pissed and sad crawled up in a ball, wondering why is this happening, but there’s never a why, only “What am I going to do now to change this?” and that’s were I’ve got the power in recognizing that it is sad and painful, but what am I’m going to do but fight this? I need to move forward, I’m still moving on forward, is just a different landscape to what I was expecting.

M: That is really on point and touching. How do you feel knowing that you have so many artists stepping up and wanting to help?
J: I didn’t know anything about it, but when I found out, I cried of course (laughs). It means a lot to me the fact that there’s people willing to set aside their time in order to do something to help me and the fact that there’s so many people is overwhelming, the diversity of artists, and people that I’ve known very well, others that I personally don’t but respect them greatly from afar, is amazing. People are having a hard time in lots of ways right now and I don’t take for granted that people are investing their time and their gifts to help me pay my medical bills, and I’m just excited to listening to them honestly and participate too.

M: Are you planning on playing your new album?
J: Yes, I’m very excited. It’ll only be a couple of songs since, due to the treatment, my voice has been scratchy as one of the side effects, but I’m just going to be me with my acoustic guitar and my electric guitar and then one or two songs that I’ve been writing over the past few months.

M: That is amazing, I can’t wait for the live show to happen. Since I don’t want to take anymore time from you, do you have a message for the people out there who want to support you?
J: All the information is going to be on the page. I have a Venmo and a GoFundMe page, so you can donate wherever you feel more comfortable. Is not a fix outcome since the cost keeps changing and there’s a lot of uncovered cost for cancer because I’m having different kinds of treatments I’m thankful for what I receive and every bit of help and even more so, I’m just really honored by people showing their love and sharing their music. Financial help is one thing, but the people organizing this, and willing to give their time, is such a big deposit in my heart, is one of the best things ever, those are the things that you can hold on to and remember when you’re feeling really crappy. Thank you guys and I’m really looking forward to, it doesn’t matter the weather, now we can take the concert to wherever we want. (laughs)

M: Exactly, well, thank you very much, and we’ll see each other on Saturday at the live concert!
J: Thank you for this and the kind words, have a great evening and see you on Saturday!

Saturday, May 9th, 2020, 11-6pm on Facebook

**Sarah Morris* - 11:00 AM
Stacy K - 11:15 AM
Savannah Smith - 11:30 AM
Tim Cheesebrow - 11:45 PM
Tina Schlieske* - 12:00 PM
Annie Fitzgerald - 12:15 PM
Joyann Parker - 12:30 PM
Ben Cook-Feltz - 12:45 PM
Annie Mack* - 1:00 PM
Amanda Grace - 1:15 PM
Vicky Emerson - 1:30 PM
Mother Banjo - 1:45 PM
Adam Levy* - 2:00 PM
Breanne Marie - 2:15 PM
Faith Boblett - 2:30 PM
Kashimana - 2:45 PM
Katy Vernon* - 3:00 PM
Andriana Lehr - 3:15 PM
Jillian Rae - 3:30 PM
Amanda Standalone - 3:45 PM
Michael Ferrier (of Fathom Lane)* - 4:00 PM
Moss Kwa - 4:15 PM
Karen Folman - 4:30 PM
Cabin of Love - 4:45 PM
Mary Bue* - 5:00 PM
Taylor James Donskey - 5:15 PM
M. French - 5:30 PM
Gambler's Daughter -** 5:45 PM

Donate to Jessa’s GoFundMe page or directly to her Venmo.
You can also follow Gambler’s Daughter on instagram and Facebook and check out their music on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Interview by: Maureen Cruz, Writer @MaureenEtoile
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner @PlaylistTC