(KRON) – “Wearing a mask is just a sign that you recognize that you are part of something bigger than yourself,” Jessica Buscho said.

It has become somewhat of a national debate and even politicized but wearing a mask could save lives and it’s a simple act that one East Bay mom hopes you’ll consider so she and her family can leave their house again someday.

Jessica Buscho’s family has not left their home since the beginning of March.

“The title people are using for this group is the invisible population because there’s a thought that your health is something you can control or that if you don’t have good health you may be at fault and you know that’s not the case for everybody, like for me, I was a very healthy 33-year-old when I was diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer,” Buscho said. 

Buscho has gone through dozens of treatments, surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy over the past four years, all while being a wife and mother to three young children.

Over the past four months, Buscho has only left her home for cancer treatments and brain surgery — All of which she’s had to go through alone and said that’s been difficult.

“You can’t get cancer treatment if you live with someone who gets COVID. You can’t go to the cancer center which means you can’t get cancer treatment so there are cancer patients who are dying of cancer because they can’t get cancer treatment,” Buscho said.

Buscho is disappointed that wearing a mask has become somewhat political.

“I definitely wouldn’t go to my local mayor for a colonoscopy so I don’t know why people would go to any government official for medical advice,” Buscho said.

She hopes that even if the mask is uncomfortable, people wear them for their community, their neighbors and her family.

“My cancer doesn’t make me a less valuable person. My cancer doesn’t mean that my kids will miss me any less,” Buscho said.

Latest Stories: