Jesso's Emergency Endometriosis Surgery

A couple of weeks ago, our darling friend Jesso began to suffer from debilitating pain throughout her abdomen and back. After being taken to emergency hospital and spending four excruciating days in Tweed hospital, they conducted exploratory keyhole surgery (after many other tests). Jesso was diagnosed with advanced Endometriosis  and Adenomyosis. We now know that these diseases have silently impacted Jesso for many years, causing chronic pain, allergies, anxiety and fatigue, often decimating Jesso’s quality of life.

 

The exploratory surgery concluded that Jesso has endometriosis tissue growing along her pelvic floor, ovaries, bladder, colon, and stomach. Endometriosis' sister disease Adenomyosis was also identified growing inside her uterus muscle. This was only what the general surgeon could identify at the time, meaning the extent of how bad it is unknown until a specialised endometriosis gynaecological surgeon conducts surgery and makes an assessment.

 

 

Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease where the endometrial tissue grows outside the uterus in the abdominal cavity. It is among the top 20 most painful chronic conditions and one of the highest misdiagnosed conditions. Adenomyosis is where the lining of the uterus (endometrium) grows into the uterus muscle wall (myometrium).

 

These diseases are not curable and have many serious implications. Jesso has been told by specialists the only management option is invasive and risky surgery, combined with two contraceptives used in conjunction with surgery. The aggressive effects of the disease need to be removed by excision surgery as soon as possible. The surgeon will also need to remove some cysts growing on her ovaries and part of her bowel for her digestion to function optimally and for pain and inflammation to go down.

 

We have watched Jesso’s health decline - physically, emotionally and mentally. The road to recovery is very long and costly.

 

The wait for surgery in the public health system is a year, and her gynaecologist specialising in endometriosis, Dr Graham Tronc has advised that waiting this long is not an option. He has advised that there is a considerable risk of her organs sticking together, further creating irreversible damage to her body and implicating her future choices around fertility. Jesso does not have private health insurance, and the wait for private hospital cover after signing up is also one year. Due to the urgency of her situation, she cannot wait for the public health system and needs our help to raise funds to have the surgery conducted privately.

 

Surgery to treat this disease will be at least $12,000. This cost includes the specialised gynaecological surgeon, a secondary surgeon, an anaesthetist, a third gastrointestinal surgeon, hospital stay and pathology. This is the minimum cost if all goes well and there are no complications. Recovery time should be 6-8 weeks, depending upon surgery complications. Jesso will be unable to work post-surgery for up to four weeks.

 

If you’ve met Jesso, you’ve been blessed with the company of a beautiful, caring, generous, understanding and comforting person. We could go on and on, and we will... Jesso is a huge advocate for her community with a courageous and poignant voice, often speaking out for her causes around mental health, women's safety, domestic violence and, most recently, the 2022 Nth NSW floods. For the past five months, Jesso has tirelessly worked with the Byron Rangers to reinstate the Northern Rivers community after the devastation of the floods. We’ve watched Jesso dedicate much time, love and energy to helping anyone in need. She is a true gem that gives without reservation and leads her life with kindness and integrity. We all feel so lucky to have her in our lives.

 

We’re aiming for $20,000 to cover the cost of surgery and her recovery. Money will go directly to all costs associated with doctors, specialists, cost of living and post-surgery self-care. The cost feels like an incredibly overwhelming number, but in the scheme of our beautiful friend's life, her mental and physical health, and not to mention fertility, is worth it.

 

If you’d like to help Jesso regain her quality of life. Please donate what you can so she can undergo the life-changing surgery she needs.

 

Thank you,

 

Her friends who love her very, very much.

 

❤️