Let's help Jessica get her surgery!!!

Hi My name is Hardy Steinke, and I'm fundraising for Jessica Santander.

You will never meet a person more positive and more generous and loving to everyone in her community Cooksville-Mississauga. Now is our chance to show our love and caring support for Jessica with the health challenge she is courageously facing! Please consider joining me toward raising $6000. or more to cover the cost of her surgery. Small or large amounts are gratefully received. If you are not able to contribute financially, please send your best healing energies her way! All The Best, Hardy Steinke.

Here now is Jessica's story:

My name is Jessica and I suffer from Unilateral Condyle Hyperplasia (UCH) and Maxillary hypoplasia.

ABOUT ME:

I am 29 years old and I am a Biologist working in Aquatic monitoring (plus other 2 extra jobs in different companies). I moved to Canada 3.5 years ago with my husband, looking for postgraduate education and to progress in our careers. I love giving back to the community, all the love I receive from the world! I am currently leading a community garden with Heart Comonos, a Cooksville-Mississauga community group, giving our neighbours in need the opportunity to bring home fresh organic local vegetables.

I am truly in love with life, with the people around me, with my job, with my community. I can confidently say I am a blessed person. However, 6 years ago, after suffering from chronic migraine and earache and being misdiagnosed for years, an otolaryngologist found that my left ear canal was being damaged by the Condyle, and referred me to a Musculoskeletal specialist, They finally diagnosed me with 2 bone diseases: Left Condyle Hyperplasia and Maxillary Hypoplasia.

Having both diseases at the same time is rare, and my condition is more complicated as my condyle creates friction with my ear canal every time I move my mouth to breathe, eat or talk, causing persistent damage to it. If not treated soon, I could lose my hearing.

ABOUT THE DISEASES:

How did I get them? A bad combo between genetics and environmental causes. My family from my dad’s side all have Left Condylar Hyperplasia. My Maxillary Hypoplasia is because I have suffered from allergies since I was born, and I could not breathe through my nose most of the time, so I had to breathe through my mouth. Apparently that affects the development of the upper jaw bone.

HOW THEY AFFECT ME:

- Chronic face pain. My jaw just hurts all day. I have some better days than others, from being able to manage pain with meditation, painkillers and hot and cold compresses, to having non stop migraines and not being able to eat or talk.

- Hearing: My left hearing is very affected. I have chronic fullness in my left ear which just doesn't go away no matter how much medicine I take.

- Eating: I can’t eat solid foods! The most solid I can eat is ground meat. No BBQs, no meat cuts, no chewy bread, not even cereal most of the time. Whatever needs to be chewed more than once, I can’t eat it. Why? My face gets very painful, my face muscles get shaky and crampy, I get a terrible migraine, ear pain, and I could be sore for days!

- Stopping music: I had to stop playing saxophone (after playing it since I was 6 years old) because it was way too painful.

- Physical changes: My face has changed so much in the last 5 years. I don’t even recognize myself, rarely look at the mirror, and, can’t properly smile. My ear canal is very affected and my teeth roots have deteriorated to the point I might lose some of them in a couple of years.

- Economics: I have to work 3 jobs currently, to be able to pay my medical expenses related to my conditions. The total cost of the surgery is 12,000 CAD, and I won't be able to work for almost 2 months. Further, I won’t be able to work 3 shifts as I currently do for at least 6 months.

MY GOAL:

My goal is to raise at least $6,000 CAD, which would make the surgery happen! I hope to get back to work as soon as possible to recover financially.

GOOD NEWS:

Surgery is finally happening! After time being lost due to multiple misdiagnoses, I now have a Surgeon that accepted my case, then 2 years of COVID and now my surgery is happening!

FINAL THOUGHTS AND THANKS!

On my last visit to the specialist, he suggested emergency surgery in April. But I did not have the money at the time, no insurance would cover it, I can’t get any loans in Canada because I am not a resident, and I can’t get any loans back at home because I have no income there. I am aiming to get the surgery in September this year, and the doctor says that’s already late, but I have no other option.

I have been working, and working, and sometimes, working a bit more! But 24 hours a day are apparently not enough to get enough money for my surgery, and that’s why I need your help.

Anything you can give helps and will be deeply appreciated by me and my loving and supporting husband. We also appreciate you giving this a share, posting encouraging messages on this GoFundMe, and sending healing energy our way. I want to be the Jessica I was before, to keep working with my community and spreading our love everywhere until this planet is a better place.