Supporting Terry Dutcher

My name is Samantha MacDonald and I am starting this fundraiser to support my brother-in-law, Terry Dutcher. Here is his story:

Terry Dutcher (age 34) is a loving, fun, charismatic & hard-working young man who recently moved back home to Miramichi from Vancouver in April of 2022. He and his fiancé, Sara, purchased their forever home in August of the same year. They hoped to settle in their new home, get married this summer, and start a family. Unfortunately, things had taken a turn for the worse for Terry shortly after they moved home.

Terry has been living with severe ulcerative colitis since he was 17, meaning he has had regular colonoscopies and follow-ups with physicians for the last 17 years. Upon their return to Miramichi, Terry was instantly referred to a new gastrologist. The waitlist was eight months to two years due to high demand and a lack of specialists. In the Fall of 2022, Terry was able to jump the wait list only because his prescription for his medical infusions needed renewing. At this time, a colonoscopy was completed, and they discovered a tumour had been developing in his colon, leading to the diagnosis of stage 3 colon cancer.

Since they found out about this terrible diagnosis, Terry has undergone intense radiation therapy and chemotherapy treatments in Moncton & Miramichi. Following these treatments, Terry had also undergone a very high-risk, 9-hour invasive surgery to remove the cancer in May of 2023. He was told that the surgery was a success; he was now cancer-free and could begin his road to recovery. Unfortunately, that hadn’t been the case. Terry has had a tough time trying to heal since this surgery and has been in & out of the ER/hospital ever since. He has had several drains placed in his body and recently he developed a “kink” in his bowel, which caused him even more severe pain and the inability to eat. After continually being sent home from the hospital with no solutions and told to “wait it out” and “let the bowel unkink itself,” Terry’s extramural nurse contacted Moncton City Hospital, which led to him being directly admitted on August 29th, 2023. On September 4th, 2023, they performed another major surgery where they made a grim discovery that he was now suffering from Peritoneal disease: a rare type of cancer spreading rapidly. Following this news and trying to recover, his bowel formed another “kink,” and he again had to go for another major surgery six days later.

Terry is working with a large team of medical doctors and specialists and was told that the treatments he will need for this type of cancer are only offered out of the province. He is also receiving multiple medical opinions internationally and needs to be ready to travel if that is the chosen route. We hope our community can come together to support this family during these difficult times. Any funds raised will support Terry and his family with their medical expenses, travel costs, and loss of employment to help fight his battle with cancer. Thank you for reading Terry’s medical journey; any support will be greatly appreciated.

For anyone who wishes to send an E-transfer directly to Terry, please send me a message and I will share his email! All of the funds raised from GoFundMe are being deposited directly into Terry's bank account.