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Jerry's Brain Tumor Surgery Fund

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Im James Ortiz and I am doing this go fund me under my mothers name ( Maria Beyer) and I am doing it how I
experienced it up to this point. 


The Beyer's are the kindest, most genuine and wholeheartedly generous families you will ever meet. On June 15th 2017 they received horrible news. Driving from Rawlins , WY on their way to Wentzville , MO after spending the whole night packing the truck and leaving around 7 am that morning.  Jerry complained about feeling ill that day and the rest of us thought it may be exhaustion, stress, tired after only a few hours of sleep.  He told us numerous times that it felt different and that he felt these heat sensations coming from his neck through the lower parts of his body.  We decided to pull off and have lunch in hopes of giving Jerry some much needed energy. After having lunch Jerry said he was feeling somewhat better and said there was no reason to stop and let us keep on our way.  After about another hour of driving we started to hear this bang, bang, bang coming from the rear of the truck.  The tarp decided to get loose and we pulled over on the interstate to fix it.  I (James Ortiz) jumped out with him and added more support to the tarp in hopes that it would stay down.  When we were fixing the tarp , Jerry looked over to me and said " I feel like dog s**t".  I told him that we can stop and he could go get rest but he insisted he's okay and wanted to put extra miles behind us. After about 10-15 more minutes and going 80mph I noticed that the rope holding our load was getting loose and about to pop off. After I mentioned it, POP the rope is off. I yell to pull over and Jerry hastily complied. We both got out and secured the load once more him on one side and me on the other.  I was fixing the drivers side straps and noticed Jerry hasn't came back over to get back in the truck. I go around the other side and I noticed Jerry laid out head down on the interstate slope. I immediately noticed that he was unconscious and there was blood coming out his nose and vomit on the side of his mouth. We learned later that day that Jerry indeed suffered a seizure. I ran up to the truck and asked my mom for assistance and being in a panicked state I thought of it being the only option I had. We then called 911 and I thank God for the 911 in Nebraska for them being able to pin point where we were.  The last thing on my mind was that it happened on mike marker 141 on interstate 80. The ambulance did take a few minutes with the nearest town being 20 miles away and the hospital another 18 the opposite way. They came and asked what happened and I honestly believe they had 10 people come out of that ambulance to help Jerry and I thank God for that. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the hospital for us having to go one way to turn around and go back the other and if you know Nebraska, then you know what I mean.  Im gonna add this in real quick, not knowing if someone that you care about is going to die is one of the most difficult things I have ever had to experience.  I've known Jerry for almost 17 years and I've never witnessed the man hurt nor sick.  Jerry doesn't drink any kind of alcohol , smoke any kind of plant, doesn't do any kind of drugs including over the counter meds.  He drinks water religiously and eats a good amount of veggies and fruits to keep him in excellent shape.  Even the doctors agree he is in excellent health. So to see this "superman" on the ground and loaded up in an ambulance and as humans our first thoughts go to the worst imaginable place. When we arrived at Ogallala community hospital in Ogallala, Nebraska .  My mother went in while I consoled the two children in the car.  You have to understand it was My mother, myself, my son and my sister with Jerry  and the two dogs, two cats and a ferret.  I explained to them everything was going to be alright and hopefully we will know what happened. After what felt like an eternity passing we learned that they gave Jerry a cat scan and that he has some sort of mass in his middle left brain. Unsure what may have caused it they went with their medical opinions. One being that Jerry possibly had a stroke and the other being that Jerry has a tumor.  The hospital that we first went to wasn't equipped to handle whatever was going on with Jerry. They decided to Evac flight him to NCMC in Greeley, Colorado.  After a 2 hour and a half drive driven by nervousness, fear, unknowing we finally arrived at the ICU in NCMC. It was a shock seeing Jerry laying there in a medical coma with tubes shoved down his throat. Seeing his arms restrained and him trying to break free unknowingly doing so.  The nurse on duty telling us that we can't talk to him nor touch him due to him being so sensitive and possibly waking up from the coma. Seeing my mothers face knowing she can't do anything at all except stare with her already fatigued eyes. They needed to do an MRI that way they can have more of a definition on size, exactly where in the brain it is and hopefully what exactly it is.  The next day after a non existent sleep and still in shock of all the events that occurred up to this point. We arrive back at the hospital and hope to hear something. We learned it wasn't a stroke and that it could be an infection from a bad tooth or its a tumor.  They kept him in a coma to run more tests and basically try to rule out one or the other again. They did finally rule out infection and now straight going with tumor. Once the biopsy is done then we will have full definition of what it is. They had no answers only opinions. 




This is the tumor and where its located and once I get access to the MRI files I can upload it also.  Its been six days and this hospital has already said it is too complex of a surgery for them to dare to achieve. They have recommended one of the bigger hospitals in Denver for the actual surgery and after care can be done in Missouri.  We are hoping that we can get him into the hospital in Denver sometime in the next few days. They have already said no matter what that there will be some sort of operation done to this tumor. These kind of operations are not easy and they take 18 hours + to complete and thats not counting the countless hours of possible radiation and chemo therapy if it comes out to be cancerous.  This is going to be a long process and not just for him but for my mother and sister, my wife and 4 kids and myself. I have to be here for Jerry for all the times he has been there for me. Whatever the outcome may be after surgery we will get through and rebuild him better then before. I don't even know a time frame from now till its all fixed. I just know its going to be a long process and the doctors have mentioned it quite a few times in a few different ways.  On top of the tumor surgery he has a fractured shoulder that needs surgery. They can't do the surgery until the seizures are in control so he basically has to heal and have it re broken before getting screws placed in it.  




The effects we've noticed so far is that Jerry s suffering from major fatignuess. Some of it is tumor related and other is medication for his seizures and pain management for his shoulder. He is in more pain then he can handle which is surprising to me for I've never seen him complain about an aliment ever. Jerry is tough but even the toughest guys fall down sometimes. He is determined to fight this and I know he will and beat it to non existence. 







Why a go fund me? Well we were in a middle of moving from one state to another. We were going from one job to the next. Funds that we had were to be used in setting up shop in Missouri.  Now our funds are dwindling trying to survive this ordeal. Especially since the length of time is unknown and it is going to before a while before we get stable once again. The services here have been great and they have helped as much as they could. We still have to pay for food and essential everyday items. Our truck is still packed with all our belongings sitting in the parking spot beside the hospital.  Everyday Im hoping the security and local police force have a strong hold on the area and crime isn't an issue.  Since the dogs are service dogs and get literally sick when they don't see Jerry, we decided to keep them with us.  We were lucky enough to have someone close to Denver come and take the cats and ferret for a bit.  Everyone has been great in the respect of support and giving us hope that all will turn out okay. We have been very appreciative of all the kind words that have been said.  




Today (6/22/2017)  they are suppose to have a family meeting with all the doctors and in hopes of coming up with a plan on how to tackle this thing and take care of it hopefully once and for all. 




I , on behalf of the Beyer family , would first and foremost like to ask for prayers for Jerry, Maria and his only daughter Emma.  We all pray in Jesus name for a smooth surgery and a fast recovery, Lord willing with no deficits or long term impairments. We ask the Lord to be present and guide the hands and thoughts of everyone involved with Jerry's medical care. 




Secondly, my goal is to help the Beyer family financially to ease this burden as much as possible for them.  In addition to Jerry's medical expenses (which will be staggering) this process will require significant time off of work for both Jerry and Maria; while still having all of their other living expenses piling up. I want to reduce the financial impact this will have on them as a family, That way Maria and Emma can be present with Jerry during his time under medical care. The last thing this family needs to worry about is making ends meet while all this is happening to the main work force of this family.  I am asking you all to donate to this fund. Share this fund and know that every bit helps , and 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the Beyer family. 




I will do my best to keep everyone updated with everything.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $30 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer

Maria E Beyer
Organizer
Denver, CO

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