Jay’s Recovery

This last Winter Jay Van Zyll De Jong’s life drastically changed when he was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder. The symptoms started with him losing his balance and co-ordination and rapidly worsened. Over the course of a few months Jay went from providing for his family, working hard at his job, and renovating his house on days off. To barely being able to mobilize his body, struggling to balance while walking, having trouble feeding himself, shaking constantly,

and basically needing a full-time caretaker.

Functional Neurological Disorder can have many symptoms including weakness, movement problems, sensory problems, convulsions and tremors. For Jay it has made his eyes shake so much that he can’t even read a book or enjoy a show. But most importantly enjoy the freedom of being able to control his own body. The long-term prognosis for FND is reportedly poor with only 40% of cases resulting is partial remission of symptoms. Jay is currently a patient at the UBC Hospital in Vancouver in the psychiatric unit. He has been in hospital for three weeks now and will potentially be there for three months or more. The full timeline of his treatments is quite unknown.

As a friend and co-worker of Jay’s I can speak for everyone when I say Jay is a bright light to all the people who get to meet him. His warm energy and cheerful attitude always bring joy to people he’s around. Jay is a great father, family man, good friend, and someone people can rely on. Jay still has two adolescent children at home he provides for, one twelve and one seventeen. Jay has now been away from work for 6 months and is experiencing financial struggles. Jay is hopeful and determined to get better. He is still in good spirits despite all these life changes.

Let’s show our support for Jay by allowing him to focus on his recovery and not worry about his finances. Jay is a fighter and if anyone has a good chance of recovery from this terrible condition it is him. Let’s show him our love and support by donating to his road to recovery. Any help at all with this campaign is met with so much gratitude and thanks. Jay needs your support in this trying time.