Daz's Neck Surgery

Jess Kirkegard is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Thank you so much for all prayers, meals, encouragement, and love over the years…and now your generous offers of financial support for Daz’s upcoming surgery. Because of this, we thought it would be easier to set up a GoFundMe page. (This way it would be obvious to Centrelink and the ATO that we’re fundraising!).

We just got confirmation for the date of the operation – it’s is THIS Tuesday the 21st of June! The doctor has been very kind in squeezing us in due to the severity of Daz’s condition. Praise God it can happen soon! And hopefully it will help.

The short story:

Daz is having 2 discs replaced in his neck at C4 and C5. This is to help his neck and shoulder pain in his right arm. This pain is totally separate to his usual nerve pain in his throat. After this surgery, he will still be left with the (terrible) pain that comes with his throat from showing facial expressions and interacting with people… but the hope is he will be able to use sign language again and get back to basic functions (like spreading butter on toast, driving, holding a burger, playing with the kids, and the ultimate goal – to get back to Deaf ministry).

The long story:

Over the last 3 years Daz has experienced pain in his right shoulder and right side of his neck. He was basically in bed throughout both lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 in terrible pain. Initially physio and chiro helped along with massage and various daily exercises (which he was very diligent in doing!). During the 2021 lockdown he progressively got worse to the point where he couldn’t even butter bread and chop soft veggies like cucumbers. Soon after typing on the computer or texting became difficult and eventually even sitting and watching a zoom meeting was too painful. He got to the point where weekly physio and chiro wasn’t helping and even lying in bed or sleeping caused more pain.

At the end of 2021 an MRI showed he had a bulging disc in his neck pressing on the nerve root, along with some other damage on lower discs. After seeing a neurosurgeon, he was put on the waiting list in the public hospital (which at that point was around 12months, but since the election is over the waiting list has gotten longer), and over the next 5 months he tried 4 spinal injections to see if it would help lessen the pain. After the first, he got around a week relief - still not enough relief to make much of a difference to function in life. The second injection wasn’t done properly, and he got zero pain relief at all.

After a second opinion the (second) neurosurgeon said the second injection was done ‘sub optimally’ so he got it re-done. Thanks to a friend who works as a radiographer, we were able to get a good doctor to re-do the dodgy injection. Unfortunately, the pain relief didn’t kick in til 2 weeks later and again, it was only minimal relief for a couple of days. The last injection was thankfully done well and in exactly the place Daz feels the pain, but again it didn’t help relieve the pain or help Daz function more day to day.

During all of this, he tried various pain medication (on top of his usual cocktail for his throat), continued with chiro and massage when he could. We even found a doctor who prescribed medicinal CBD and THC, which unfortunately also didn’t work. There’s nothing left to try besides surgery and unfortunately the pain is too debilitating and now unbearable, he can’t just leave it and do nothing.

Daz’s mental health has also declined so much that we just can’t wait for a space in the public hospital. This pain is so bad on top of his usual crippling pain. He can’t talk but at least he always had Auslan. But now he can barely even sign or text, which has made him truly isolated.

So…here we are! Due to my own health and looking after the kids and Daz I haven’t been able to work much since mid 2019. The neurosurgeon has given us a discount and has also personally called around the medical reps to get us a discount on the implants (thank God for his kindness!). The most expensive part is the hospital fees.

Thank you for all of you who have been partnering with us over the years, praying for us, and continue to pray for us. We really appreciate you and thank God for your love and generosity.