Help Connie "Surf" Gottselig Recover From Cancer
Donation protected
Connie Gottselig aka “Surf”
Everybody who knows Connie Gottselig knows what an incredibly positive and motivating force she is for the health of our planet and everyone she encounters. Connie is a lifelong wilderness and nature advocate, passionate educator, human with great purity of thought, intention and action, and a role model for thousands with a totally clean, positive, healthy, and action-oriented outdoor lifestyle. Along with her life partner Ingo she delivers outdoor educational programming in Costa Rica in the winter months and in Canada in the summer months. She has inspired and motivated young and old from around the world in her 25+ years of teaching. Anyone who meets Connie soon sees she is one of the most giving, selfless, and hard-working humans on the planet.
It came as a huge shock to everyone who knows her when in early March 2020 Connie was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes in her neck. She is stranded in Costa Rica and cannot fly back to Canada with her severely compromised immune system, especially now with the corona virus pandemic. The tumours on Connie's thyroid are growing quite rapidly and Connie's energy is fading quite quickly - she runs out of gas by late afternoon now which is totally out of character for this "Energizer Bunny", but the doctors are great and they've taken a very strong personal interest in Connie's well-being. They just need the latest biopsy results to confirm all the lymph nodes have to come out with Connie's thyroid gland and she will be in surgery in the shortest possible time before the end of the week (of March 23). The surgeons are confidence-inspiring and Dr. Freddy Soto has been incredible.
They are confident that the cancer hasn't spread past Connie's neck to the rest of her body. They feel they will get all the cancer out of her neck with this surgery so she can be cancer-free. Afterwards, Connie is facing a tough road to recovery but she has an incredible support system. Connie and Ingo are renting an apartment close to Dr. Freddy’s office in Samara for one month and Freddy will be stopping by every day for wound care to make sure there is no infection or any other post-op complications. He wants to make sure Connie has a great solid start on her road to recovery. Where else would a doctor do house calls every day for a month free of charge? We are so grateful that Connie is in good hands with the well-trained doctors, surgeons, and technicians in the Costa Rican medical system.
However it is a private medical system and there are considerable expenses for the diagnostic work done so far, the upcoming surgery, and post-operative care and treatment. Unfortunately, Connie’s travel medical insurance is not covering anything. All they have offered is that they “might cover the cost of the flight home” after the doctors made it clear that it is not possible for Connie to fly with her severely compromised immune system.
Connie has made it very clear that she does not want to accept any money from people who are struggling to make ends meet in these troubled times when so many others are in need, but some friends have come forward to help cover some of the medical expenses and this “Go Fund Me” account is being set up in Ingo’s name so people who believe in Connie and what she is doing can make a contribution to help her regain her health and vitality. The world needs environmental awareness education now more than ever. We thank everybody for helping one of our very best outdoor educators get through a very difficult time in her life and continue with her mission to connect people with their natural environment and motivate them to do whatever they can to protect and conserve it.
Throughout all of this Connie still feels incredibly blessed. She is going through a life and death situation but she has friends who are sending their love and prayers and support in so many ways, and she can't help but think of all the other people in the world facing similar or worse health issues who do not have a roof over their heads, have no food or water, and are all alone in the world with no friends or family to stand by their side and help them. The greatest gift you can all give Connie right now is to send thoughts to all those people who are facing similar struggles and include them in your prayers and positive energy when you think of Connie in her battle with cancer.
Everybody who knows Connie Gottselig knows what an incredibly positive and motivating force she is for the health of our planet and everyone she encounters. Connie is a lifelong wilderness and nature advocate, passionate educator, human with great purity of thought, intention and action, and a role model for thousands with a totally clean, positive, healthy, and action-oriented outdoor lifestyle. Along with her life partner Ingo she delivers outdoor educational programming in Costa Rica in the winter months and in Canada in the summer months. She has inspired and motivated young and old from around the world in her 25+ years of teaching. Anyone who meets Connie soon sees she is one of the most giving, selfless, and hard-working humans on the planet.
It came as a huge shock to everyone who knows her when in early March 2020 Connie was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes in her neck. She is stranded in Costa Rica and cannot fly back to Canada with her severely compromised immune system, especially now with the corona virus pandemic. The tumours on Connie's thyroid are growing quite rapidly and Connie's energy is fading quite quickly - she runs out of gas by late afternoon now which is totally out of character for this "Energizer Bunny", but the doctors are great and they've taken a very strong personal interest in Connie's well-being. They just need the latest biopsy results to confirm all the lymph nodes have to come out with Connie's thyroid gland and she will be in surgery in the shortest possible time before the end of the week (of March 23). The surgeons are confidence-inspiring and Dr. Freddy Soto has been incredible.
They are confident that the cancer hasn't spread past Connie's neck to the rest of her body. They feel they will get all the cancer out of her neck with this surgery so she can be cancer-free. Afterwards, Connie is facing a tough road to recovery but she has an incredible support system. Connie and Ingo are renting an apartment close to Dr. Freddy’s office in Samara for one month and Freddy will be stopping by every day for wound care to make sure there is no infection or any other post-op complications. He wants to make sure Connie has a great solid start on her road to recovery. Where else would a doctor do house calls every day for a month free of charge? We are so grateful that Connie is in good hands with the well-trained doctors, surgeons, and technicians in the Costa Rican medical system.
However it is a private medical system and there are considerable expenses for the diagnostic work done so far, the upcoming surgery, and post-operative care and treatment. Unfortunately, Connie’s travel medical insurance is not covering anything. All they have offered is that they “might cover the cost of the flight home” after the doctors made it clear that it is not possible for Connie to fly with her severely compromised immune system.
Connie has made it very clear that she does not want to accept any money from people who are struggling to make ends meet in these troubled times when so many others are in need, but some friends have come forward to help cover some of the medical expenses and this “Go Fund Me” account is being set up in Ingo’s name so people who believe in Connie and what she is doing can make a contribution to help her regain her health and vitality. The world needs environmental awareness education now more than ever. We thank everybody for helping one of our very best outdoor educators get through a very difficult time in her life and continue with her mission to connect people with their natural environment and motivate them to do whatever they can to protect and conserve it.
Throughout all of this Connie still feels incredibly blessed. She is going through a life and death situation but she has friends who are sending their love and prayers and support in so many ways, and she can't help but think of all the other people in the world facing similar or worse health issues who do not have a roof over their heads, have no food or water, and are all alone in the world with no friends or family to stand by their side and help them. The greatest gift you can all give Connie right now is to send thoughts to all those people who are facing similar struggles and include them in your prayers and positive energy when you think of Connie in her battle with cancer.
Organizer and beneficiary
Jay and Michelle
Organizer
Athabasca, AB
Connie Gottselig
Beneficiary
