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Hello, dear community!
My name is Devon Spier and I am a Jewish, disabled and queer survivor of domestic violence and childhood incest aka child sexual abuse (CSA).
I’m asking my communities and those outside my communities to help me raise $30,000 so I can afford emergency hysterectomy surgery to end a life-threatening illness I have called Adenomyosis, which exists in my uterus as a result of severe trauma by childhood sexual abuse.
According to Johns Hopkins Medical Center, the only known cure for adenomyosis is a full hysterectomy (aka full removal of uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes, as well as my cervix) and your donation today will make sure I both receive this treatment this May and eliminate this illness in my body for good and recover afterward to live my best life going forward.
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With your help, I can—
a) afford the expensive costs of air travel, a lengthy hotel stay, meals, pain medication and the total medical hysterectomy procedure in Turkiye.
b) pay the above costs for a support person who is medically mandated to accompany me before and after surfer for 14 days total in Turkiye.
c) pay the costs of medical supplies needed after the surgery, including for therapeutic pillows and blankets to help me ensure I do not tear my sutures and recover as safely as possible.
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Five Questions for Donors—
1. What is Adenomyosis?
From Johns Hopkins and Dr. Mildred Chernofsky there:
“Adenomyosis (pronounced add-en-o-my-OH-sis) is a gynecologic condition that causes endometrial tissue in the lining of the uterus to grow into the muscular wall of the uterus. It enlarges the uterus, and may lead to very heavy menstrual bleeding.”
And for a brief video that explains exactly what adenomyosis (“adeno” for short) feels like, this doctor at NHS in England totally gets it right:
2. What is living with Adenomyosis specifically like for Devon?
As a result of this illness, Devon experiences severe nerve pain in her abdomen, neck, back and legs, making it at points impossible to walk, to see, and to move her head and neck.
The uterine pain is so severe that she experiences both flashbacks to the sexual violence she endured as a young person and debilitating fatigue and joint pain that has reduced and flat-out hindered her ability to walk as well as to work, to the point of financial and emotional strain.
Moreover, the extreme adenomyosis bleeding Devon lives with (in a nutshell, going through one soaked super plus tampon every twenty minutes on a period, and often not only on a period and literally bleeding like a river through clothing!) is so severe that she is at heightened risk for developing a blood disorder that will cause her to suddenly hemorrhage out and die.
This illness is, in essence, debilitating, destructive and life-threatening.
And the longer Devon lives with it, the more at risk she is for developing worsening symptoms resulting in an early death.
But with your help, we can absolutely remove this illness from her body and stop all of that.
3. If Devon gets the surgery, what will happen? How do we know she’ll get better and her illness will end?
By undergoing a full hysterectomy, Devon’s illness will be cured completely, as recommended by the expert advice of medical staff at Johns Hopkins above.
4. But wait: Why isn’t Devon doing this in Canada? Wouldn’t that be cheaper? And what about universal health care?
Unfortunately, the Ontario healthcare system let alone the Canadian healthcare system gives medical preference for hysterectomies to women with uteruses who have undergone childbirth or presently have high-risk pregnancies.
As Devon has never been pregnant and is not at risk of a harmful pregnancy, she does not qualify for a waitlist or even a surgeon to see her for this medical treatment and thus, a full hysterectomy is not currently available for her here.
Sadly, as a person who doesn’t have kids (and to be clear, Devon loves kids and families; this medical situation is just a terrible one for her to be in!), she doesn’t medically count in the current national or provincial Canadian health care systems, which is why she is asking all her communities to rally around her for financial support to get this surgery now.
5. Okay! I’m on board. Devon needs help and I’m going to give. But what happens if Devon raises more money than the 30K? Where will that go?
As a survivor of childhood incest, domestic violence and family separation, as well as having previously lived for a portion of her single life with a limited income, and especially, as a person not receiving any monetary support from her governments or the people who raised her or conceived her for any of these issues...
Devon is fully committed to the redistribution of wealth for the progress and safety of all vulnerable people.
This means it is Devon’s actionable priority that all funds raised above the amount that Devon uses to cover the costs above* will directly benefit black, brown and trans survivors of sexual violence as well as human trafficking survivors who survived childhood sex crimes.
*Every* cent raised beyond the amount Devon uses for her surgery and recovery will go to organizations led by survivors and mutual aid campaigns that directly benefit individual survivors of these horrific acts of violence.
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About Devon (by Rabbi Jeremy Kridel)—
I’ve known Devon for the past four years.
We met when we were studying at the same rabbinical school and I almost died of a heart attack as a result of a Covid infection that I contracted at our school retreat.
When this happened, Devon immediately dropped what she was doing and sprang into action. She checked on me. Offered to pay my grocery bills. Provided me with emotional and spiritual support. And she just cared.
And not only did she do this for me, but she did this for every one of her classmates who were affected by and infected with the same disease, often pausing her studies and daily life to send and arrange extra funds to suffering classmates and their families and fighting to make tuition and school spaces accessible and safer for those of us who were paying a steep price to belong.
Devon is a compassionate person and a sincere person, who fights to make the world better for everyone.
She doesn’t just talk the talk, but she walks the walk every day of her life. And I know in and beyond Jewish spaces that she will make even more of difference when she is rid of this illness that is causing her so much pain and suffering.
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*A note that, as many people with disabilities, chronic and life-threatening illnesses know, healthcare costs are dynamic, meaning that the initial cost of a procedure, including aftercare, can be different than what a person anticipates or plans for even given their best estimates.
Devon has checked every cost for her surgery multiple times and with the deepest of care and accuracy. And it is possible that there could be complications from the surgery or additional testing or other work to be done before the surgery.
And it is also possible, however unlikely, that the surgery, which includes a biopsy done on Devon’s uterus ahead of time, may not go according to plan. What that means is that it may be possible that part of Devon’s uterine system is removed and not other parts.
With all that said, Devon is committed to complete financial transparency here.
So, if you are donating, please know it might be possible that the $30,000 amount for the fundraiser might be increased in order to help Devon cover costs that she may not have anticipated as a result of her illness and surgery.
AND, moreover—
Any amount from the money raised that Devon does not use towards her surgery and care after the surgery, will be distributed to people and organizations as above, who are directly and most intimately affected by sexual trafficking and childhood sexual abuse.
There are many people living in this world, and in this political climate, in particular, who are suffering the yoke of sexual violence, and they deserve support, especially from people who have the means to help.
And that's why Devon is committed to giving any extra funds that do not benefit her to the aforementioned people who are suffering gravely in order to alleviate the unnecessary pains and hardships that they are going through as a result of gendered sexual abuse and trafficking.