Help Fund Jennifer's Treatment for a Pain Free Life

Jennifer (Aja) Fernandes is my best friend and a fireball of enthusiasm, positivity and heart. We’ve been best friends ever since we met at 14 years old. I have never met anyone who knows how to throw herself into life, and squeeze it for every drop like she does. Jennifer does this by continuing to learn new things, but most of all by helping and giving back to the community.

When she suffered the tragic loss of both her parents as a teenager, Jennifer pushed through. She left home immediately after her father’s funeral to attend McGill University. She had to learn to be independent and fend for herself.

Despite these early tragedies, she proudly graduated, and flourished. Jennifer was determined to build a life for herself.

Jennifer started working with children and youth in children’s aid services. She has taken on those hard roles of supporting and saving the lives of neglected and abused children, and being a witness when no words or support were enough.

She puts her heart on the line day after day to make the world a better, and kinder place. Jennifer worked with youth in care, and in the queer and trans community for over a decade.

She has been steadfast in her commitment to community, creating safer spaces and working towards diversity and acceptance. She has worked at Sherbourne Health, Supporting Our Youth, the Studio, and the ArQuives.

Today, Jennifer needs our help.

Jennifer has been suffering from chronic pain for nearly two decades now. She was 27 years old when the pain started.

While her disability is invisible, the impact is real. The diagnosis discovered through multiple MRIs is a severe case of Spinal Stenosis. The doctors say she was born with this condition.

Spinal Stenosis is a condition where the spinal column narrows and compresses the spinal cord.

Common symptoms are numbness, tingling, and weakness in legs and back, stiffness and severe back pain, and difficulty walking and standing for a long time. Jennifer is challenged walking up stairs, and has a hard time balancing.

It is episodic, and affects her mobility. Jennifer is in constant pain and has had to depend on a travel stool, and more recently a wheelchair. She is often unable to leave her bed for days.

Because it is so debilitating, the chronic pain has impacted her ability to hold full time work in the last twenty years, often limiting her to negotiate hybrid, remote, or part time jobs. This has impacted her financial health.

Her financial health has also been impacted from paying for health insurance, medications, weekly injections, sick time, the cost of treatments and procedures including Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) and other therapies out of pocket.

Chronic pain has impacted her relationships, career, and her mental health. Because her illness is episodic and unpredictable, many times she must cancel at the last minute, and on her healthy days she tries to get everything done before another episode hits.

She has hope though. There is a treatment that could allow her to live pain free. This is a beautiful dream for someone who has such a strong love of life and desire to contribute.

We drove together in October to New York state so that she could get some testing done to see if she qualified for stem cell treatment, and it turned out that she is a great candidate.

The stem cell treatment is done through Regenexx, which is considered the best in the world currently. During Regenexx’s outpatient procedures, custom concentrations of her body’s natural healing agents are injected into the exact areas of damage in the spine.

Treatments use your own blood to make super-concentrated bone marrow concentrate, which contains stem cells.

This procedure is cutting edge, and would slow, and even mend the damage done to her spine. It can offer her five or more years of living pain free. This is incredible when compared to the PRP treatment here in Canada that lasts only six months, and takes a full month to recover.

The Images Below:

The left image shows how Regenexx slows and repairs the damage.

The right image shows the degeneration occurring in the spine as it narrows and compresses.

This could be life changing in all areas of Jennifer’s life.

Stem cell is currently not offered in Canada. Jennifer has already accessed Canada’s best treatments, which are Platelet-Rich plasma (PRP) treatments. This was helpful at first but eventually, the treatments became so excruciatingly painful, she had to stop or else risk her life.

She has tried everything offered here in Canada. The stem cell treatment is incredibly promising, and is the logical next step in her fight for recovery.

Jennifer and her pain specialist applied for out of country funding from the Ontario government for stem cell and were denied. Not willing to give up, Jennifer has reached out to her local Member of Parliament with no results.

We are committed to finding a solution, and this is why I have created this gofundme for Jennifer.

Jennifer has struggled with chronic pain on her own for twenty years of her life. At this point, I am asking for financial support on her behalf. Help me help her get back to what she does best. Please donate and share this post!

I am fundraising $22,000 to pay for stem cell treatment with Regenexx and the trip to Michigan from Toronto for the procedure. I will take Jennifer, help her during recovery, and bring her back home.

Together, let’s help Jennifer. We can make a real difference in the life of a woman who is always ready with a joke, makes everyone feel at home, and listened to. A true friend who is engaging, helpful and fun.

Jennifer is important to all the communities that she supports, and she is important to her loved ones.

I can’t wait for my best friend to be able to live a fulfilling life, free of pain, and able to go off on adventures together, full speed ahead…

With Hope & Gratitude,

Chiara Biderman