Help Jef Johnson get emergency dental surgery
Donation protected
UPDATE: When we created this GoFundMe for Jef, we had the modest hope that maybe we'd be able to reach our bare minimum goal of $3,500, and perhaps pull together a little extra to help with living expenses while Jef went through the many stages of the dental surgery process. We knew there were many people who loved Jef and would want to help, but with the current state of the world, we wondered how many people would be able to help financially at this time.
Well, we were able to get to the minimum $3,500 goal in only 21 hours! This tremendous accomplishment is a testament to how many lives Jef has touched, and how many people want to give back.
But we're not stopping there! We're going to keep raising money, for three main reasons:
1) Fixing Jeff's problem (see the "About the Problem" section below for details) will take many visits over the course of multiple months. During this time, we want Jef to be able to focus on getting well, not on how he is going to pay for basic needs like food, electricity and housing. Like many creative professionals, Jef's sources of income have vanished with cancellations of performances, workshops and other public engagements. Raising the money for the procedure was an important first step, but we need to raise more so that Jef can have his basic needs taken care of at this difficult time. Plus, for most of what Jef does, he needs to be able to speak clearly--something that will be hard for a few months of his treatment process.
2) At the urging of numerous Friends, Jef visited two more specialists. One had impressive credentials, but quoted almost $20,000 and the process was going to take away too much time from Jef's life. The other seemed very knowledgable and his recommended course of action was less extensive and required significantly less downtime. Jef and his family and friends feel much more comfortable with this specialist than they did with the generalist Jef originally went to, so Jef has decided to move forward with him. This will get him back to normal life faster than the other specialist and at a much lower cost, but a bit higher than the $3,500 the general dentist would have charged (approximately $5,500).
3) Jef had a place to stay, and he thought he would have it as long as he needed it for the duration of treatment, but that has unexpectedly changed. He will have to find a new place to stay, which means more money he has to cough up in short order.
For these reasons, and due to the overwhelming response and support, we are raising the goal to $10,000 at this time. As we learn more about Jef's condition and treatment requirements/timelines, we will raise or lower that goal if needed.
So please keep sharing the link to this campaign and encouraging friends to give. And thank you for the inspiring action so many of you took to come to Jef's rescue so quickly and generously. We are overwhelmed by the response and filled with gratitude. There's a difficult road ahead for Jef now, but thanks to you, his burden will be lighter.
About Jef:
Many of you are lucky enough to know Jef Johnson. He's one of those people who just thinking about makes you smile. I got to know Jef when he acted and directed in Houston, and have watched his career grow over time, including work with Cirque du Soleil and Slava's Snowshow (you can read more about him on wikipedia ). Creative, dynamic, hilarious, insanely talented and kind, Jef is like no other person I've ever known. I am proud to call him my friend. If you know him you know what I mean. And now he needs our help.
About the problem:
While he lived in Houston in the mid 90s, Jef had a procedure done where a dentist removed one tooth, performed a root canal, reduced two teeth to posts and installed a bridge.
Many years later, while in NYC, Jef began having problems with the bridge and visited a dentist there. This visit revealed a shocking truth: that while performing the root canal, the Houston dentist had broken off the tip of an instrument inside the canal, attempted to remove it with another instrument which then also broke. He left both pieces inside the canal and installed the bridge over the top, without telling Jef what had happened. The extensive work needed in order to fix everything was going to cost $20,000 and take 6 months, which was financially and logistically impossible for Jef at the time.
Jef is now in Mexico, where he has been since COVID-19 measure’s went into effect, and recently had to get an emergency molar extraction. He told the dentist about his history, and the dentist found by using his imaging equipment that the problems caused by the Houston dentist had now worsened greatly. infection had spread not only throughout the canal, but deep into the bone. The dentist was very alarmed, explaining he must do something about this immediately or Jef could loose bone, and possibly have greater problems including partial jaw loss, chronic health problems, and even heart failure. The procedures needed would require approximately 12 visits over a 2-3 month period. Jef mentioned that he had been feeling slow and tired lately, to which the dentist explained this was the reason. The infection was wearing him down, and things would continue to get worse if he did not take immediate action.
Fortunately, dentists in Mexico are much less expensive than in the USA--the dentist told Jef the estimated cost of treatment would be $3,500, instead of the more than $20,000 it would cost in the states. Unfortunately, at that same time, COVID-19 was sweeping the world, and all of Jef's many 2020 engagements had just been cancelled, leaving him without the money to pay for it. Since then, Jef has been trying to pull together money towards this procedure as his pain gets worse and worse.
This is serious. If Jef does not get this thing fixed right away, the infected bone could die and he could loose part of his jaw. He could suffer long term effects and even die from complications related to the infection.
Jef's sources of income have all but vanished during this time, as his living is made primarily through performances or workshops, all of which are cancelled due to COVID-19.
Jef, a man who has given so much joy and so many insight to us, needs our help now.
The goal is modest--to raise the money needed to fix Jef's dental problem, plus some extra money to meet his basic living expenses while he undergoes the multi-stage treatments over the coming months.
I get it. Many of us are struggling, too. This pandemic has hit the creative professions hard. But if you can spare something, anything toward this cause, please do so now. Every little bit helps.
Well, we were able to get to the minimum $3,500 goal in only 21 hours! This tremendous accomplishment is a testament to how many lives Jef has touched, and how many people want to give back.
But we're not stopping there! We're going to keep raising money, for three main reasons:
1) Fixing Jeff's problem (see the "About the Problem" section below for details) will take many visits over the course of multiple months. During this time, we want Jef to be able to focus on getting well, not on how he is going to pay for basic needs like food, electricity and housing. Like many creative professionals, Jef's sources of income have vanished with cancellations of performances, workshops and other public engagements. Raising the money for the procedure was an important first step, but we need to raise more so that Jef can have his basic needs taken care of at this difficult time. Plus, for most of what Jef does, he needs to be able to speak clearly--something that will be hard for a few months of his treatment process.
2) At the urging of numerous Friends, Jef visited two more specialists. One had impressive credentials, but quoted almost $20,000 and the process was going to take away too much time from Jef's life. The other seemed very knowledgable and his recommended course of action was less extensive and required significantly less downtime. Jef and his family and friends feel much more comfortable with this specialist than they did with the generalist Jef originally went to, so Jef has decided to move forward with him. This will get him back to normal life faster than the other specialist and at a much lower cost, but a bit higher than the $3,500 the general dentist would have charged (approximately $5,500).
3) Jef had a place to stay, and he thought he would have it as long as he needed it for the duration of treatment, but that has unexpectedly changed. He will have to find a new place to stay, which means more money he has to cough up in short order.
For these reasons, and due to the overwhelming response and support, we are raising the goal to $10,000 at this time. As we learn more about Jef's condition and treatment requirements/timelines, we will raise or lower that goal if needed.
So please keep sharing the link to this campaign and encouraging friends to give. And thank you for the inspiring action so many of you took to come to Jef's rescue so quickly and generously. We are overwhelmed by the response and filled with gratitude. There's a difficult road ahead for Jef now, but thanks to you, his burden will be lighter.
About Jef:
Many of you are lucky enough to know Jef Johnson. He's one of those people who just thinking about makes you smile. I got to know Jef when he acted and directed in Houston, and have watched his career grow over time, including work with Cirque du Soleil and Slava's Snowshow (you can read more about him on wikipedia ). Creative, dynamic, hilarious, insanely talented and kind, Jef is like no other person I've ever known. I am proud to call him my friend. If you know him you know what I mean. And now he needs our help.
About the problem:
While he lived in Houston in the mid 90s, Jef had a procedure done where a dentist removed one tooth, performed a root canal, reduced two teeth to posts and installed a bridge.
Many years later, while in NYC, Jef began having problems with the bridge and visited a dentist there. This visit revealed a shocking truth: that while performing the root canal, the Houston dentist had broken off the tip of an instrument inside the canal, attempted to remove it with another instrument which then also broke. He left both pieces inside the canal and installed the bridge over the top, without telling Jef what had happened. The extensive work needed in order to fix everything was going to cost $20,000 and take 6 months, which was financially and logistically impossible for Jef at the time.
Jef is now in Mexico, where he has been since COVID-19 measure’s went into effect, and recently had to get an emergency molar extraction. He told the dentist about his history, and the dentist found by using his imaging equipment that the problems caused by the Houston dentist had now worsened greatly. infection had spread not only throughout the canal, but deep into the bone. The dentist was very alarmed, explaining he must do something about this immediately or Jef could loose bone, and possibly have greater problems including partial jaw loss, chronic health problems, and even heart failure. The procedures needed would require approximately 12 visits over a 2-3 month period. Jef mentioned that he had been feeling slow and tired lately, to which the dentist explained this was the reason. The infection was wearing him down, and things would continue to get worse if he did not take immediate action.
Fortunately, dentists in Mexico are much less expensive than in the USA--the dentist told Jef the estimated cost of treatment would be $3,500, instead of the more than $20,000 it would cost in the states. Unfortunately, at that same time, COVID-19 was sweeping the world, and all of Jef's many 2020 engagements had just been cancelled, leaving him without the money to pay for it. Since then, Jef has been trying to pull together money towards this procedure as his pain gets worse and worse.
This is serious. If Jef does not get this thing fixed right away, the infected bone could die and he could loose part of his jaw. He could suffer long term effects and even die from complications related to the infection.
Jef's sources of income have all but vanished during this time, as his living is made primarily through performances or workshops, all of which are cancelled due to COVID-19.
Jef, a man who has given so much joy and so many insight to us, needs our help now.
The goal is modest--to raise the money needed to fix Jef's dental problem, plus some extra money to meet his basic living expenses while he undergoes the multi-stage treatments over the coming months.
I get it. Many of us are struggling, too. This pandemic has hit the creative professions hard. But if you can spare something, anything toward this cause, please do so now. Every little bit helps.
Organizer
Shawn St. John
Organizer
Sugar Land, TX