Help Shannon Ferguson Recover!
Donation protected
Dear friends and community,
Shannon, Scott, Fin, Peter & Beatrice need a step up from their community. Our goal here is to raise funds for this beautiful, loving family during a very difficult time.
Shannon has been living with HepC since birth, where she contracted it through her mother who was a victim of the Canadian tainted blood scandal. She works as a part time hairdresser making people glow from the inside out, at an incredibly supportive work place. She has been unable to work most of last year due to health complications and issues and has been completely off work for all of 2017 with no disability benefits, (in the process of trying to obtain), or EI due to limited work hours.
Scott does the amazing work as an Education Assistant, supporting kids with behavioural issues with the Greater Victoria School District, and was working privately one on one in a home with an awe inspiring man with Autism and Parkinsons. While Scott's job through the GVSD does have a benefits package, Shannon has never been able to access the care she so greatly needs as her "pre-existing" condition has made the insurance providers exclude her from the coverage she could use so greatly. Sadly, Scott is no longer working one on one privately as the needs of this gentleman have grown too large for Scott to handle on his own.
Scott & Shannon thought that things were definitely looking up when she was chosen in January to participate in a clinical medication trial for HepC, (a treatment that would have otherwise cost $100,000 for something the government of Canada is essentially responsible for.)
The treatment, which they were so grateful for, resulted in expensive trips back and forth to Vancouver on foot each week. And while the opportunity to have the medication paid for was huge and the gratitude was immense as well, ferry fares, cabs, hotel rooms and other travel expenses were a drain of funds they did not have to spare. On top of this, the treatment itself had side effects similar to chemo, (and Shannon was unlucky to have had every negative side effect that was possible.) She did this journey of treatment and travel as a solo warrior as Scott needed to continue his two jobs which were not even covering their expenses and to be present with their son Fin to try to keep some normalcy going in his day to day life.
As the course of treatment was wrapping up, and the toll it had taken both physically and emotionally on the family was painfully evident, Shannon had what would end up being a very polarizing day. The same day she was told that the trial and treatment had been successful and that she was HepC free, (which should have been the celebratory moment to end all moments), she had what in the moment seemed to be one of those benign little occurrences, and simply sneezed. The sneeze triggered the degeneration that had been happening probably for quite some time in her run down body and herniated a disc in her lower spine which brought upon acute Sciatica. Several hospital trips, MRI/CT scans later, results showed an urgent need for surgery which at the earliest was slotted to be almost a year down the road.
Shannon has been in excruciating pain since March of this year and handling it with the grace of a ballerina. I don't know many people who could continue to smile and laugh and live as she has, having been through the ordeal that she has suffered for the past several months. A practitioner who has been kind enough to offer her some reduced rate services to aid in her pain and healing acknowledged that her pain was an 11 on a scale of 1-10, and he treats people daily who suffer from pain and injury.
So this time, which was meant to be a celebration, a rebirth of sorts got completely turned upside down. Shannon had been holding onto to a small fund, ($5,000) from her Grandmother's passing which she had set aside as a wedding fund for herself and Scott. She wanted to wait for an "all clear" result from her HepC. The plan was to fulfill a simple wedding on the beach in Hawaii, with just them and their two children. They have not been on a vacation in over six years when they last had an opportunity to visit Hawaii and fell in love with it. They thought it would be the perfect opportunity to roll the two together for their family who desperately need some love and light after all the darkness. All of this had to be put on hold as Shannon is essentially bed ridden, walking with a cane for limited amounts of time, and needs time for her back to heal.
Since being hit with this latest health challenge the family's gentle giant Peter, (the dog), has had to have 5 major surgeries to date on his poor mouth. Something unknown created majorly painful and extreme gum loss which led to the removal of 2 teeth. The Vets could not figure out what caused this, and first surgery was not done correctly. Peter has been back in for 4 more surgeries to fix the messed up work done first time around. They have now spent the $5000+ of the "wedding fund" money Shannon's grandmother left her.
Beatrice, (the cat), has also needed to go to the vet a couple of times this month for care adding to the list of expenses.This would be a financial burden to anyone under normal circumstances, but for this family life has been anything but normal for the past couple of years.
The latest very recent news, which literally made me cry when I heard it, is that recent tests have revealed that the HepC is back and that treatment was not successful. It goes without saying that this blow hit hard. Shannon has been struggling with severe depression and upon seeing a Psychologist she has been diagnosed with PTSD and is needing to continue to see him weekly in this time of crisis.
The goals of this Go Fund Me campaign are to aid and assist the family in;
*Helping to pay outstanding bills and mortgage
*Therapy - both psychological and physical
*An emergency fund - both for human and animal family members
...............and in a perfect world where dreams actually do come true, a wedding fund replenish. They would never ask for this, or put in on a list, but as their friend I can wish for them that some kind of magic might come out of the woodwork and provide some much needed happy, love filled memories for them to cherish.
Love and regards,
Jade
Shannon, Scott, Fin, Peter & Beatrice need a step up from their community. Our goal here is to raise funds for this beautiful, loving family during a very difficult time.
Shannon has been living with HepC since birth, where she contracted it through her mother who was a victim of the Canadian tainted blood scandal. She works as a part time hairdresser making people glow from the inside out, at an incredibly supportive work place. She has been unable to work most of last year due to health complications and issues and has been completely off work for all of 2017 with no disability benefits, (in the process of trying to obtain), or EI due to limited work hours.
Scott does the amazing work as an Education Assistant, supporting kids with behavioural issues with the Greater Victoria School District, and was working privately one on one in a home with an awe inspiring man with Autism and Parkinsons. While Scott's job through the GVSD does have a benefits package, Shannon has never been able to access the care she so greatly needs as her "pre-existing" condition has made the insurance providers exclude her from the coverage she could use so greatly. Sadly, Scott is no longer working one on one privately as the needs of this gentleman have grown too large for Scott to handle on his own.
Scott & Shannon thought that things were definitely looking up when she was chosen in January to participate in a clinical medication trial for HepC, (a treatment that would have otherwise cost $100,000 for something the government of Canada is essentially responsible for.)
The treatment, which they were so grateful for, resulted in expensive trips back and forth to Vancouver on foot each week. And while the opportunity to have the medication paid for was huge and the gratitude was immense as well, ferry fares, cabs, hotel rooms and other travel expenses were a drain of funds they did not have to spare. On top of this, the treatment itself had side effects similar to chemo, (and Shannon was unlucky to have had every negative side effect that was possible.) She did this journey of treatment and travel as a solo warrior as Scott needed to continue his two jobs which were not even covering their expenses and to be present with their son Fin to try to keep some normalcy going in his day to day life.
As the course of treatment was wrapping up, and the toll it had taken both physically and emotionally on the family was painfully evident, Shannon had what would end up being a very polarizing day. The same day she was told that the trial and treatment had been successful and that she was HepC free, (which should have been the celebratory moment to end all moments), she had what in the moment seemed to be one of those benign little occurrences, and simply sneezed. The sneeze triggered the degeneration that had been happening probably for quite some time in her run down body and herniated a disc in her lower spine which brought upon acute Sciatica. Several hospital trips, MRI/CT scans later, results showed an urgent need for surgery which at the earliest was slotted to be almost a year down the road.
Shannon has been in excruciating pain since March of this year and handling it with the grace of a ballerina. I don't know many people who could continue to smile and laugh and live as she has, having been through the ordeal that she has suffered for the past several months. A practitioner who has been kind enough to offer her some reduced rate services to aid in her pain and healing acknowledged that her pain was an 11 on a scale of 1-10, and he treats people daily who suffer from pain and injury.
So this time, which was meant to be a celebration, a rebirth of sorts got completely turned upside down. Shannon had been holding onto to a small fund, ($5,000) from her Grandmother's passing which she had set aside as a wedding fund for herself and Scott. She wanted to wait for an "all clear" result from her HepC. The plan was to fulfill a simple wedding on the beach in Hawaii, with just them and their two children. They have not been on a vacation in over six years when they last had an opportunity to visit Hawaii and fell in love with it. They thought it would be the perfect opportunity to roll the two together for their family who desperately need some love and light after all the darkness. All of this had to be put on hold as Shannon is essentially bed ridden, walking with a cane for limited amounts of time, and needs time for her back to heal.
Since being hit with this latest health challenge the family's gentle giant Peter, (the dog), has had to have 5 major surgeries to date on his poor mouth. Something unknown created majorly painful and extreme gum loss which led to the removal of 2 teeth. The Vets could not figure out what caused this, and first surgery was not done correctly. Peter has been back in for 4 more surgeries to fix the messed up work done first time around. They have now spent the $5000+ of the "wedding fund" money Shannon's grandmother left her.
Beatrice, (the cat), has also needed to go to the vet a couple of times this month for care adding to the list of expenses.This would be a financial burden to anyone under normal circumstances, but for this family life has been anything but normal for the past couple of years.
The latest very recent news, which literally made me cry when I heard it, is that recent tests have revealed that the HepC is back and that treatment was not successful. It goes without saying that this blow hit hard. Shannon has been struggling with severe depression and upon seeing a Psychologist she has been diagnosed with PTSD and is needing to continue to see him weekly in this time of crisis.
The goals of this Go Fund Me campaign are to aid and assist the family in;
*Helping to pay outstanding bills and mortgage
*Therapy - both psychological and physical
*An emergency fund - both for human and animal family members
...............and in a perfect world where dreams actually do come true, a wedding fund replenish. They would never ask for this, or put in on a list, but as their friend I can wish for them that some kind of magic might come out of the woodwork and provide some much needed happy, love filled memories for them to cherish.
Love and regards,
Jade
Organizer and beneficiary
Jade Elizabeth
Organizer
Victoria, BC
Shannon Ferguson
Beneficiary
