Help Support Jessyka

Our best friend Jessyka is facing a difficult journey, so we are reaching out to our close friends for support. Jess is preparing for a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in a few weeks. She has been very private about this so we are not sharing on social media but rather spreading the word amongst close friends. Please consider a donation along with some positive thoughts (comments) to let her know we’re thinking of her. Share this with your friends and people who know Jess, but please don’t post to social media for privacy.

For the past four years Jess has been suffering from tumors in her breasts. The first one was found four years ago and after many tests and a long waiting period it came to be that the tumor was benign but it was growing at a rapid rate and was really painful. February 2020, she had a lumpectomy surgery to have the tumor removed. Almost immediately it grew back.

She still has the tumor today. More testing and MRIs were performed to make sure this one was also benign, and thank goodness it was, but it left her surgeon confused about why she keeps growing these tumors and what the source of it is. Because Jess has a strong familial background of breast cancer (both her mother had it and her grandmother on her dad's side, as well as multiple cousins), her surgeon thought it best to order the BRCA genetic test to see if she has the “breast cancer” gene mutation. Turns out that she does.

Testing positive for this gene mutation means with almost absolute certainty that at some point before the age of 50, and definitely by age 70, she will develop breast cancer. The next recommended steps to prevent this from happening is to remove all breast tissue so there’s no chance of having cancer grow there. The surgeons are treating her quickly (as “active cancer”) because she is at such high risk.

On Monday October 18th Jess is scheduled to have a bilateral double mastectomy and prep for reconstructive surgery. After a few months recovery they will complete reconstructive surgery.

She is very fortunate to have health insurance, despite being self employed, but her deductibles and out-of-pocket costs are fairly significant. With $7,000 going toward her surgeries and another $3,000 on hospital costs and overnight stays, not to mention what it will cost for in-home nurse care, follow up Dr. visits, and inevitably having to take time off work (which as a business owner means no “paid time off”).

Downtime is said to be about 3 weeks before she can drive a car, move around without pain, or lift her arms (but knowing her, she’ll start doing stuff before then, haha) and is said to take 6 weeks for a full recovery from the first surgery.

I want to put yourself in Jessyka’s shoes for just one minute, and think what’s on her plate right now: multiple scary surgeries ahead, weeks or months of uncertain recovery times, lots of physical pain, a young daughter that might not understand how to give Mom much space to heal, impatient clients asking for you to get their shit done ASAP, and more. All of that and the costs of the procedures, the cost of recovery, and the loss of income from not being able to work.

If Jess is your friend, if you love her, if she's part of your community, now is a great time to show up for her. Write her a note saying you’re rooting for her, call her to tell her you’re thinking about her, and if you’re in a position to, throw her some money, she and her family really do need it, and it will definitely help in a meaningful way. Jess is a real awesome human with a real need right now. Not many times does a clear way to really help somebody out reveal itself this clearly. Let’s all show Jess how many people care about her. Jessyka is our best friend and worth our time and efforts because we know she’d be writing this exact same thing if one of us were in her shoes. I hope you feel the same way about her, and can join us in assisting her during this challenging chapter in her life.

Love,

Ryan Prouty & Carlyna Deragisch