My name is Jesse Ganzel and I've started this fundraiser to help me reach my goals of becoming a triathlete and competing in cycling events. I am the breadwinner for our family of 4 and our budget is pretty tight, so naturally, all the equipment on top of the event tickets is quite steep. I am hoping to compete in at least 2 local triathlons in 2025 and hopefully more in 2026+.

Let me tell you a bit about why this is so important to me, and why I've come to ask for help achieving these goals.

I was diagnosed with Genitofemoral Neuralgia at the end of September due to a vasectomy I received on February 5th. The day after the surgery, I immediately felt like something was not right, but I shrugged it off because I'd never gotten it before. Every minute was constant pain, burning, and searing down my legs. I was reassured by the nursing staff that I should not be feeling that and to take Tylenol and warm baths. Cut to a few weeks later, still in agonizing pain, still barely walking, feeling like a shell of my former self, wondering if this is how life would be. By May, I had missed 4+ weeks of work between doctor's visits, leaving early or outright not being able to. After an ER visit in the beginning of May due to the ongoing agonizing pain, they gave me morphine that barely did anything, a CT scan, and a second ultrasound with multiple other tests - they came up with profoundly nothing. I wouldn't find any relief until my primary was finally caught up to date and trialed me on Gabapentin, and it was instant. I legitimately cried because I was in the worst pain of my life for nearly 90 days. Every day was debilitating, take-your-breath-away pain; it was torture. I then further received a Nerve Block shot where the incision was on the Vas Deferens and nearly passed out from the pain; however, it helped reduce the baseline pain afterward by about half. This procedure mixed with the Gabapentin finally allowed me to feel a modicum of my former self. At this point, we are on a wait-and-see/pain management approach. The pain is ever-present, just subdued by medication, some days worse than others.

This is where cycling came into play. I was trying to figure out the one thing that I wouldn't be able to do if I couldn't get better, and I came up with cycling. I did the American Heart Association bike 100 miles in September to have a pretty decent goal. I surpassed it and have been continuing riding ever since. Now, I want to push myself even further and see what I can accomplish; things I never really thought I would be able to do until recently.

I am hoping to raise money to go towards good equipment to compete and train in these events. Each one has an event ticket price on top of the required/recommended equipment.

Thank you for reading a bit about my story and I hope you join me on this journey.