- J
A "little" back story:
Chad and I eagerly jumped into marriage January 2, 2010. Shortly after, we expected to start growing our family and filling up our home and life with children. As long as we can remember back, Chad and I have desired to be parents. We had no idea just how much patience that hope and desire would require. After more time started to pass and we had still not gotten pregnant, I decided to go get some advice from a Dr. In 2011 I was diagnoses with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), and was told because of my hormone levels that I would likely not be able to have children without medical assistance (hormone treatment) to induce ovulation. Since I was young still, and we were not in a rush Chad and I decided to wait a little while to pursue any type of treatment. We prayed for healing, and for God to allow us to have a child "the old fashioned way."
Unfortunately, at the time, I was uninformed about PCOS in general and had no idea that there were many different treatment options . Another year and half passed and we saw a fertility specialist. He told me that I would likely never be able to have children because of my PCOS and unexplained lack of reaction to hormone treatments.
I was crushed! We were crushed! Our friends were super supportive, and we were still in denial. Eventually I started looking into adoption options. We grieved, and we ultimately trusted God with our future family, biological or not. We knew the gift and joy of adoption Galatians 4:1-7 and were thankful for the beautiful hope of adopting a child one day. Unfortunately adoptions are not easy or cheap. We knew that would have to be a while down the road.
BUT THEN, only a couple of months later… I was pregnant, we were pregnant! The old fashioned way!!! The Dr. was wrong, and we were so glad. Chad and I were SO excited, and we could not believe that our dream of becoming parents was coming to fruition. We were never happier or more thankful.
It was a rollercoaster pregnancy from early on. We thought we had gotten passed the hard first trimester but were disappointed soon after. I had the gift and joy of carrying our daughter, Grace Penelope Dutcher for 4 months before I had an unexpected miscarriage August 9, 2013. It was horrible, and we were heartbroken, again. But we did not grieve alone and we are so thankful to all of our friends and family who have supported us and come along side us throughout this journey. It has been two years and we miss her every day.
Our OBGYN felt that there should be no reason I should not be able to conceive again so we decided we would try again. Well, as I said above, its been two years and still no signs of any new life. My mom had been going to a specialist at Stanford in CA for other endocrine reasons and on a whim she mentioned some of my story and symptoms. Dr. Nezhat insisted that if I would come see him, he wanted to check for endometriosis, and see if he could help my PCOS. I had never considered endometriosis, but after looking into its symptoms and knowing my high risk because of genetics, Chad and I decided that we needed to go see him. We prayed about it, and after a little persuasion from my parents, we made an appointment, to "just see."
Why we need your help:
We flew down to see Dr. Nezhat July 31st. Immediately Chad and I felt as if we were in capable and wise care. After examination Dr. Nezhat is 95% sure that I have endometriosis and wants to perform a surgery to find and remove it. Because of the complexity of the disease, there is no way to know 100% until you go in and find it. He is the best in the field and we trust his intuition and diagnosis. He also wants to drain many of the cysts that have grown in my ovaries, will check my uterus for infection from my D&C after we lost Grace. He believes that this treatment should get rid of many of the symptoms that I experience associated with PCOS and endometriosis (migraines, joint pain, intestinal issues, fatigue, high testosterone levels, abdominal pain, irregular cycle, etc) and this includes infertility!
All treatment that has been only focused on PCOS has not worked thus far. Including endometriosis and the possibility of treating and removing a uterus infection into our treatment seems really promising. The good news is that I can get help and healing quickly, I am scheduled for surgery on September 15th and its an in-and-out procedure. I should be able to resume all normal activity within the week. The not so good news is that it is an expensive procedure. My insurance will cover most of it but, because our surgeon Dr. Nezhat is a pioneer in this field, and is working hard to ensure that more women affected by endometriosis and PCOS can get help and healing, (through minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery), he has a student assistant at every surgery. This makes the cost of surgery $2,500 more than what my insurance will cover. Adding in that I have to fly back to California to have the procedure, and will need to stay in a hotel for the week before I can fly back, that adds another $1,000 to this procedure for us.
The $3500 total is a big hit to our budget. Chad works very hard to provide for us and he does a great job of doing so while still going to school. I am a nanny during the summer, and that helps us save up a little, so we have a buffer for the rest of the year, as I volunteer much of my time as the Kids Ministry Director at our church. After hearing how much it was going to cost, I knew we could not do it on our own. I prayed and asked God for ideas as to how to raise the money. I only have so much extra time to babysit, it would take a lot of cars to wash, and my crochet skills are not fast enough for this short month time limit. ;) Last week, I had the idea of starting a gofundme. I was nervous though because, its not like other gofundme's with clear and guaranteed expectations. I do not have any really exciting incentives, I cannot promise that your investment will result in us actually having healthy kids, or be the cure for me. I do know that Chad and I feel like this is the best option and necessary for my health. I am praying and hoping that this is the answer to the unknown complications that I have had with fertility and pain, and that it is the only surgery that I need. It would mean the world to us to have your support.
How to help:
It is hard asking for help, but we know that many of our friends and family have asked how they can help over the years. Until now we have needed only prayers and support. Thank you for the overwhelming amount of care and prayers throughout the years. It has been 4.5 years and we have been blessed to have so many compassionate and caring people to go through life with.
Prayer:
Please continue to pray for us. Chad will not be able to come down to CA with me for the surgery. I would love to have him there, because he is the best supporter and husband, but I know that my mom will be a wonderful caretaker and I am thankful for her sacrifice and willingness to go with me. I would love prayers for a successful surgery on September 15th, for safety, and for a quick healing. I would also love your prayers for our heat as we begin the journey of actively family planning. Come what may, pray our hope and joy is rooted in the Lord and not the outcome of our surgery.
Donations:
Another way we could use help is financially, if you can give, and feel so inclined to help us cover the cost of what my insurance cannot cover with my laparoscopic surgery, thank you! It would mean the world to us to be able to do this trip without accruing debt. Thank you for investing in us, for loving us and for joining as we fight for health and healing by getting surgery for her PCOS and Endometriosis.
Love,
Janelle and Chad Dutcher
Chad and I eagerly jumped into marriage January 2, 2010. Shortly after, we expected to start growing our family and filling up our home and life with children. As long as we can remember back, Chad and I have desired to be parents. We had no idea just how much patience that hope and desire would require. After more time started to pass and we had still not gotten pregnant, I decided to go get some advice from a Dr. In 2011 I was diagnoses with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), and was told because of my hormone levels that I would likely not be able to have children without medical assistance (hormone treatment) to induce ovulation. Since I was young still, and we were not in a rush Chad and I decided to wait a little while to pursue any type of treatment. We prayed for healing, and for God to allow us to have a child "the old fashioned way."
Unfortunately, at the time, I was uninformed about PCOS in general and had no idea that there were many different treatment options . Another year and half passed and we saw a fertility specialist. He told me that I would likely never be able to have children because of my PCOS and unexplained lack of reaction to hormone treatments.
I was crushed! We were crushed! Our friends were super supportive, and we were still in denial. Eventually I started looking into adoption options. We grieved, and we ultimately trusted God with our future family, biological or not. We knew the gift and joy of adoption Galatians 4:1-7 and were thankful for the beautiful hope of adopting a child one day. Unfortunately adoptions are not easy or cheap. We knew that would have to be a while down the road.
BUT THEN, only a couple of months later… I was pregnant, we were pregnant! The old fashioned way!!! The Dr. was wrong, and we were so glad. Chad and I were SO excited, and we could not believe that our dream of becoming parents was coming to fruition. We were never happier or more thankful.
It was a rollercoaster pregnancy from early on. We thought we had gotten passed the hard first trimester but were disappointed soon after. I had the gift and joy of carrying our daughter, Grace Penelope Dutcher for 4 months before I had an unexpected miscarriage August 9, 2013. It was horrible, and we were heartbroken, again. But we did not grieve alone and we are so thankful to all of our friends and family who have supported us and come along side us throughout this journey. It has been two years and we miss her every day.
Our OBGYN felt that there should be no reason I should not be able to conceive again so we decided we would try again. Well, as I said above, its been two years and still no signs of any new life. My mom had been going to a specialist at Stanford in CA for other endocrine reasons and on a whim she mentioned some of my story and symptoms. Dr. Nezhat insisted that if I would come see him, he wanted to check for endometriosis, and see if he could help my PCOS. I had never considered endometriosis, but after looking into its symptoms and knowing my high risk because of genetics, Chad and I decided that we needed to go see him. We prayed about it, and after a little persuasion from my parents, we made an appointment, to "just see."
Why we need your help:
We flew down to see Dr. Nezhat July 31st. Immediately Chad and I felt as if we were in capable and wise care. After examination Dr. Nezhat is 95% sure that I have endometriosis and wants to perform a surgery to find and remove it. Because of the complexity of the disease, there is no way to know 100% until you go in and find it. He is the best in the field and we trust his intuition and diagnosis. He also wants to drain many of the cysts that have grown in my ovaries, will check my uterus for infection from my D&C after we lost Grace. He believes that this treatment should get rid of many of the symptoms that I experience associated with PCOS and endometriosis (migraines, joint pain, intestinal issues, fatigue, high testosterone levels, abdominal pain, irregular cycle, etc) and this includes infertility!
All treatment that has been only focused on PCOS has not worked thus far. Including endometriosis and the possibility of treating and removing a uterus infection into our treatment seems really promising. The good news is that I can get help and healing quickly, I am scheduled for surgery on September 15th and its an in-and-out procedure. I should be able to resume all normal activity within the week. The not so good news is that it is an expensive procedure. My insurance will cover most of it but, because our surgeon Dr. Nezhat is a pioneer in this field, and is working hard to ensure that more women affected by endometriosis and PCOS can get help and healing, (through minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery), he has a student assistant at every surgery. This makes the cost of surgery $2,500 more than what my insurance will cover. Adding in that I have to fly back to California to have the procedure, and will need to stay in a hotel for the week before I can fly back, that adds another $1,000 to this procedure for us.
The $3500 total is a big hit to our budget. Chad works very hard to provide for us and he does a great job of doing so while still going to school. I am a nanny during the summer, and that helps us save up a little, so we have a buffer for the rest of the year, as I volunteer much of my time as the Kids Ministry Director at our church. After hearing how much it was going to cost, I knew we could not do it on our own. I prayed and asked God for ideas as to how to raise the money. I only have so much extra time to babysit, it would take a lot of cars to wash, and my crochet skills are not fast enough for this short month time limit. ;) Last week, I had the idea of starting a gofundme. I was nervous though because, its not like other gofundme's with clear and guaranteed expectations. I do not have any really exciting incentives, I cannot promise that your investment will result in us actually having healthy kids, or be the cure for me. I do know that Chad and I feel like this is the best option and necessary for my health. I am praying and hoping that this is the answer to the unknown complications that I have had with fertility and pain, and that it is the only surgery that I need. It would mean the world to us to have your support.
How to help:
It is hard asking for help, but we know that many of our friends and family have asked how they can help over the years. Until now we have needed only prayers and support. Thank you for the overwhelming amount of care and prayers throughout the years. It has been 4.5 years and we have been blessed to have so many compassionate and caring people to go through life with.
Prayer:
Please continue to pray for us. Chad will not be able to come down to CA with me for the surgery. I would love to have him there, because he is the best supporter and husband, but I know that my mom will be a wonderful caretaker and I am thankful for her sacrifice and willingness to go with me. I would love prayers for a successful surgery on September 15th, for safety, and for a quick healing. I would also love your prayers for our heat as we begin the journey of actively family planning. Come what may, pray our hope and joy is rooted in the Lord and not the outcome of our surgery.
Donations:
Another way we could use help is financially, if you can give, and feel so inclined to help us cover the cost of what my insurance cannot cover with my laparoscopic surgery, thank you! It would mean the world to us to be able to do this trip without accruing debt. Thank you for investing in us, for loving us and for joining as we fight for health and healing by getting surgery for her PCOS and Endometriosis.
Love,
Janelle and Chad Dutcher