Help Ash Walk Again
Donation protected
Hi everyone,
I’m Christopher, a long-time Canadian Forces service member and my beautiful wife of three years is Ashley. Up until December 2017 she was a wonderfully active person, hiking multiple times a week in the beautiful places around Vancouver Island, where I am currently stationed at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, and working on her feet all day at her job as a pharmacy assistant with London Drugs.
Unfortunately, in 2012 she was diagnosed with a severe degenerative disc disease. This took an extreme turn last December, when she woke up in debilitating pain and realized that something had gone very wrong in her back. She has lost the ability to walk more than a few feet at a time or even stand up straight, and must always use a cane, (though we are trying to get a walker approved as the additional help is most required.) Any type of movement causes her an extreme amount of pain, which make simple things such as preparing food a scary and time-consuming task, and as a result of her immobility she has been unable to work for the last three months.
She has been working with some wonderful doctors to manage the situation but recently the diagnosis became clear: she needs to have surgery on her back before she will be able to walk again, or have a hope of going back to a life without pain.
This is where things get complicated:
The public healthcare system in Canada was going to pay for Ashley’s surgery, but the waiting list is months and months. Today I received word that my next posting is in Edmonton, Alberta and that we will be leaving in July to stay for a year. With her neurosurgeon appointment currently slated for May 29, a surgery date into June or July would make it impossible for Ashley to get the surgery she so desperately needs in time for our relocation. Additionally, once we are in Alberta, she will have to enter another waiting list to see a doctor in that province. With the current state of her back, the pain and damage that would accompany a flight to Edmonton along with such an incredibly long wait period is something we would not wish on our worst enemy.
For these reasons, we realize we need to go with the private healthcare system - which means the $7,000-8000 price tag that comes with it. This is more than we can afford, but it’s reached the point where we don’t realistically seem to have another choice. The private neurosurgeons who can perform the surgery Ashley requires are located in Vancouver, which means we will need to stay on the mainland for the consultation and procedure. The other $2000 of the total will cover these extra costs, the $500-800 dollar consultation fee, as well as the fees that GoFundMe takes from the fund.
I’m posting this here because I know that everyone who knows Ashley knows that she is the kind of person who is the first to help everyone else, and the last to ask for help herself. Just allowing me to put this GoFundMe up was a struggle for her, but there are so many people out there who love her that I know would want to help her through this that I’m putting it up anyway.
Ashley can get her surgery as early as next week if we’re able to hit the goal and pay for the surgery. That means she could be walking within a month, becoming independent again and going back to work, and hopefully going back to a pain-free life.
Any help moving forward would be so appreciated. I know we will both remember this humbling moment for the rest of our lives, and those of you have kindly helped along with it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
All my love, and Ashley’s too,
Christopher Blake
I’m Christopher, a long-time Canadian Forces service member and my beautiful wife of three years is Ashley. Up until December 2017 she was a wonderfully active person, hiking multiple times a week in the beautiful places around Vancouver Island, where I am currently stationed at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, and working on her feet all day at her job as a pharmacy assistant with London Drugs.
Unfortunately, in 2012 she was diagnosed with a severe degenerative disc disease. This took an extreme turn last December, when she woke up in debilitating pain and realized that something had gone very wrong in her back. She has lost the ability to walk more than a few feet at a time or even stand up straight, and must always use a cane, (though we are trying to get a walker approved as the additional help is most required.) Any type of movement causes her an extreme amount of pain, which make simple things such as preparing food a scary and time-consuming task, and as a result of her immobility she has been unable to work for the last three months.
She has been working with some wonderful doctors to manage the situation but recently the diagnosis became clear: she needs to have surgery on her back before she will be able to walk again, or have a hope of going back to a life without pain.
This is where things get complicated:
The public healthcare system in Canada was going to pay for Ashley’s surgery, but the waiting list is months and months. Today I received word that my next posting is in Edmonton, Alberta and that we will be leaving in July to stay for a year. With her neurosurgeon appointment currently slated for May 29, a surgery date into June or July would make it impossible for Ashley to get the surgery she so desperately needs in time for our relocation. Additionally, once we are in Alberta, she will have to enter another waiting list to see a doctor in that province. With the current state of her back, the pain and damage that would accompany a flight to Edmonton along with such an incredibly long wait period is something we would not wish on our worst enemy.
For these reasons, we realize we need to go with the private healthcare system - which means the $7,000-8000 price tag that comes with it. This is more than we can afford, but it’s reached the point where we don’t realistically seem to have another choice. The private neurosurgeons who can perform the surgery Ashley requires are located in Vancouver, which means we will need to stay on the mainland for the consultation and procedure. The other $2000 of the total will cover these extra costs, the $500-800 dollar consultation fee, as well as the fees that GoFundMe takes from the fund.
I’m posting this here because I know that everyone who knows Ashley knows that she is the kind of person who is the first to help everyone else, and the last to ask for help herself. Just allowing me to put this GoFundMe up was a struggle for her, but there are so many people out there who love her that I know would want to help her through this that I’m putting it up anyway.
Ashley can get her surgery as early as next week if we’re able to hit the goal and pay for the surgery. That means she could be walking within a month, becoming independent again and going back to work, and hopefully going back to a pain-free life.
Any help moving forward would be so appreciated. I know we will both remember this humbling moment for the rest of our lives, and those of you have kindly helped along with it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
All my love, and Ashley’s too,
Christopher Blake
Organizer
Christopher Blake
Organizer
Victoria, BC
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