Jesse Needs Surgery

January 10, 2020 Update: I just heard from Dean Terry, Jesse's Grandfather.  Dean told me, 

  "Jesse goes to NY on February 3rd, and has his surgery on the 6th.

  He must stay there until the 10th making sure everything OK to travel. I will be there with him. His Mom will also be there."

So, we're in the home stretch for Jesse's 1st of his two surgeries. We're quite a long ways from the $50k target, but also a lot better than before we started. Thank you so very much to everyone who has chipped in. And if you had thought of doing anything more, now would sure be a huge encouragement to Jesse and Dean! But, either way, you just don't know what an encouragement your help has already been. Thank you.           

-Peter



Hi, my name is Peter Schoon. My wife and I lead an outreach prayer group from our small Church that's called "Pursuit".

While in a nearby grocery store a month or so ago, we met and prayed with an individual we had never met before, Dean Terry, Jesse Terry's Grandpa, both of whom you just met on the video. (Our Pastor William Breimhorst was the third person in the video).

I am setting this GoFundMe up for Jesse, and really hope you can help him out.  

Jesse needs to have a very expensive, highly rare surgery (Bladder exstrophy), only available in extremely limited areas,  to correct a birth defect that has impacted his life in a very substantial way, and needs to be corrected now.

When we first met Grandpa Dean in the grocery store, he explained that the surgery would cost $250,000, but yesterday something rather miraculous happened...

Grandpa Dean and Jesse Terry showed up at our small Church (Fairview Church in Minnetrista, MN) and shared what you just saw in the first part of the video: the hospital agreed to waive $200,000 of the $250,000 cost of the surgeries! Wow! 

Now, just the remaining $50,000 of total costs remains.

Jesse does not have the funds for this. Grandpa Dean has said that he will do everything he can to help too, but there will be a need for pretty much that remaining $50,000 cost.

The recipient of this GoFundMe account will be Jesse Terry

Jesse's address is 2670 Kelley Parkway, #205, Long Lake, MN 55356

Jesse's story:

Jesse was born May 4, 1998, he is now 21 years old. Born premature and with the condition Bladder Exstrophy. Here is an explanation of the rare condition:

Bladder exstrophy is a complex, rare disorder that occurs early on while a fetus is developing in the womb. As the bladder is developing the abdominal wall does not fully form, leaving the pubic bones separated and the bladder exposed to the outside skin surface through an opening in the lower abdominal wall.

From the moment of his birth, Jesse was whisked away to Childrens' Hospital in St Paul, MN for his first surgery. His first weeks of life were spent in intensive care in a sling with his legs tied together so his lower spine could fuse. This led to an innumerable series of surgeries with Jesse being at Childrens' Hospital pretty much full time for five years. Occasional visits home were rare. Jesse had somewhere around 50+ procedures. From Childrens' Hospital, to Baylor in Houston, to Mayo Clinic in Rochester Jesse's family trudged.

They nearly lost Jesse twice. When he was about 3 1/2 Jesse underwent another major surgery to make a bladder out of his large intestine and to start genital reconstruction. The results of the numerous surgeries and countless medications and experimental procedures was a true nightmare for Jesse and his family.

Jesse's reconstructed bladder does not work like a normal bladder. The large intestine works basically as a holding tank. There is no sphincter control thus a mitrofanoff was constructed as well. (A mitrofanoff is a small channel that connects the bladder to the outside of the body. A catheter is used to empty urine from the bladder through the channel and a one way flap valve is used to maintain urine control.

For males with this condition, extensive reconstruction is required. Now that Jesse is a young man, he has new concerns. he requires another series of surgeries that will take about a year to complete. Jesse and his family have exhausted all of their resources , finally visiting the Mayo Clinic a year ago to be told the soul crushing news that there is nothing that can be done regarding the final reconstruction of his genital area to give him the results he needs now.

This feels like doom to a young man who wants to someday get married, and father children. He handles the situation so well but his family and I grieve for his future. No man wants to think he cannot have conjugal relations or to be a father.

Thanks to his grandmother who would not take no for an answer, she found two surgeons in the world who could give Jesse the results he needs. One physician is in Australia, the other on the East Coast. Jesse has already seen the East Coast physician and he has agreed to do the surgery and can give Jesse the results he needs for a full life. In other words, the Doctor can give Jesse a future.

And now, as of yesterday, the cost has been miraculously reduced from $250,000 down to $50,000 remaining.

However, this Doctor is getting on in years and we are fearful he may retire soon. We feel time is of the essence in this case.

Unfortunately, insurance will not pay for this procedure and all the research has been done to see if this would be a possibility.

So, there you have it. Please, do what you can. If a thousand people just donated $50 each, that would do it!  Regardless, please also say a prayer for Jesse that this need will materialize. Thanks for your consideration, and in advance for ANY help you can contribute.