Asking for prayers for my family.

I don't usually like to get really personal, but we could use some prayers right now.  Mary Jedda, my Granddaughter, is a bright, energetic, caring and beautiful young lady. To look at her you would not believe that she has anything wrong.  She never complains, has a wonderful outlook on life.  She has suffered from bladder and kidney infections from the time she was 2.  In 2013 she underwent surgery to fix the Kidney reflux, only to have it work for just 6 months.  She is on constant antibiotics. In 2014 Mary was diagnosed with Osgood Schlatter Disease, which is a growth disorder and causes severe growing pains. She grows rapidly, we are always looking for new clothes for her.  While Mary was going for a followup on the Reflux surgery, one of the Ultrasound techs happened to find a malformed hip joint and socket while she was getting pictures of Mary’s bladder and reported it to Mary's doctor.  The Dr. then began to look further and suspected the tethered spine.  A lot of this information came while Charlie (Mary's Father) was deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months. Another Dr. suggested that they look at Chiari malformation as a possibility. 

In August 2015 it was confirmed that Mary has a Tethered spinal cord and Chiari malformation.  It's odd to get the diagnosis at 13, but she has all the symptoms.
Mary went in for her spinal surgery yesterday. She is doing well. Had a little bit of a hard time keeping food down till evening, but that is fairly normal.  We're hoping she gets to come home sometime today, but it could be a week.  We are also hoping that this surgery fixes most of the issues with her nerves and bladder/kidney issues and that she doesn't need another for the Chiari Malformation.  

The Insurance is not covering all of the cost for the surgery, stating that Doernbecher is not in the list of covered facilities even though they were sent there by a covered provider. They received this information on Monday morning Oct. 26th.  So basically they have their deductible and now 35% of the Hospital bill plus all the different Dr.'s bills. With 4 children (3 of which are teenagers) and one income it's hard for them to make ends meet and take care of all the medical needs. Mary has had numerous appointments and will have even more to come after surgery. Doernbecher is about 55 miles one way from where they live.  

My daughter has been under a lot of stress lately as her father went in on October 15th for a Pacemaker/Defibrillator. He is doing well, but will be off work for a month.                                                                                                                                                                                                             I set up a Go Fund Me page for Mary's surgery and other medical bills, in hopes that it would help them get by and take away some of the stress in this difficult time.  Here is the link to Mary's GoFundMe page any amount you give is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for the prayers and donations.

I know I really should be looking at this as an opportunity to Scrapbook more.  It's just a little much right now. 

Happy Scrappin',

Janice

#Chiarimalformation, #tetheredspinalcord, #osgoodschlatterdisease, #pacemakerdefibrillator, #grandchildren, #familyfirst