Ella's Clubfoot Journey (SLCH)

Ella Jane was born on January 14, 2016. Ella was 7lbs 9oz and had bilateral complex club foot and her left foot was even more severe. On day 11 after she was born, she was placed in full leg cast and stayed in them until April 21st when she had her first surgery, then 4 more weeks for recovery. The surgery she had is called a Tenotomy, Tenotomy is performed in order to lengthen a muscle that has developed improperly by cutting her Achilles tendon. Ella did great in the surgery and all went well except the surgery was only about 50% effective. After Ella's recovery was over we began the "boots and bar" bracing, but with the surgery only being 50% effective this has proven to be difficult and troublesome, leading to her doctor wanting to do a more envasive surgery when Ella gets a little older. My wife, Virginia, and I really do not like the idea of the more envasive surgery do to the inevitable side effects that come from it later in life. However Dr. Dobbs ( the inventor of her bar for her bracing) from St. Louis Children's Hospital is pretty confident that he can correct Ella's feet with proper casting and possibly redoing the Tenotomy correctly. Dr. Dobbs asked us to come to St. Louis Children's Hospital so he could further exam her. Our first trip to SLCH will be Aug 4th-6th where Ella will restart in her cast again and plan future visits. There is a chance Ella and Virginia will have to take residency in St Louis for a few weeks depending on which route the doctor decides to take or it could be weekly trips, with over night stays. The trip from our house to St. Louis Children's Hospital is about 650miles round trip which will be to much travel for one day for Ella as she is getting casting done. We just found out Tuesday that the hospital should be accepting Ella's insurance BUT the insurance will not cover any of her lodging or travel expenses. Virginia and I would just like to see Ella to be able to walk when the time comes so we are doing everything we possibly can to achieve this goal for our sweet little girl. We are asking for help to help cover the travel and lodging expenses and anything else that is possibly not going to be covered by her Insurance. Virginia and I appreciate it so much and thank you for just taking the time to read our Sweet Daughters story and looking at her photos.
Thank you,
Matt, Virginia and Ella