Josie & Olivia's Surgery in Texas
Donation protected
Months ago Aaron and I shared some of the best news a couple can share, we are expecting a baby girl on January 30th, 2016. This was one of the happiest and joyful moments in our lives until fairly recently when our joy turned into fear.
About eight weeks ago we received a devastating phone call regarding our unborn baby girl, Olivia. Olivia has a rare birth defect called Spina Bifada. In short, Spina Bifada is a birth defect in which a developing baby's spinal cord fails to develop properly. She was also diagnosed with Myelomeningocele and a Chiari Malformation. Which can lead to Hydrocephalus, paralyzation, and little to no bowel and bladder function.
We will be flying to Houston Texas and attempting a fetoscopic procedure to repair the Spina Bifida in-utero. In other words, surgery will be performed on Olivia while she is in the uterus when she's only a little over 25 weeks gestation. This particular procedure has only been completed a handful of times and is still in the experimental stage. While we are hoping for the best outcome, the worst case scenario would involve me having to stay in Texas for the remainder of the pregnancy. Not returning until she is strong enough on her own after she is born.
We've been visiting Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Stanford which means that Aaron has used up most of his vacation days even before we fly to Texas. He will be flying with me to be there during the surgery but will have to fly back soon after since he has no vacation days left. We're on a limited income due to me being on leave since mid September.
While we don't know the exact cost at this time we know we'll need to pay for hospital bills, hotels, a rental car, on top of all our regular bills. We would appreciate ANY support you can provide. Even if you can't provide any financial assistance any tips, tricks or resources you can share (friends and family discounts, references, etc.) would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Josie & Aaron Casillas
About eight weeks ago we received a devastating phone call regarding our unborn baby girl, Olivia. Olivia has a rare birth defect called Spina Bifada. In short, Spina Bifada is a birth defect in which a developing baby's spinal cord fails to develop properly. She was also diagnosed with Myelomeningocele and a Chiari Malformation. Which can lead to Hydrocephalus, paralyzation, and little to no bowel and bladder function.
We will be flying to Houston Texas and attempting a fetoscopic procedure to repair the Spina Bifida in-utero. In other words, surgery will be performed on Olivia while she is in the uterus when she's only a little over 25 weeks gestation. This particular procedure has only been completed a handful of times and is still in the experimental stage. While we are hoping for the best outcome, the worst case scenario would involve me having to stay in Texas for the remainder of the pregnancy. Not returning until she is strong enough on her own after she is born.
We've been visiting Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Stanford which means that Aaron has used up most of his vacation days even before we fly to Texas. He will be flying with me to be there during the surgery but will have to fly back soon after since he has no vacation days left. We're on a limited income due to me being on leave since mid September.
While we don't know the exact cost at this time we know we'll need to pay for hospital bills, hotels, a rental car, on top of all our regular bills. We would appreciate ANY support you can provide. Even if you can't provide any financial assistance any tips, tricks or resources you can share (friends and family discounts, references, etc.) would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Josie & Aaron Casillas
Organizer
Josie Casillas
Organizer
Woodland, CA
