<div>I have started this to help alleviate some of the financial strain that my son, Donny and his wife, Lauren are feeling as they are at their daughter's side in the most difficult of times providing her strength and support. In the midst of all the downtime from work for both Donny and Lauren, Donny's work van was out of service for repairs for 5 weeks, even further restricting their flow of income, and drastically limiting his ability to work. Though they have medical insurance, while off, they had to pay Cobra insurance out of pocket from Lauren's employer with an individual exorbitant deductible for Emma, along with standard co-pays as well.  The financial strain on this family of five is overwhelming.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Emma went for basically a routine doctor visit and he noticed she was sitting oddly, ordered x-rays, and discovered she had idiopathic scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. She was fitted for her brace for scoliosis and though she was reluctant at times, she diligently wore her brace, very responsibly tracking her time on her phone app, and being as compliant as she could in wearing her brace at least 18 hours a day.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This journey started the end of January, very quickly escalating to one horrific scenario after another by March. After this initial diagnosis of scoliosis, she was then referred to an orthopedic surgeon who ordered an MRI because he felt there was "something more". Her MRI showed a Chiari malformation type I of the brain (brain tissue that extends into the spinal canal) with an extremely large syrinx (fluid-filled cyst) in her spinal column running from C3 to T10 (mid-neck to mid-back), as well as scoliosis. Emma not so fondly called it her "bubble". She was immediately referred to a pediatric neurosurgeon. At this point, Emma had no idea how drastically her world was going to change.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>On March 12th they met with this surgeon who ordered many MRI's, described what and how he would do a surgery called a cranio-cervical decompression with duroplasty. Meaning that they would surgically make room for her brain that was being compressed, causing much more than just her "bubble" and this new-found scoliosis, but could be life-altering if no intervention was taken.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>On April 15th with her parents continuously by her side, Emma underwent surgery, staying in the ICU for a couple days. She struggled with nausea and vomiting but her goal was always to just get home. As they say "there's no place like home", and here she continued to progress, though it was painfully difficult to move her head, each day was better than the last. Until this past week Thursday, when Emma first became ill at school vomiting and then the headache started and rapidly progressed to the point where her surgeon had her brought to the Emergency Room at Hope Children's Hospital and expedited the CT that showed she now has fluid and increased pressure on her brain. This Saturday an emergent drain was placed at the top of her skull called an EVD (external ventricular drain) to decrease the pressure in her brain. Based on an upcoming repeat MRI and analysis of the fluid to rule out infection, she will move forward with surgical placement of a ventriculoperitoneal (VP shunt) which will permanently decrease the excess fluid and pressure in her brain.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This journey has been evolving and I diligently pray that we are rounding the road to recovery and some sense of normalcy. Emma has been inspiring in her attitude, optimism, strength, and perseverance. Facing all fears head-on with an appetite for healing. I know God is always here providing for us no matter how lost you feel, I see it in this little soul who is stronger than all of us.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Life as we know it is never easy and sometimes you need the assistance of others to help you on this journey. My son Donny and Lauren Costantino have faced a health scare with their daughter Emma, that no parent and an 11-year-old child should have to endure.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you for your consideration, whether it's monetary, kind words, or just sharing the Go Fund Me, we are appreciative of all the support in a very complex time.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chiari-malformation/symptoms-causes/syc-20354010" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chiari-malformation/symptoms-causes/syc-20354010" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chiari-malformation/symptoms-causes/syc-20354010</a></a>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/ventriculoperitoneal-shunt#causes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/ventriculoperitoneal-shunt#causes" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.healthline.com/health/ventriculoperitoneal-shunt#causes</a></a>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><a href="https://emcrit.org/ibcc/evd/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://emcrit.org/ibcc/evd/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://emcrit.org/ibcc/evd/</a></a>   
</div>

Dawn Young

Kristy Tortorelli

Chris Chigaros Sr

Susan Chigaros

Rosa Aparicio

Christopher Chigaros

Emma Farrell

Margaret Munson

Grace LaMantia

Chris Chigaros

Gina Chigaros

Thomas Curran

Maura Hosty

Sophia Chigaros

Bethany Jengic

Mimi Janiga

Maria L Popoca

JENNIFER LAMBERT

Celeste Hardin

Anonymous

Support Emma's Journey to Recovery

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

fundId

deleted_not_hidden_for_co_per_fundid_prod

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Support Emma's Journey to Recovery

Still $1,364 to go. Help us build momentum.