Amanda (McGrew) Brose Fundraiser
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On Saturday, October 3rd, 2015, my sister Amanda (McGrew) Brose was airlifted to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after the discovery of a life-threatening aneurysm at the St. Luke’s ER in Cedar Rapids. She had gone into the ER as she was having severe headaches that were not being treated by anything over-the-counter and they continued to worsen.
She had emergency surgery early Sunday morning in which the neurosurgery team at UIHC under Dr. Ortega placed an endovascular stent and coil in her brain to stop the aneurysm from growing and potentially rupturing.
Her aneurysm is located in the frontal lobe of her brain and is shaped like a snowman (at first glance, it looks like two aneurysms when it is actually attached as one). More commonly referred to as a large to giant berry aneurysm, it measured more than 2 cm.
Amanda is a real life miracle. Her headaches were caused by minor leakage into her brain which is the body’s way of warning a rupture is about to occur. Her doctors told us that if she would have waited any longer to seek treatment for her headache, she would have immediately died of a cerebral hemorrhage (which occurs 60% of the time to people with this condition). The great news is that she has responded extremely well to surgery and treatment, and she was out of the ICU and home to her family to finish recovering a good week before the doctors had initially thought she would be.
However, miracles like this come with an unexpected burden you don’t really see until the chaos has settled: finances.
With the restrictions on what insurance will and will not cover, Amanda and Cory are still definitely facing a huge financial burden with needing to pay the maximum out of pocket expenses her insurance will require along with Amanda being unable to return to work for an unknown time frame (earliest is at least eight to twelve weeks as she recovers from surgery). Added to that, there will be continuing medical treatment (scans, angiograms, neuro clinic appointments etc.) that are going to add up as well. Just one single person facing a financial debt like this is overwhelming – let alone a family with two growing boys and the holidays just around the corner.
Amanda and Cory have received an outpouring of love and prayers from family and friends with many wondering what they could do to help. I thought creating this GoFundMe Page for them would be a place where family and friends could spread the word and donate if they wish! In the process as well, we thought we could help reach more people through social media as well,
Pass it along and donate if you can. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Love you all!
She had emergency surgery early Sunday morning in which the neurosurgery team at UIHC under Dr. Ortega placed an endovascular stent and coil in her brain to stop the aneurysm from growing and potentially rupturing.
Her aneurysm is located in the frontal lobe of her brain and is shaped like a snowman (at first glance, it looks like two aneurysms when it is actually attached as one). More commonly referred to as a large to giant berry aneurysm, it measured more than 2 cm.
Amanda is a real life miracle. Her headaches were caused by minor leakage into her brain which is the body’s way of warning a rupture is about to occur. Her doctors told us that if she would have waited any longer to seek treatment for her headache, she would have immediately died of a cerebral hemorrhage (which occurs 60% of the time to people with this condition). The great news is that she has responded extremely well to surgery and treatment, and she was out of the ICU and home to her family to finish recovering a good week before the doctors had initially thought she would be.
However, miracles like this come with an unexpected burden you don’t really see until the chaos has settled: finances.
With the restrictions on what insurance will and will not cover, Amanda and Cory are still definitely facing a huge financial burden with needing to pay the maximum out of pocket expenses her insurance will require along with Amanda being unable to return to work for an unknown time frame (earliest is at least eight to twelve weeks as she recovers from surgery). Added to that, there will be continuing medical treatment (scans, angiograms, neuro clinic appointments etc.) that are going to add up as well. Just one single person facing a financial debt like this is overwhelming – let alone a family with two growing boys and the holidays just around the corner.
Amanda and Cory have received an outpouring of love and prayers from family and friends with many wondering what they could do to help. I thought creating this GoFundMe Page for them would be a place where family and friends could spread the word and donate if they wish! In the process as well, we thought we could help reach more people through social media as well,
Pass it along and donate if you can. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Love you all!
Organizer
Sara McGrew
Organizer
Coggon, IA