Help Ariel recover from surgery with her family

Hi, my name is Katy, and I'm fundraising for Eddie Nelson and his 10 year old daughter Ariel.

Ariel is a kind little girl who loves stuffies and being with her family. She has two little sisters, Reva age 9 and Nikki age 7. Eddie is a single dad doing his best to juggle the responsibilities of working while raising 3 girls, and care for Ariel's special needs. Eddie needs help raising funds to be able to stay with Ariel while she recovers from another major surgery in September 2022. They live in Alaska and the surgery will take place in Oregon.

Ariel was diagnosed with type 1 neurofibromatosis at age 4. This is an incurable disease which causes bone deformities, tumors, and learning disabilities among other symptoms. At 5 1/2 she was diagnosed with scoliosis, or sideways curvature of the spine. Ariel is in a special education program in Alaska, and has moved schools frequently to follow the special education opportunities. In an effort to straighten her spine, she spent a year and a half in a back brace, enduring teasing from older students.

Unfortunately the brace did not work. Eddie brought her to Shriners Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon to undergo surgery inserting "magic rods" to straighten her spine. To prepare for this procedure, Ariel spent 2 months in halo traction in which a metal head piece was attached with 6 screws in her skull, and up to 35 lbs of weight pulled her spine straight enough to prepare for inserting the rods. Her Dad and Grandma traded time traveling back and forth from Alaska to Oregon to be with Ariel while she was in halo traction, then in recovery from the magic rod surgery.

After this procedure, Ariel needed to travel to Portland every 6 weeks to have the rods lengthened to accommodate her growing body. Eddie joined her for these adjustments. After 4 of these adjustments, Ariel began experiencing pain and inflammation. Eddie was informed that the rods would no longer work, as the high location of the curvature in her spine is causing the rods to push her head and neck forward.

Eddie consulted with pediatric specialists at other hospitals and they agree that Ariel's only option is another surgery. The magic rods will be removed, and her thoracic spine will be fused in attempt to stop the curvature from progressing. If the procedure goes as planned, Ariel will need to spend 3 weeks in recovery at Shriners before she can travel home to Alaska. Thankfully, Shriners is funding the cost of the surgery and hospitalization.

Eddie needs to be with her while she recovers. His employer has been very generous but Eddie has used the last of his paid time off. He anticipates needing approximately $2,500-3,000 to cover the time missing work and other expenses. Eddie is a kind, hard working person and devoted parent, who doesn't like to ask for help but really needs it.

I set a goal of $4,000 in the hopes that any additional funds raised beyond his missed work expenses will help Eddie, Ariel, and their family move through this latest medical challenge. Ariel's condition doesn't have a cure, but at least with this surgery she may experience less pain, and be able to continue going to school and enjoying life with her family. She is incredibly brave and strong and should not have to recover from this major surgery without her dad Eddie by her side.

Please donate to support Ariel and her family! Please note that ALL funds aside from the transaction fee GoFundMe deducts will go directly to Eddie, I am in the process of setting him up to receive funds.