Hey friends!

My name is Bayli Ballard. I was born with an AVM in my neck (an AVM is an abnormal tangle of arteries and veins and essentially creates a tumor-like structure around it. It is “fed” by my blood flow). As of now, it cannot be taken out since it is too entangled in my brachial plexus, which means I have to have a series of procedures to keep it under control every so often,to close it and lessen the growth/ risk of aneurysm or other isssues which is a temporary fix. Mine seems to be at a semi-fast rate of growth. I didn’t know I had an AVM until about two years ago. After a seizure-like episode, constant migraines, pain, and a baseball-sized lump on my neck/shoulder area, I have had three, four-hour-long procedures (one a month) to coil and glue areas, then injections with very low dose chemo which cause it to get irritated and collapse on itself and close/die off. But that just cuts off the way it “feeds,” so it will just grow more abnormal ones that will need the same thing done.

I was in need of another procedure to help finish up for the year before I got pregnant with my daughter, and then by 20 weeks pregnant, my MRI showed almost all the work I got done reopened itself. Now my pain is back, neuropathy flaring back up, migraines, swelling of the site and weight loss due to my heart working harder presenting as anxiety. I have also since moved to TN, and my insurance no longer covers my interventional radiologist and surgical team I was seeing at Mission Hospital in Asheville. So, I just got in with Vanderbilt, and we plan to start work in January, which is a huge blessing, but unfortunately, it is almost five hours from home and expensive ( each surgery last year was roughly $230,000 before insurance which still left us with hefty bills after insurance was ran) I am taking a leap of faith and making a GoFundMe to help with the cost of travel, hotel stays, food, and time off work for my husband and I as I heal and we wrangle the little one!