Brody's Journey - St. Louis Summer

Our son, Brody, was born with Fibular Hemimelia.  For him this means his left leg is approximately 2 inches shorter than his right, his left foot is 2 sizes shorter than his right and he only has 3 toes on his left foot.  At a very young age we were told that we should consider amputation for Brody's left leg.  This option did not set well with us so we sought out another opinion.  We landed at Shriners Hospital in St. Louis with Dr. Gordon.  He and his staff were nothing less than the best!  We felt at ease with the decision to keep Brody's leg and do leg lengthening surgery instead.  We have been traveling to see Dr. Gordon every year to monitor his growth and track progress to prepare him for the surgery.  

Brody's long awaited surgery is set for June 6th, 2018!  They will break his tibia and fibula then place an external fixator (aka cage) around his lower left leg with pins holding it in place at the knee and ankle.  There will be a knob that we will turn a milimeter each day to slowly lengthen his leg.  He will have to stay in St. Louis for approximately 60 days while he undergoes surgery, recovery, lengthening and endures physical therapy.  Megan plans to stay down there with him the entire time while Hailey and Tom will travel back and forth to visit.     


Brody has come up with a thoughtful little fundraiser to help offset some of the costs for living in two different cities this summer, travel and everything else that comes with a life changing surgery!

We are going to give away a Husker football autographed by 'THE' Tom Osborne!  Coach Osborne set up a special meeting with Brody just to sign this football for his 'fundraising' idea!  What a great, caring and giving man!  We placed the football in a glass display case with an engraved name plate!  

For each increment of $10 that you donate, you get a chance to win this special item!   

We will let this run for a few weeks and then Brody will do a Facebook LIVE drawing to see who the winner is! (Stay updated by liking or following his Facebook page which is called ‘Brody's Journey’ and the profile picture is of his feet - for those of you who aren't on his page yet.)

Thank you for your help, your consideration, for your prayers and support during this hard and trying time.   We promise to honor every penny of your donations.  We are completely humbled that we have such supportive friends and family and we could NOT do this without you!  

Again, we appreciate all of you!
 
Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts,
Tom, Megan, Brody and Hailey Linnell

*We are also looking for someone to watch our 1 year old Goldendoodle, Raja, from time to time as we travel.  Let us know if you might be interested!