Care for Kailynn

I am fundraising money to help a special young girl, Kailynn Zoeller, and her family.

Kailynn is 13 years old and has been recently diagnosed with an incurable chronic illness: stage 4 deep endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. This rare form of endometriosis has completely debilitated this young girl to the point of being wheelchair bound for the past 8 months. The pain associated with endometriosis can be horrific and comparable to the pains of labor without the relief of delivery. Surgery is the only effective treatment for endometriosis and has been proven to eradicate the disease from the body if done properly. Choosing the right surgeon can make the difference between undergoing an effective surgery that removes all the disease and undergoing an ineffective surgery where disease is left behind and symptoms persist or recur. It takes considerable experience to recognize and remove all forms of this disease. Only the most experienced and skilled surgeons can successfully treat advanced forms of endometriosis. Lack of experience can result in a patient entering an ongoing cycle of surgeries without resolution of their symptoms. Kailynn has a very advanced form of endometriosis and a very rare form. There are very few surgeons who have the expertise to complete this surgery, let alone on a 13-year-old. Kailynn’s mother has done extensive research and has found one of the best top notch endometriosis surgeons located in St. Louis, MO, 9 hours from their home in Wichita, KS. He has specialized in Endometriosis for 20 years, with 100% of his patients suffering from the disease. He believes with 98% certainty that he can fully cure Kailynn of this disease and she will be pain free, therefore, a surgery has been scheduled for December 12th. However, 90% of his patients are from out of state, since he is such a well-known specialist; therefore, he does not contract with any insurance company. The Zoeller family must pay in cash for the surgery because of this. The surgeons fee will be $4,000-$6,500, with $4,000 of it due one month before surgery on November 12th. Aside from this, they will have the medical bills of the hospital, anesthesiologist, labs, pathologist, pharmacy, etc. The family also must travel to St. Louis and stay 5-6 days for the surgery due to pre-op appointments, the surgery itself, and the recovery before they are allowed to leave town.

Getting to this diagnosis for Kailynn, has been an absolute nightmare. Since March of 2022, she has seen countless doctors, including 3 general practitioners, 5 gynecologists (one of whom was a pediatric GYN), a pediatric general surgeon, a pediatric gastroenterologist, a pediatric urologist, a chiropractor, a pelvic floor therapist, and two visits to the ER. Through these appointments, she has had 10-15 rounds of bloodwork, 4 CT scans, 5 Ultrasounds, 1 MRI, an endoscopy/colonoscopy, 4 sets of X-Rays, 3 stool tests, and a diagnostic explorative laparoscopic surgery. Countless friends have suggested that she is showing all the symptoms of endometriosis from the beginning of her pain; however, every single one of these doctors said she was too young, and it had to be something else. When each doctor would find nothing, they would then say the pain was all psychological. But her parents wouldn’t stop there, and just kept pushing, until finally when nothing was found, they demanded the diagnostic explorative laparoscopic surgery to determine that they were right all along! All these unnecessary appointments and test have cost the family thousands so far, and they still have another $3,000 in unpaid medical bills from all these appointments and procedures.

Kailynn is a beautiful young teenager who has had her entire life stripped away from her! As a disease, endometriosis can take away many additional aspects of a normal life. Kailynn experiences all the common symptoms of severe endometriosis: cyclical pelvic pain; pain during bowel movements; cyclical rectal bleeding; intestinal cramping, bloating, and cycles of constipation; pain on emptying the bladder and with fullness of the bladder; urinary frequency during the day and night, difficulties emptying the bladder, blood in the urine; uterine cramping and heavy menstrual periods; lower back pain; and grinding fatigue, as severe as that experienced with advanced cancer. She has always loved to ride horses and dreams of competing in jumping competitions; however, she has not gotten on a horse in over a year. She loves to swim and compete with the Harvest Park Swim Team but was unable to compete this last summer. She is very involved in Girl Scouts and has had to participate in many events from a wheelchair, needing accommodations to even participate in the activity. She has missed approximately 75 days of school here and there over the past year due to the pain being so overwhelming and has continued to maintain all As and Bs in school. Aside from all of this, her mental health and her parents’ mental health have been challenged. Being in such severe pain with test after test, showing nothing, and being told that it is all psychological can affect your mental health. Watching your child in such excruciating pain with no diagnosis time after time, can also affect your mental health.

​I created this to help this family cover some of the medical and travel expenses of this life-changing surgery. Unfortunately, in the US, many women do not have an opportunity such as this, largely due to the cost associated with the surgery and availability of a specialist near them. This specialist, whom some people wait years to see, has agreed to treat her within three months upon seeing her laparoscopy results. If they cannot afford this surgery, it could be years before they get another appointment with a specialist of this caliber. Any amount will help them to get Kailynn the care that she needs to live a healthy and productive life again! Thank you so much!

Matthew 25:40 “For whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”