Hello

My name is Ana Hornby. Me and my uncle Tony Velazquez, are starting this GoFundMe campaign to help our dear friend Beth Prantera, get her 5th and 6th spine surgery done on Feb. 7, 2023. This will be the most extensive surgery Beth has ever had, as they will have to access her spine twice, once through the front and once through the back, all on the same day. Beth will have 2 failed lumber fusions from previous operations, redone at L4 and L5. She will also have a disk replacement at L3-4. Her spine will also have to be realigned in the process. Because no other surgeon had done it before, her entire lumbar region has become severely kyphotic (flat).

My uncle and I, have known Beth for more than 12 years, ever since she moved to Miami, Fl from upstate New York, after her 2009 spinal operation. And although she has been struggling both physically, and financially with this debilitating condition for most of her adult life, Beth was reluctant about my niece and me creating a Go Fund campaign for her. But we are doing it anyway because she needs help.

Beth was once a young dancer with a promising future. She was teaching other young girls the art of dance and planning to join an NYC dance studio when she began experiencing severe back pains. She went to see an Orthopedic doctor, who told Beth she was suffering from DDD, (Degenerate Disc Disease). The doctor advised beginning to consider a different career. Unknown to her, Beth was also suffering from Pars Defect (fractures of the spinal column) at the time, but the condition would not be diagnosed until much later in her life. Not having had this horrible condition diagnosed earlier, proved to be decremental in the years to come. Not aware that she was suffering from this debilitating condition, and not willing to surrender her dream of someday opening up her dance studio, Beth continued to dance and was eventually accepted to a dance school in NYC. Unfortunately, she was not able to finish the program. The pain in her lumbar region had become so intense, that she had no choice but to quit the program.

Beth had to give up everything she loved doing in life and began focusing on a different career. Her interest and knowledge in music helped her land a job with a record label, which eventually led to a gig at a radio station. Meanwhile, with the pain in her spine increasingly growing worse by the day, she continued to seek counsel with a few Orthopedic doctors, in the hope of finding a solution to her back problems. Then just about the time her radio career was beginning to blossom, she was diagnosed with DDD, arthritis, and spurs. Regardless, she kept working, and after doing a morning radio show in Las Vegas, she landed a job on air, in the number two market in the US, Los Angeles. Although Beth was extremely happy about her new job on the radio, she realized that she was not able to walk for long periods, due to the excruciating pain in her spine. She was accepted into a well-known medical facility in LA, that specialized in people with exceptional spine conditions.

While at that clinic, she was exposed to many different types of medications, that if taken as prescribed, could have eventually shut down her liver. The treatment included epidurals that didn’t help. Beth was also seen by the many different resident doctors that attended to her and diagnosed her back problems with DDD, myelopathy, sciatica, neuropathy, osteoarthritis, bone spurs, osteophytes, spinal stenosis, and dropped foot. After months passed, and with no relief in sight, Beth finally received a silver lining when a Neurosurgeon from upstate New York called her after taking a look at the images of her spine taken in LA. His diagnosis? Beth was suffering from Pars Defect, since birth. (Mentioned earlier). The doctor told her, that out of the 3 fractures shown in the images, 2 of them were total breaks. His diagnosis also included DDD, spurs, neuropathy, and a herniated disk at L4-5. The good doctor told Beth he could fix it, and also noted her cervical spine had disk degeneration that needed to be monitored. Not knowing how long the road to recovery would be, she decided to take 2-3 months off work (on-air) and moved to upstate New York with her mother. Hoping that she would soon be back on her feet, Beth had to take leave from a promising career that had taken her years to build. However, Beth was not able to return to LA, and to her career in radio. While waiting for the lumbar surgery, a disk in her neck ruptured.

In 2008, Beth had her surgery, only to be followed by a second surgery six months later, in 2009. Having to give up two promising careers because of her back problems, and being eager to begin a new chapter in her life, Beth decided to move to Miami in late 2009. This is the time when my uncle Tony, and I met her and became very close friends. Although she was still suffering from the pain in her spine, Beth decided to begin a third career. This time, it would be in marketing, and after a few months of living in Miami, she was able to land a job in that field. Still having problems walking and sitting down for long periods, Beth was also unable to lie down on her bed at night, and could only sleep in a sitting position. This problem persisted for so long, that she decided to go see the doctor in New York who had performed the operations. After having X-rays and an MRI done, the neurosurgeon told Beth, that there was nothing wrong, and that maybe she was suffering from some type of nerve damage. Beth returned to Miami and went to see a local Neurosurgeon. After a few X-rays and another MRI, the doctor told Beth that both the screws and cage on her back were broken. It was clear that the fusions needed to be redone with additional adjacent levels, due to the instability from the failed fusions. Beth had two surgeries done to address those problems. The first surgery was done in Miami, Fl in 2018, and the second also in Miami, Fl in 2019.

Four operations later, Beth was no better off than when she had her first spinal surgery. She continued suffering from her back problems, each day filled with pain and despair. She also had no choice but to continue working. The co-payment for her last four spinal surgeries had taken a toll on her finances. Her credit cards maxed out to the limit, she had to take out a loan to consolidate her debts, and not lose her credit.

During the pandemic, Beth found a job with a company that would deploy her to Texas, near the border. She was there to manage healthcare workers for FEMA. The hours were long, but the pay was good. However, after a few months of working there, it became evident that the problem with her spine had grown worse. Beth began losing feeling in both her hands and feet for extended periods. Again, she had to leave a good-paying job to address the problems with her spine. This time, she went to stay with a friend in North Carolina, so that she could get a different opinion from a different Orthopedic surgeon. But after seeing an Orthopedic Spine surgeon in NC, the doctor told her that the x-ray and MRI images showed nothing wrong.

Physically, emotionally, and financially spent, Beth did not give up but instead kept researching other Neurosurgeons who could help her. She needed to find the right neurosurgeon who would help make the next spinal surgery, a successful one. The Neurosurgical group she found, consists of two, groundbreaking Physicians, who themselves have had multiple fusions, and whose focus is now on motion preservation surgery, otherwise known as artificial disk replacement. This will give Beth a chance at the adjacent levels not failing, which means, no more surgeries on her lumbar spine. This surgery will allow Beth to walk again without pain. She will still have to treat the cervical failure in the future, but Dr. Lanman is confident he can fix both the lumbar and cervical with the motion preservation procedure she needs to have done. He and his partner will also fix the broken tailbone they discovered in her last MRI images. This young woman is now limping around in excruciating pain, with 2 broken screws, a failed fusion, and a fractured tailbone.

The problem is, that this team of doctors is located in Los Angeles. And with the operation scheduled to be done at the Cedars Sinai hospital in LA, Beth, who lives in Miami, will have to travel there to have this operation done. Her mother, who lives in New York, will also have to travel to LA to be with her, during and after the operation. They would both have to stay in LA for at least a month. Approximately the entire month of February plus a few days. Her mother would also have to rent a car for at least a month. It is why my uncle and I are asking for some help in covering some of these expenses. We are not only asking for financial help, but we are also asking for your prayers and well wishes for the operation to be successful so that Beth can continue living her life without so much pain, and for her body to function properly, as best possible.

We are hoping to raise around $21,000, to cover the following expenses.

The cost of airline tickets is around $1,000

Apartment rental for 5 weeks will be around $7,000

Food, including nutritional supplements around $600

Car rental including gas around $1,700

Beth's copayments for hospital and doctor fees will be around $8,000

Miscellaneous expenses for necessary post-surgery items and needed medications around $2,000