Genevieve's Journey

Hello Family, Friends, and Acquaintances,

We are so humbled and thankful for your help. Our family is facing a challenge with our daughter's journey with Morquio A Syndrome also known as MPS IV A.

Genevieve was diagnosed with Morquio A Syndrome when she was 2 years old and has been challenged by ongoing issues since diagnosis. She is 9 years old now and has a positive outlook on life. She loves family, visiting with people, singing, acting/performing in plays, reading, arts and crafts, and animals. Genevieve's joy is infectious and everyone loves to be around her. She tries to help others regularly. Unfortunately, this syndrome's degenerative nature is causing her a lot of pain in her lower body and slowly is stopping her from walking. It is affecting her lower back/spine, hips, knees and ankles the most. It makes her sad and she often asks why she has to deal with this challenge and can't keep up with her classmates or friends.

Morquio A Syndrome is a very rare condition that affects a person's body at the cellular level. In short, Genevieve's body doesn't create an enzyme needed to "recycle" or get rid of garbage that accumulates in each cell. Morquio A Syndrome is a lifelong condition that affects bones and organ tissues the most. (Thankfully, it doesn't affect the brain!)

Because Morquio A Syndrome has caused her bones to not grow correctly, Genevieve is facing a major surgery in December 2021. She will have bilateral hip dysplasia surgery (full reconstruction of both of her hips), 8-plates placed in her knees to help realign her legs, and supportive screws placed into her ankles. She will be placed in a cast from her hips to her ankles called a SPICA cast. Genevieve will remain in the cast for 2 months. When the cast is removed she will need major physical therapy to help get her back up and walking by the time school begins again in August 2022. We anticipate that she will miss the rest of this school year as she heals.

Our family is asking for help us cover the co-pay costs associated with the surgery as well as physical therapy after the cast has been removed.

We genuinely appreciate your contributions and any prayers you might send our way. We will do everything we can to give our daughter the best quality of life we're able.

With sincerest thanks,

Nadia & Jeff Armsworth

For anyone hoping to find out more details about Morquio A Syndrome or other forms of MPS (there are several other forms of MPS) please take a look at these websites: https://www.morquiosity.com/

Or https://mpssociety.org/

We appreciate anyone willing to share our gofundme on their social media pages as well.

Thank you.