My dear friend, Amanda and her 8-year-old son, Cayden, are in need of some extra help. Cayden is an amazing and very special boy. He was born with severe scoliosis. This is a very painful and debilitating condition for this little guy. His scoliosis has been progressing at an alarming rate every millimeter his little body grows and surgery can no longer wait. He is scheduled to undergo corrective surgery on September 9th, 2025, at Shriner's Children's Hospital in Chicago.

While this will be a life-changing surgery for him, it does pose a few challenges.

Amanda is one of the hardest working people I know. She was newly hired at Tractor Supply Company and has been there for 2 months.

Amanda will need to take a significant amount of time off work with all the travel to and from Cayden's pre-op appointments in Chicago, his surgery, his hospital stay, and the around-the-clock care he will need for up to 6 weeks after the surgery. Seeing as she just started at TSC, she has accrued very little PTO, certainly not even close to enough to cover the 8 weeks she will need to take off work.

Amanda is currently living in an extended stay hotel in Eden Prairie. Her goal is to secure an apartment for herself and Cayden to call home while he recovers from surgery and for the foreseeable future. Amanda has not been able to afford the high cost of both a security deposit and first month's rent, so she has not been able to secure an apartment.

It is my goal that with this GoFundMe, we will raise enough money for a security deposit and two months' rent to cover her and Cayden's living expenses for the 8 weeks she will be out of work.

If you would please consider donating to help secure Amanda and Cayden a place to call home, I know they both will be forever grateful.

If you can't donate, please share this fundraiser.

This is a Facebook post on Amanda's Facebook account on August 10th with an update on Cayden:

Cayden Update

Well, the time is here. Cayden's scoliosis is basically a runaway train. Pre-op is August 21st, and surgery is scheduled for September 9th at the Shriner's Children's Hospital in Chicago.

Our little boy will have spinal rods. The surgeon is hoping to utilize the newer technology of Magec Rods. The determination of newer technology vs. the older style rods will be made once they get in there, and it depends on if there is enough muscle and skin tissue to cover the hardware. Cayden has had a growth spurt but is still a little guy.

Surgery is expected to take 4 to 6 hours, and he will spend 3 to 5 days in the hospital in Chicago. He will have to wear his brace around the clock for the first 3 months. After 4 to 6 weeks, he should be able to return to school and will have limited activity for 6 months.

Please keep our little man in your prayers.