Hello. As many of you know our daughter, Ciri, was born with an extremely rare condition called bilateral fibular hemimelia . We found out very late into my pregnancy about her limb deficiency. Generally such a deficiency is detected at the 20 week ultrasound but we did not find out about her’s until 33 weeks at a high risk scan. What we found out was that her right leg was extremely short and missing the entire fibula and her tibia and femur were also extremely short. Nothing is connected correctly so she will never be able to bear weight on her right leg. We were unfortunately left with 2 options so that she would be able to walk. The first option was years of painful leg lengthening surgeries that the pediatric orthopedist did not feel confident would work and in the end leave her in a lot of pain. The other option is a below the knee amputation. While shocked to hear that we would have to make such a choice we decided the below the knee amputation would be the most effective, the least painful, and the quickest way for her to be up and chasing after her siblings. Unfortunately because of the high risk pregnancy, extra hospital stays, specialists for Ciri, and the cost of prosthetics we are in need of financial assistance. Shane’s job does not offer paternity leave so any time off would be unpaid for any upcoming appointments. We are also looking at the future of needing time off for travel for specialists, for healing after her surgery, therapy to learn to walk on her prosthetic around a year old, and the most expensive the prosthesis its self. Since she will be growing so rapidly as a toddler she will need a new prosthesis every year until age 5-7, then every 2 years until 18, and every 3 years as an adult. Generally insurance will only cover a new prosthesis about every 5 years. As we don’t know what insurance will have in the future we can’t even get many answers about actual coverage. Any amount, even $1 can go a long way to help us with the already accrued medical bills and the bills that will quickly be adding up in the very near future. If you can’t donate we ask that you please share Ciri’s story so that we can make sure she is able to get the best care possible and able to walk as soon as she’s old enough. Thank you so very much, Lisa and Shane Sternberg