Help Give Adrian the Chance at Childhood

Help Give Adrian the Chance to Walk and a Chance at Childhood

My name is Lauren and I am desperately trying to help my best friend give her son a chance to walk.

Adrian Michael Otten was born a fighter. He was born prematurely at 31 weeks gestation and spent close to a month and a half in the NICU before being able to come home. The week Stacy found out she was pregnant with Adrian she also found out that her mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. It was emotionally very hard for everyone to process. Yong-ae, Stacy’s mom always wanted to have a grandchild, but Stacy’s first son Avery was also born prematurely and passed away in the NICU a few years earlier. Adrian was an absolute blessing even though he was born sooner than expected. In a way they believe he wanted to be able to meet his grandma before she passed. Unfortunately, she passed away a couple weeks after he was able to come home.

Adrian had a hard time meeting developmental milestones as an infant. He started physical therapy with the belief that the delays were due to prematurity. As time when on, he was referred to a Pediatric Neurologist and was then diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy in April 2023. Adrian was then referred to a Pediatric Neurosurgeon in hopes that he would be a candidate for Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy Surgery. The miracle surgery would be able to reduce the hyper muscle tone (spasticity) in his legs, reduce the pain in his lower extremities, decrease muscle spasms, and improve his mobility. The Pediatric Neurosurgeon said the prognosis with the surgery for Adrian, would give him the ability to walk without a walker or other form of assistance within a few years and be able to reduce the tightening in his legs to allow him to sit without difficultly. Without the surgery, Adrian’s condition would continue to decline leading to continued spasticity, causing lower extremity deformations, contractions and possibly requiring him to be wheelchair bound.

Adrian’s family is hoping for a miracle and asking for help. Health insurance is only covering a small portion of the surgery’s cost and has a hard-hard cap on their physical therapy, which only allows him 30 physical therapy appointments per year. After surgery Adrian would require 4-5 days physical therapy per week for the first 6 months, 3-4 days physical therapy per week for the months 6-12, then 2-4 days physical therapy for the months 12-36 post-op. At this rate, Adrian will run out of physical therapy appointments within the first 6 to 7 weeks.

Adrian’s surgery is set for November 10, 2023

Any help is greatly appreciated. Please, Please, Please help give this little boy the ability to walk and play. Adrian is now 2 years old and love cars, bubbles, all things boy. He is so sweet and loving. He loves his parents and his family. He wants so desperately to run and play and be a kid. Even the smallest donation is greatly appreciated.