Help Holly's Journey to Pain Relief

Holly (Philippi) Gustner, daughter of Jeane (Held) Philippi and Brad Philippi, needs to have a life-changing surgery on July 28th that she has to pay for out of pocket. She had to pay $17K just to schedule it, and will be traveling to St. Louis for at least 4 days to have the surgery and a follow-up visit. We welcome and appreciate anything you can give to help Holly's family in this time! I'm Holly's aunt and started this fundraiser to help her out. Here's more detail about why the surgery is needed, in Holly's words:

In my early 20's, pain began in my pelvis, lower abdomen, Lt hip and thigh. It first began with chiropractic care and massage to try to resolve my pain. With no relief, I then began doctoring with both OB/GYN and Urology to try to better understand what was happening. At that time, I was diagnosed with endometriosis and a urethral diverticulum, which I had surgically repaired. After surgery, the pain continued and began to intensify with pain at times becoming unbearable. After trying several treatments/diagnoses, I was told they were no longer sure what was going on and they suggested I see an orthopedic doctor to see if they pain was coming from a tear in my hip. After several other diagnostic tests/injections, I was told they did not believe this was an orthopedic problem and was referred off again to see a neurologist. The neurologist I saw also performed several tests and prescribed nerve medications to try to help me with the pain.

This cycle of continual doctoring has continued off and on for me since, with no one answers as to why and where the pain is coming from. After 18 years of no answers, continual research, I sent my case off to a peripheral nerve specialist in St. Louis Missouri, praying that they would be willing to take me as a patient. Dr. David Brown at Neuropax Clinic in St. Louis reviewed my case and agreed to take me as a patient. I was able to do a virtual visit with him first to discuss what he thought would be the best next step. He decided doing a series of diagnostic nerve blocks into my abdomen, Lt hip and groin is what I need to do next. I flew down to St. Louis and received the nerve blocks with great success with pain relief. At that time, he said that surgery was the next step. I will be flying back to St. Louis on 7/28 to have an Ilioinguinal and Iliohypogastric neurectomy with burial, and a decompression of my lateral femoral nerve. I will be off work 4-6 weeks after for recovery.

Because this medical procedure is out of network our insurance will not cover the cost. We had to pay $17,000 up front just to schedule the procedure. Surgery is scheduled for July 28th in St Louis MO. We will be staying for 4 days in St Louis to see the surgeon for a follow up appointment. It’s unknown if another procedure will be needed. Prayers and assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Love

Holly, Dan, Avery and Lucas