Help Marianne with her Scoliosis Surgery

For the majority of her life, my 13-year-old cousin from the Philippines has been diagnosed with Adolescent idiophatic scoliosis. Her spine condition has worsened since she reached her teenage years. The doctor has advised immediate surgery as the chances of success will be higher and she would be able to live a normal teenager life.

 

Below, you can read the story from her Mother - my Aunt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

 

"I'm Olive; I'm a mother of three. 2 boys and one girl. My girl is the second, and her name is Marianne Francine Herrera; she’s 13 years old right now.

Her nickname is Rianne (Ryan) born on October 29, 2008. At 3 months old she just started having seizures with no reason at all. I felt really helpless and broken-hearted because my Rianne was so little then. We took her to the hospital and the neuero pedia here in my province diagnose her as epileptic and would go under medication for a lifetime. We took her to Manila for a second opinion. The neuro pedia from Makati medical ordered some tests to be done and MRI as well. The finding are that she has “MICRO SPYROGRYRA.” There was an abnormality in her left side of the brain. The doctors explained that usually our brains have lines…. But in Rianne’s case, the lines on her left side brain are abnormal, which is causing her seizures. the doctor said that it really has no cure. It really is upto to Rianne if she would outgrow it. We just focused on controlling the seizures for the meantime so that her brain won't get damaged. The possibilities that the doctor told us that we will face is first balance, motor skills and speech. We have to observe her for a year. To me this feels like more than 1 year it feels like 5 years. Waiting is one of the hardest part. So for a year they gave Rianne medication to control the seizures. We are very lucky compare to other kids in the same situation. Her seizures was controlled in just one try of medication. So she was under phenobarbital. And no seizures for 8 months. On her first birthday the doctor lessened her phenobarbital little by little until she was out of the medication. Rianne outgrew the possibility of speech problem, she was able to walk on her own and no more seizures up tp now. Although she is still has a bit imbalance it is not really visible anymore to people’s eyes if you really don’t know that she has a problem with her balance. She goes to normal school, loved reading books, and participates to school activities like any other kids. She speaks good English and really talks a lot. Rianne grew up to be a very happy girl who loves to read play with her friends.

 

At the age of 6 with her annual check up together with her brothers. Her chest xray result shows that she has scoliosis. But the degree is quite high for her age. So the following year on her annual check her chest xray shows that her scoliosis is getting worse so we decided to take her to a spine doctor to have her check. She was recommended to wear a back brace. The doctor also explained to us the chances of riannes spine to be straightened and also the possibility of operation if the braces doesn’t work and the bending of the spine still continues. So at the age of 7 she started wearing back brace. She wears it for 23 hours a day. Her only break from wearing these back braces is when she is taking a bath or swimming. She wore braces until she was 12 yrs old year 2020. Year 2020 the doctor told us that her scoliosis is not improving and yet getting worse. So we need to be ready and prepared because soon she will be needing a surgery. We had our check up last February 23, 2022 and doctor said that we have to do the surgery asap. In Rianne’s case she has triple curves now, and if we don’t have her undergo surgery soon she will soon be having a hard time breathing and her organs will start to be compressed by her lungs soon because of her deformity.

 

The doctor told us to prepare 1.5M pesos for her surgery, not including all the physical therapies post surgery . This amount has already been deducted from her medical and disability insurance."

 

--

 

Unfortunately, in the Philippines, major surgeries like these are not fully covered by the insurance but rather only 20%. This has been an ongoing medical expense, since 2015, due to medical treatments to physical therapy, braces and chiropractor which has not been covered by insurance.

 

Below are the official medical diagnosis and hospital letters of Marianne's medical condition. The doctor has told has told them to preare 1.5 million pesos (26,000 euros) Our initial goal for now is 20,000 euros, so every little bit counts.

 

 

 

 

 

I know how important this coming-of-age phase is. I would really want that for my cousin to experience and live a normal teenager life.

Due to COVID-19, I have not seen her for the past 3 years. I feel like this is the only way I can help her, living all the way in Europe. I would appreciate any help, small or big. Even if you just forward it to family and friends, I and my Aunt, and my family, would be very grateful.

 

Thank you so much for your time and your compassion to help my cousin.

 

We will forever be grateful.