Help Save Willa’s Spinal Cord!

Caitlin Dempsey is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Megan Dempsey.

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Our sweet Willa has been diagnosed with the highest grade of a fast-progressing neurological condition called Syringomyelia (SM) caused by Chiari-like malformation (CM). LUCKILY, Willa is an optimal candidate for a quality-of-life-saving surgery called a Foramen Magnum Decompression (FMD) and Duraplasty. In an urgent effort to stop the SM from advancing, Willa will promptly undergo this procedure on Tuesday, November 7th.

Left untreated surgically, Willa's SM will irreversibly destroy her spinal cord and the surrounding nerve fibers, resulting in chronic pain and many devastating neurological symptoms, including neck contortion affecting sleeping, eating, and drinking, scoliosis, weakness in the legs, and deterioration to the point of paralysis are possible... These deficits will lead to poor quality of life and, in some cases, euthanasia when the pain surpasses response to the maximum dose of medication.

But Willa's neurologist is confident that surgical intervention is her best bet to STOP the progression of her SM before more irreversible damage is done. This procedure will not only create more space for her brain (relieving her of the pain from the pressure of her CM) but will also reduce the pressure of the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), allowing it to flow normally (stopping the progression of her SM!!!)

Thank you for supporting Willa in any way you can, including simply keeping her in your thoughts and prayers this week!

(P.S. If you have an animal and do not have pet insurance, please consider this your sign to get it ASAP!)

Chiari-like malformation (CM) means Willa's big brain is overcrowded in her little skull (evidently as uncomfortable and painful as it sounds.) This disproportion is causing her cerebellum to squeeze through the hole at the back of her skull, preventing the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) down her spinal cord. This blockage has resulted in Syringomyelia (SM). Fluid-filled cavities ("syrinxes") are forming within Willa's spinal cord (causing extreme pain.)