Help Us Pay for My Mom's Life Changing Surgery

Dear Family and Friends,

My name is Olivia, and I'm trying to help raise funds to help pay for my mom's important brain stem operation. My mom is a very private person and doesn't like to make her problems known to many people, but this is an exception.

My mom, Kristie Vrooman, was born with Type 1 Chiari Malformation, a congenital brainstem malformation that causes worsening symptoms later in life. She didn't know she had it until she was diagnosed a few years ago at the age of 55, after a doctor noticed the abnormality on an MRI. Symptoms can be debilitating and include headaches, head pressure, dizziness, vertigo, poor coordination, cognitive decline, neck and shoulder pain, among others. Her symptoms have dramatically altered her quality of life over the past two years.

Due to these symptoms, my mom is no longer able to work and now relies on Social Security Disability to support herself. This condition is chronic, and the only way to relieve symptoms is to have Decompression Surgery with a Chiari specialist neurosurgeon. Through the help of others with Chiari Malformation, she found Dr. Wesley King, one of the few Chiari specialist neurosurgeons in the state, operating out of Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. After months and years of trying to get care, partially delayed because of Covid-19, my mom's surgery was finally scheduled for December 11th.

While Medicare and her other insurance will cover the hospital stay, Dr. King has unfortunately opted out of insurance, and charges an out of pocket fee for the surgery, as many neurosurgeons are beginning to do. Dr. King has graciously reduced his fee for my mom, but it will still be a large out of pocket expense. My mom can cover some of the cost on her own, but my sister and I have suggested she ask for help to cover the rest of the cost by asking friends and family through this GoFundMe.

All of the money from this GoFundMe will go to the fee for my mom's Decompression Surgery and any travel expenses. Any donation helps and if you can't donate, we appreciate if you can share this with your friends. The surgery is my mom's one shot at getting her quality of life back, and hopefully being able to support herself again. Thank you for reading this and for all of your love and support.

-Olivia