Jinger's Tough Road: Surgery and Recovery

This community and so many people across the country have already helped our family out so much and we are all grateful beyond words.

We have recently found out in the past few months that Jinger will be needing extensive surgery again. Since her original bone graft surgery in 2021, the hardware in her leg has been folding in on itself and her bone has not healed completely. She has had many broken screws found through x-rays, and the actual screw heads themselves moved downwards towards her knee causing them to grind against her bone making it painful and even more difficult to walk.

With this upcoming surgery (December 19, 2024), her doctors will be doing another bone graft to correct these issues. They will be taking a few centimeters of her fibula in her good leg, as well as part of her pelvic bone to create a stronger bone graft. The healing time for this surgery could take anywhere from six months or longer where our parents will not be able to be at work as much in order to care for Jinger at home since she will be unable to leave her bed unassisted. This leaves them with very little money to pay their bills for the house, gas money to get to appointments, future physical therapy bills, medical supplies, and preparing to make their house more wheelchair accessible.

Jinger is a senior at Knox High School and is due to graduate this year. She is still planning on attending college at Ball State University and continuing her education and we are all so proud of everything she has already overcome. This surgery is definitely a big challenge for her to overcome mentally and physically and I don’t want her or my parents to have to worry about another financial burden instead of saving for college. Navigating college is already a huge challenge, along with the physical challenges she will already be worried about while she recovers from this surgery.

We appreciate all of the help that we can get, thank you all so much and happy holidays!