Kai’s Medical Costs
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I’m Jessica and I’ve known Lindsay for about 20 years. I grew up with her and I’ve watched her beautiful family grow. They aren’t usually the type of people to ask for help, but a recent situation has put them in a tough spot. They could use any help and support that is offered. I am writing this on behalf of her and her family, but I will share her words explaining what happened.
To summarize; Lindsay and John’s youngest son, Kai, was recently hospitalized for a mass in his brain, and has undergone a successful surgery. It is still unknown whether it is benign or cancerous, and there are many upcoming appointments and treatments that he will need.
I can’t imagine the amount of stress and anxiety that her family is going through. This GoFundMe is to help alleviate some of that stress and the pressure of having to pay for the various medical treatments that Kai has gotten and will need in the future.
“Hello, my name is Lindsay. My husband, John, and I have been together for 16 years. We have two children together; Kai, who is 7, and JohnCody, who is 12. My husband has been in the Army for 8 years now, and because of that we have moved several times, the most recent move being to Savannah, Georgia almost a year ago.
A few months after settling into our home in Savannah, our youngest, Kai, started to complain of headaches and he started having a lot of mucus build up. We took him to his primary care doctor and she decided to put him on allergy medication. Over the next few months, we switched medications multiple times but still continued to struggle with constant headaches. We were told by the doctor to keep a headache journal. As far as we could tell, the headaches were random and there wasn’t anything specific triggering them. We even thought the projector at school could have been making them worse, but his doctor still showed no real concern.
This past June, the headaches had gotten much worse and they would make him very tired, with no relief from medication. He started getting nauseous and throwing up when the headaches would start and this made us extremely worried, so we made yet another doctor’s appointment. We were just told to use a stronger allergy medication. At the time of this appointment, Kai was very tired, not very active, was complaining of a severe headache, and had felt this way for about 24 hours. The doctor gave us a referral to see a neurologist if we were still concerned, and we went home.
That evening Kai was throwing up bile and hadn’t wanted to eat in the past 24 hours. He was very tired so we let him sleep, but in the morning he still hadn’t stopped having these symptoms. My husband took him to the military hospital nearby. At the emergency room they started running tests to see if they could find anything, but all of them came back normal and the doctors didn’t seem concerned. They were close to sending him home, but luckily the intake nurse had noticed our son, saw the symptoms he was complaining about, and knew something wasn’t right. She was able to get the doctors to do a CT scan and that’s when they found a mass in Kai’s brain. I know that without this amazing woman, the mass would have been missed and I can’t imagine what could have happened.
Kai was transported to the local children’s hospital and admitted into the pediatric ICU. After a lot of testing and more scans, we were given a treatment plan. Although we had some answers, we were still in a wait-and-see situation. The tumor was blocking the flow of spinal fluid to his brain, and they were concerned about possible damage to surrounding parts of his brain, including his vision.
They started him on medication to relieve some of the swelling and pressure, and we were given a date for surgery one week out. He improved greatly over the next few days, seeming closer to his normal self than he had been in a while. He made lots of amazing nurse and doctor friends, and charmed any visitors willing to come talk to him.
On June 22nd, Kai went in for surgery. It was extremely nerve-wracking, but everything went according to plan. Somehow, even with the large size of the tumor, there was no severe damage that we currently know of to the surrounding areas of his brain. Another CT scan confirmed that the surgery was extremely successful. They basically popped both sides of the tumor and drained all of the fluid out of it.
He had a rough few days after the surgery, but we were finally able to go home after spending 11 days in the pediatric ICU.
He is still healing and we are nowhere near done with all of this. There are more appointments coming up to see how the tumor responded to surgery. We are still waiting to hear if the tumor was benign or malignant. And as of right now, we have a start date of July 18th for the beginning of a 6-week radiation treatment. Our next appointment will confirm this, but they are confident that this is the best treatment option for Kai with the best long term outcome.
We initially didn’t want to ask for help, or even put our story out there, but I am no longer able to work the same hours that I was before and we aren’t sure when I will be able to return to my previous schedule. We are already dealing with medical bills and the stress of future appointments and treatment.
Anything and everything is appreciated. We are extremely grateful that Kai is doing well and for the amazing support system that we have.”
There are 2 other ways that you can support Lindsay and her family. I have included a link to her Amazon wish list for things that her family will need or find helpful during Kai’s upcoming treatments and recovery, including food that he will eat even when feeling unwell. Also, if anyone wants to send Kai a handwritten note or letter, he loves reading them and knowing how supported he is.
Organizer
Jessica Tipp
Organizer
Savannah, GA