Mandi's Brain Surgery Battle
Donation protected
As many of you know, our daughter Mandi was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation a few years ago. To make a long description short, her brain didn't fit in her skull. The cerebellum grew down into the spinal canal and put pressure on the spinal cord which then restricted the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. This is something that she was born with but did not start developing symptoms until early adulthood. As you can imagine, when you are dealing with the spinal cord and brainstem, the symptoms that people can experience are very widespread, and Mandi's were somewhat extreme.
On January 28, 2015, Mandi underwent brain surgery at Sanford in Fargo, ND in attempts to fix this malformation. During this surgery they removed a portion of the skull, a portion of the C1 vertebrae, the part of the brain that had been hanging down in the spinal canal, and then opened an area of the brain stem to place a patch in there to make it wider in order for the spinal fluid to flow better. After spending six days in the hospital, she was released and came to live at our house for the next six weeks as she went through a rough, painful recovery process.
Mandi was able to return to work as a Licensed Social Worker part time on March 30, 2015 and gradually worked back up to full time hours. As you can imagine, this procedure did not come without significant financial strain from the medical expenses incurred, as well as other unforseen expenses that came along with the surgery, but also lost wages due to not being able to conduct her photography business as usual for a secondary income. This has now left her and her husband with a huge financial burden to carry and has made life difficult and added more stress than she needs as she continues to heal.
This is why I am reaching out to you for help. You know that Mandi is always the first one to help out others in need by organizing Cancer benefits, volunteering her time at non-profit agencies, donating Christmas gifts to the homeless, and even donating her hair to Locks of Love three times! She has built her whole life around helping others and does so without ever expecting anything in return.This is our chance to pay it forward and give back to someone who truly deserves our support. Any donations are greatly appreciated! Thank you.
~Wanda and Dave Thorson~
If you would like to learn more information about Chiari Malformation, please feel free to follow this link:
http://www.mayfieldchiaricenter.com/chiari.php
On January 28, 2015, Mandi underwent brain surgery at Sanford in Fargo, ND in attempts to fix this malformation. During this surgery they removed a portion of the skull, a portion of the C1 vertebrae, the part of the brain that had been hanging down in the spinal canal, and then opened an area of the brain stem to place a patch in there to make it wider in order for the spinal fluid to flow better. After spending six days in the hospital, she was released and came to live at our house for the next six weeks as she went through a rough, painful recovery process.
Mandi was able to return to work as a Licensed Social Worker part time on March 30, 2015 and gradually worked back up to full time hours. As you can imagine, this procedure did not come without significant financial strain from the medical expenses incurred, as well as other unforseen expenses that came along with the surgery, but also lost wages due to not being able to conduct her photography business as usual for a secondary income. This has now left her and her husband with a huge financial burden to carry and has made life difficult and added more stress than she needs as she continues to heal.
This is why I am reaching out to you for help. You know that Mandi is always the first one to help out others in need by organizing Cancer benefits, volunteering her time at non-profit agencies, donating Christmas gifts to the homeless, and even donating her hair to Locks of Love three times! She has built her whole life around helping others and does so without ever expecting anything in return.This is our chance to pay it forward and give back to someone who truly deserves our support. Any donations are greatly appreciated! Thank you.
~Wanda and Dave Thorson~
If you would like to learn more information about Chiari Malformation, please feel free to follow this link:
http://www.mayfieldchiaricenter.com/chiari.php
Organizer
Wanda Thorson
Organizer
West Fargo, ND