Hey Friends… On July 15th, our friend, Amy Louthan will check in at Duke to undergo a very serious brain surgery that, if successful, will correct years of balance issues and allow her to walk, drive, and enjoy some version of normal life again. What an opportunity for us to step up and bless a dear sweet family who has endured so many trials. For the last 8 years, Amy has dealt with an unimaginable medical journey - there are lots of details that are too lengthy to share here, but I’d love for you to know Amy and her abbreviated story.
Amy is originally from Greensboro, NC and is married to Keith, who currently teaches math at JT Hoggard High School and is on the Varsity football coaching staff. They have 3 children, Ellison, Hunter and Austin, who is married to Olivia. In 2013, after a visit to the dentist to address pain in her jaw, a very rare cancerous tumor was discovered in the base of Amy’s brain behind her right ear. Amy had surgery to remove the tumor, followed by many months of aggressive radiation. After nearly a year of treatments, the cancer was finally gone, but unfortunately there was what seemed to be permanent damage to Amy’s brain affecting her balance and most all of her fine motor functions.
Fast forward 8 years… 8 very important years during which her kids grew through middle school, and high school… proms, graduations, college, marriage… while Amy didn’t miss many of these events, she could never fully participate with her kids during these milestone events because of the intense imbalance and lack of endurance.
All this time, Keith & Amy have quietly walked through this journey in faith, which as you can imagine, has been a crippling burden of medical bills, thousands of miles back and forth to Duke & Chapel Hill, medications, medical supplies and therapy. Fortunately, so many have helped to shoulder the burden along the way.
The GOOD NEWS…. without going into too much detail, most of Amy’s doctors had written off her imbalance issues as just an unfortunate casualty of the cancer and radiation treatments from 8 years ago, and something that she’d have to live with the rest of her life. Even more troubling to Amy, is that she has been told by several specialist that she might not actually be experiencing dizziness, and no real explanation for her symptoms or feeling. (Can you even imagine being constantly dizzy 24-7, and being told that it may not be real or that it is just your permanent reality?) HOWEVER, a few months ago her physical therapist and doctors verified that this was a genuine vestibular balance issue that can be corrected - this is news that Amy has waited on for 7 years. The unfortunate news… it has to be corrected via the same brain surgery that began all of this back in 2013.
On July 15th, Amy & Keith will check in at Duke to undergo a very serious brain surgery, but if successful, along with a long road of physical therapy, will correct her balance issue and allow her to walk, drive, and enjoy normal life again. (You may be reading this well after her surgery has taken place.)
Here’s where we can help… even with their health insurance, the out of pocket expenses for surgery, recovery and long term extensive rehab therapy are expected to top $30,000 - 40,000.
Let’s step in, and not just contribute, but let’s stand in this gap for them and help keep them from the feeling of drowning in bills and debt. Amy’s recovery is going to take so much focus and energy from both her and Keith, and if we could help them from feeling the financial burden, then we could all be a part of Amy’s recovery in a very tangible way. Please share this post and link with anyone who would like to help bless this beautiful family!
