Hi everyone! I'm Ashleigh, and I am starting this to raise money for my sister Maddi.

My sister is an amazing woman and mother. She works as a nurse in the Pediatric ER at St. Francis. She and her husband welcomed their second child, a healthy, beautiful baby girl earlier this year on March 2. Their oldest will be turning 4 in October. Their little family also bought a new home last December as they have been working hard to grow their family and have a forever home to raise the kids in.

As with most major medical issues in life, there is never a good time for them; such is the case for Maddi. Maddi had been having vision issues and severe headaches for a few days, so she went to an eye doctor. The eye doctor explained she was probably experiencing intercrainial hypertension and referred her to get an MRI.

Maddi had the MRI, and within an hour after leaving, the doctor called her (which is never a good sign). She informed Maddi that the MRI showed Maddi has an aneurysm and would need to have a CT Scan and meet with a neurosurgeon ASAP. Maddi had a CT Scan the next day, which revealed she, in fact, has TWO aneurysms. She then met with the neurosurgeon a couple of days later, and he scheduled her to have an angiogram on 8/15; a procedure where they send a scope through your artery from your thigh up to your brain to check things out.

Based on the findings from the angiogram, the neurosurgeon says Maddi needs to have surgery to deal with the aneurysms. This will be a fairly invasive surgery into Maddi's brain right above her left temple to go in and clip the two aneurysms. She will have to stay in the ICU for at least one night and then remain in the hospital for 3-5 more days. After she is cleared to go home, she will not be able to work or do much of anything for around 30 days, depending on how she handles the procedure and how her body recovers.

Not only will Maddi be unable to work for 1-2 months, but they will also need to hire a nanny to come and help with the children since Maddi won't be able to do a whole lot nor lift more than 10 lbs for 6 weeks!

And remember the healthy baby girl she just had earlier this year? After giving birth, as any mother does, Maddi took 12 weeks of maternity leave from work. That means she has less than a day of PTO saved back up since returning to work after her leave. She will not have enough PTO to cover the amount of time off she will need to have her brain surgery and recover from it adequately enough to return to work.

As you can imagine, at 32 years old, no one expects to have to undergo brain surgery (a terrifying and potentially life-threatening procedure); therefore, Maddi is making sure all her affairs are in order before the surgery. This is another unexpected expense, hiring an attorney to complete and file all the things.

With two small children, a new home, minimal PTO and several known and unknown unexpected expenses arising, Maddi and her family are reasonably afraid they will not be able to cover all their bills. This is the reason I am making this GoFundMe. I want to help raise some money to help ensure my sister can go into her brain surgery, knowing that money is one thing she doesn't have to stress about while she recovers.

Anything you can donate will be appreciated! Thank you!