Raise money for medical bills for the Griegers

My name is Sharon Felts, and I am asking for financial help on behalf of my brother and his family. Jim and Tara Grieger have two children named Riley and Cal. This year, the family faces surgery for both children.

Riley is a little person with pseudoachondroplaisa (PSACH). She is 12 years old, and on December 8th and 9th, she had her 11th and 12th surgeries to correct skeletal deformities in her legs that cause her chronic daily pain. She will have another surgery in several weeks to remove medical hardware placed during the procedure on December 8th. This third procedure was unexpected. The family anticipated that Riley would have two full-leg casts. Instead, there was an unforeseen complication, and Riley now has a full leg cast on her right leg, an external fixator on her left femur, and a cast on her lower left leg. Due to her rare disorder, her orthopedic doctor is in Colombia, MO. This is seven hours away from where they live in Round Lake Beach, IL. They have had one recheck appointment in MO so far. The next appointment is on January 23rd (Riley’s 13th birthday), and there will be at least two more appointments in MO after that. In addition to medical bills, it is a financial strain on the family to pay for the travel that is necessary to get Riley the care she needs. Currently, she requires a full-time caregiver, necessitating Tara to stop working and care for Riley full-time. Furthermore, she has many appointments with pain doctors, pain therapists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists that Jim and Tara need to manage.

In addition to Riley’s complex medical needs, we learned over the past year and a half that Cal, my 8-year-old nephew and godson, only has 12% function in his left kidney. For several years, he got fevers of unknown origin that were treated with antibiotics. More diagnostics were eventually performed to find out that he is having recurrent urinary tract infections that have led to recurrent kidney infections. These recurrent kidney infections caused irreversible kidney damage. Where his left ureter enters the bladder, the urine is pushed back up towards the kidney, instead of into the bladder. Cal was supposed to have surgery this winter to relocate the ureter’s entrance into the bladder in hopes of correcting the retrograde flow and preserving the remaining kidney function. This has been postponed due to the amount of care that Riley needs. We are hoping he gets his surgery at the beginning of this summer. For now, he takes a low-dose antibiotic daily to prevent kidney infections that can further compromise kidney function.

Jim was only able to take 5 days off for Riley’s initial surgery and has been working 12-hour days to earn more money to pay for everything. Jim and Tara are more than used to meeting their insurance deductible and out-of-pocket expenses each year. However, with the amount of travel, lost wages, and services/medical equipment/wound management items not covered by insurance, they need financial support. The money for this fundraiser will allow the family to:

- Pay for the insurance deductible and out-of-pocket maximums

- Pay for services that aren’t covered by insurance

- Pay for travel costs associated with medical care

- Pay for medical equipment and adaptive items that enable Riley’s independence

On behalf of the Griegers, we appreciate your generosity.

Let me tell you more about the kids. Riley is a creative, sensitive soul. She works hard, gets good grades, and enjoys participating in her school’s robot team. Riley loves babies and enjoys cuddling all her younger cousins. Fun fact- in addition to being the oldest in her family, she’s also the oldest cousin on both sides of her extended family. She loves escape rooms and puzzles. She is incredibly imaginative. For long car rides, she puts together activity bags for her and her brother. When we went to Tennessee on a family vacation this past August, she arranged multiple scavenger hunts with complex hints and clues for all the cousins. She’s constantly crafting and creating. She warms our hearts, and we cherish her. It’s hard to not be able to take her pain away from the surgery and her condition. Right now, as a distraction, she wants to reorganize all her art supplies and get “adult” art supplies to work with.

Callen Jerald is an endearing handful. He is full of energy and hard to keep up with. He loves anything physical and imaginative play. He participates in and enjoys taekwondo and baseball. It’s been hard for him to stay home during Riley’s recovery. Not only is the lack of physical activity a challenge, but it’s also hard for him to see his sister in pain. Cal has a kind and loving heart. He is protective of his big sister and ready to stand up for her whenever. He, too, is sensitive and requires (and deserves) extra love and support.

I hope that you can help with any amount of money you can spare. Thank you.