Support Cali's Daughter's Medical Journey

I'm organizing this fundraiser on behalf of my coworker, Cali Vanderwiel. Cali is a single mom of 4 beautiful daughters: Paisley (9), Harley (5), Ensley (2), and Brynley (8 months). This money will help with her medical bills related to her daughter's medical expenses while she is unable to work.

Here is Brynley's story:

She got sick in May with bronchitis and RSV and went to the hospital because her breathing was restricted. They did a chest x-ray to see if it was pneumonia and in doing so they found a mass. It was near her thymus gland and Cali was told to wait 2 months to do a follow-up chest x-ray.

On July 12th, they went back for a follow-up chest x-ray that showed the mass was still abnormal and had grown. They were then referred to go see a pediatric pulmonary specialist.

On July 22nd, they went to the specialist. She rushed them to Advocate Lutheran General hospital for a CT scan. While in the pediatric emergency room the CT scan came back abnormal and she was admitted in the pediatric ICU for an emergency biopsy procedure the next day.

The biopsy came back inconclusive due to complications and excessive bleeding during the procedure. The surgeon had to stop the procedure in order to control the bleeding and could not gather enough tissue for pathology. She was in the hospital for 2 days.

A week later, she was admitted to another hospital, where they have the best pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon. She examined her imaging and found that this tumor was on top of the heart, around a nerve that controls the diaphragm, and also had begun to deviate her trachea, causing her to gasp for breath frequently.

On August 8th, Brynley underwent heart surgery to remove the tumor and thymus gland. In doing so, they had to break all her sternum bones. In order to remove all the tumor, they had to open up the nerve which may have caused it to be paralyzed.

Brynley will continue to go for follow-up x-rays and ultrasounds to monitor her progress and damage to her nerve, as well as visits to the hematology oncology department to plan out their next steps.

Any donation would be greatly appreciated to help alleviate some of the financial burden related to medical expenses while Cali is out of work. Please donate and share to help Brynnie Bear!!