Our sweet boy David is scheduled for major surgery December 30th. He was born with Cleidocranial Dysplasia, which can cause bone malformations in the face, skull, and neck. In August of 2024 he fell off a chair and hit his head on the tile, and soon later he threw up; so we took him to the ER where they did a CT of his head (no brain injury thankfully.) This is how we discovered the abnormal skull and neck bones. The Orlando pediatric neurosurgeon sent us to Johns Hopkins in St. Petersburg and every six months since then David has gotten x-rays of his neck. We have delayed surgery as long as we could, but that also means we’ve had to keep a close watch on David’s activities to prevent spinal cord injury. Subsequent scans have shown increasing instability in his neck, which places him at high risk of catastrophic spinal cord injury. So, after getting multiple second and third opinions, cervical spinal fusion surgery needs to happen. Recovery time is 3-4 months of no strenuous activity. Stephen will take a month of paid sick leave but I will be out of work for the duration of his recovery to insure his activity restrictions and that he or his energetic little brother don’t compromise the healing process. The max out of pocket with insurance is $2,500, but we anticipate additional specialist bills that won’t be covered. We also will have travel expenses for his follow ups and my time spent not being able to work. (I don’t have paid days off since I work Per Diem.) Thank you for your help, as I know this is the holiday season!