My name is Carol Wilburn, my granddaughter Karma is having a major back surgery soon, and my son Dustin and his Family, Jenifer and Karma, need help with some expenses like gas, food, and lodging. Jenifer has made a statement on what's going on here It is.

Jen:

Friends and Family:

We don't normally put a lot of what's going on in our lives on Social Media, but we figured we should let family and friends know what is going on with Karma. In May of this year, we traveled to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah to meet with a Pediatric Spine Surgeon. Karma had some imaging done last fall that showed some immediate concerns in her spine. We went thru the referrals and imaging and appointments and found out it is a rare birth defect that happened in utero. Karma's spine did not separate in most places or form discs in half of her back, and she now has a 35% bend in her spine that should only be 5-10% and is needing surgery to correct it. We will be headed to Salt Lake City again the end of September for a 6 hour surgery and as long as there is no problems, she will hopefully only be in the hospital for a week. They will be preforming a form of an Osteotomy. They will be removing a chunk of her spine, taking a peice off the back of her vertebrae and then wiring the piece back together and then placing back in her back and then placing rods and screws in most of her spine to correct the bend (T6-L1 that we know of so far). The hardware they place will be permanent. There is a risk of another surgery down the road, but we are praying that doesn't happen. The name we have been given so far is Congenital Vertebral Fusion. Karmas is rare because it is in her Thoracic and Lumbar spine, whereas most forms are found in the Cervical spine. Karma is currently in Physical Therapy a couple times a week and she has some upcoming appointments with other specialists to make sure that she doesn't have other damage in her nerves or whatnot. When we get home from Utah, we will need to travel to Missoula to meet with her surgeon for follow-ups until she is released to hopefully go back to school. She will be missing at least a month of school and they are estimating at least a 6 month recovery time. We ask that you please keep Karma in your prayers as she comes to terms with this big life changing medical issue and please keep our family in your prayers as we try and navigate how we will financially afford all these more trips on top of our almost weekly trips to specialists that are 3.5 hours away that we are already currently dealing with for Dustin's and my health issues. We appreciate you taking the time to read this and we will keep you all updated on what's going on. Have a blessed day.

We have tried local recourses and we are waiting for a call back from the Ronald McDonald house in Utah.