Support for Sarah with her medical needs

Hello, everyone. First, I genuinely appreciate and thank you for taking the time to visit this page and read about Sarah’s situation. I am Sarah's mother, Rhonda, and I am creating this fundraiser on her behalf.

In April 2021, it was discovered that Sarah had a bone mass in her dominant hand.

Initial x-ray when the tumor was found.

Initial MRI to determine what areas were affected.

She underwent a bone biopsy, and it was determined to be an aggressive, fast-growing enchondroma. A curettage procedure was performed with a graft from her radius, and she was left with very little function in her dominant hand.

X-ray after curettage and graft.

In early 2022, we discovered that the first surgery had been unsuccessful which led to a more extensive surgery as the tumor had overtaken joints and tendons, which left pathology unable to determine if the tumor was an enchondroma (benign bone tumor) or a chondrosarcoma (type of cancer that forms in bone cartilage).

MRI showing growth of tumor outside of the proximal phalanx.

During this procedure, the diseased bones and joints in Sarah's thumb were removed and replaced with bone from her iliac crest and ilium, then fused and set with a plate and screws. Due to this more invasive procedure, she was left with near total loss of function and sensation in the thumb, and the rest of her dominant hand.

X-ray after hip graft and hardware were placed.

The surgical site became increasingly infected approximately a month after the hip graft/bone fusion, and she was prescribed multiple oral antibiotics to combat the infection. After six months of trying to find an appropriate oral antibiotic combination, it was suggested that they go back to surgery to remove the plate and screws in the hope that this would stop the infection.

The hardware removal did not stop the infection, and the pathology from surgery indicated that she had both finegoldia magna (a rare bacteria that infects bones and joints) and MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus). Sarah was then referred to an infectious disease specialist who prescribed daily intravenous antibiotic infusions for at least six weeks.

Last week she had the procedure to have a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) installed and has started her daily infusions of two different antibiotics at the hospital.

Sarah's insurance has not covered the 2022 procedures and she has spent her savings on the surgeries and now has the cost of the infusion treatments, which are approximately $250/day, not including the cost of the PICC line procedure, the anesthesia bills from the surgeries, and the stays in the hospital from adverse reactions to the oral antibiotics taken before she was prescribed the IV. Since the pathology from the invasive surgery was difficult to diagnose, the samples were then sent to the Mayo Clinic where it was deemed a “challenging case” that will require monitoring every few months to check on the status of the bone(s).

Not only has this been difficult for her physically, but emotionally more than anything. Having to see her in a cast or a brace for over 18 months, attempting to uphold her responsibilities to afford her treatments while being constantly sick due to the strong antibiotics has been extremely difficult, and I know that she would instead try to solve the problem herself before turning to her community for help as to not bring bad news to those she loves. ❤️