Kimberly's Spinal Cord Surgery Fund
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Dear Friends & Family,
Many of you have followed along my medical journey the last four years. It's truly been a journey - with diagnoses, misdiagnoses, lots of medical travel, and finally, an answer! I was diagnosed with a rare condition/disease - Tethered Cord Syndrome (TCS) - as well as a rare Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) disorder called a Chiari Malformation. If that sentence didn't make any sense to you, you're not alone! Basically, the inside of my spinal cord has attached itself to my spine (TCS). This is stretching my spinal cord and pulling my brain down (Chiari). Because of these things, I struggle with:
- Intracranial Hypertension (caused by my Chiari) which causes headaches, nausea, balance issues, hearing loss, visual changes, and pain in my spine, neck & shoulders.
- POTS, which causes heart palpitations and severe fluctuations in beats per minute.
- TSymptoms (caused by my TCS) like tingling and numbness in my legs and arms, numbness in my face and tongue. Full body tremors and seizure-like episodes, severe muscle twitches, bathroom issues, severe back pain, pain down my legs, burning sensation in my legs, muscle weakness, and trouble walking.
Many of these things have been episodic with periods of relief in between. I go from weeks of being bed-bound and using a walker to living my life to somewhat normally. I have had countless visits to the ER - and days that I thought would be my last - all while trying to raise three tiny humans and run a business with my husband, Josh.
Thankfully Tethered Cord Syndrome can be treated surgically. If surgery doesn't happen early, it may lead to serious consequences, such as deteriorating motor and sensory functions. In some cases, it may lead to paralysis of the lower body and the total loss of bowel and bladder functions.
Due to the rarity of TCS, Josh and I will be traveling to Rhode Island for surgery. We are so fortunate to have access there to the very best - and one of the only - neurosurgeons who performs TCS surgery on adults. I am scheduled for surgery on October 30th, and we will have to be in RI for 10-12 days total.
We are beyond thankful to have a diagnosis, and hold so much hope that this surgery will improve my quality of life dramatically. However, this will be a very costly trip and surgery, and we could use some financial assistance for medical and travel costs. Our goal is $7,000 - and realistically, more - but this would help us tremendously as we are still paying off quite a bit of medical debt. Anything you give would be a huge blessing. Please keep us in your prayers as our family continues to walk through this storm - we are both hopeful and exhausted.
Thank you for your donations, thank you for your prayers, and thank you to all of you who have been a constant support to our family the last few years. We are incredibly grateful for each of you.
With love,
Kim & the Orrisons
Co-organizers (2)
Kimberly Orrison
Organizer
Loveland, CO
Josh Orrison
Co-organizer