Two Feet on the Ground

Serina "Rina" Flores was born three years ago with a rare orthopedic condition called Proximal Femur Focal Deficiency. Basically, she was born with a short left femur, deformed knee and deformed hip socket.

As a newborn we were told that she had no hip joint or socket along with her short femur and that this would prevent her from hitting milestones. We were not settling for those answers. We fought to have extensive testing done, and through the years, she has seen several specialists from California to Florida.

As turns out, she does have a hip bone and hip socket which opened up doors for her to other surgical options. As a family we have come to a decision to go with the Above Knee Amputation surgery. Due to her bone anatomy, this surgery will be different from most above-knee amputations. Serina will have a one-time surgery where doctors will correct her hip, surgically turn her leg so it's underneath her, fuse her short femur to her tibia and amputate from her foot down to prepare her for her mechanical knee. Serina's surgery has been scheduled for May 19, 2016. We feel this is the best solution for our little Rina.

Serina's medical treatment has made it very challenging for both of her parents to return to work.  As a one -income family, and I her mother, her primary caregiver, we are doing all that we can to give our little girl, the best life possible and give her the opportunity of finally having two feet on the ground with a working knee.

Some of our family & friends have asked if how they can make monetary donations to help with mounting medical costs, not covered by insurance. In response to growing generosity, we have set up this account to help us make this possible for our Rina.