We need help this time with second leg surgery in 10 months.

My name is Melissa and our daughter is having to have a second, more invasive bilateral leg surgery on Thursday May 9th. Her first bilateral leg surgery was on July 5, 2023 and we haven’t fully recovered financially from that surgery. I’ve had to be out of work to care for her because she hasn’t been able to walk okay. I was hired and was getting ready to start work substitute teaching when we were informed that she requires another major surgery to remove extra bones in both legs. She has a very rare condition that has not been seen much. She’s having a bilateral triple talar osteotomy removing 3 sections of bones in her tibia and talar plus work on the top tendon that it together. She has arthritis at the age of 15. In July, they worked on the Achilles and calf tissue to correct toe-walking which revealed the extra bones in her feet. She suffers from ankle impingement, vargas and metastasis in both legs. We’ve been blessed with a wonderful surgeon and medical team and consultations from foot and ankle specialists around the country. We are still making payments for the last surgery and exhausted our savings with expenses from the last surgery. We’ve been blessed with things we need this time around to help during recovery. Insurance is being even more horribly inhumane this go around and is denying payment on several things. They even lied and told us medical transport home from the hospital was being arranged and covered. They even have us a bogus confirmation number last Monday. I discovered yesterday that was also a lie. I’ll deal with them later on but we can’t waste anymore time. Surgery is in less than 48 hours from today. My husband, Jack, has a great full time job and even took on a second job and works so hard without a single complaint. God blessed us with Jack who is the kindest, funniest and most loving person I’ve ever met. I have never been out of work this long since I was 14 years old. It’s just not fair for Jack to feel so much pressure but he has started so positive, compassionate and strong. We just got married last year and he’s been so supportive and loving to my daughters, especially our little leg patient. She describes him as her best friend who happens to be a goofy middle aged guy. I haven’t received child support from her biological father (who is not part of her life) since September 2021 and,apparently, he works cash jobs so child enforcement can’t garnish him. Several years ago, We (myself with my two daughters) escaped from the above mentioned non-child-supporting-paying individual after a decade long domestic violence situation and I have a permanent no contact order against him. She’s (all 3 of us actually) in trauma therapy because of her biological father. She has Autism Spectrum Disorder II and these invasive procedures are extremely stressful and traumatic for her. Despite our not so happy past, we have a really happy life now. We live in a great community in a rural town and love to volunteer. Our town is full of amazing, living people and I’m thankful God brought us here in 2020. Jack and I are puppet artists and total goofballs. We have digital media company and make short films (not much lately due to medical stuff). Our daughter is so funny, talented, creative and loves joking around. She loves music, cooking, baking and is a skilled artist. I need help please. I’m an artist and I can paint, draw, sculpt something for you. Make you a pie, etc. I love writing silly songs and will gladly write you a song about anything you want! The amount of money I’m trying to raise pays off the last surgery from July, will cover transport home from the hospital for our daughter and cover the deductible and other items the insurance denied coverage on. I don’t typically ask for help unless it is an emergency and it is an emergency. I prefer to be the one helping you out, to be perfectly honest.

I pray that you be blessed one thousand times for blessing us.

After calculating the amount needed, I looked up the number in the Bible. I’ll end with this scripture from Isaiah 58:11 because I believe this is true:

”The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.”

Thank you and I love you my fellow humans who also have your own set of challenges today, but took a minute to consider ours.