We've got her back! Ella's Surgery

This is my niece Ella. She is 12 years old and has fast progressing scoliosis. Ella was diagnosed Jan of 2020 . She was sent to Boystown National Research Hospital in Omaha, NE to be seen by Dr. Sheehan. Prior to that consult, Tara was notified by that office that Ella was immediately being referred to Dr. John McCellan with NE Spine and Pain Center due to the severity of her scoliosis. After reviewing Ella's file, she was once again referred to a specialist in New Jersey, Dr. Randall Betz with the Institute for Spine and Scoliosis . Due to the severity of her curves, it was decided Ella is not a candidate for traditional spinal fusion surgery or spinal correction with bracing. Ella was fitted for a brace though to be worn only until a permanent plan was made. This was to hopefully help keep her spine from curving in the meantime. After wearing her brace for 23 hours a day for a couple weeks, it was discovered in another x Ray that her back was continuing to curve. This was very concerning for the specialist and he immediately labeled Ella's case as critical. 

It's been decided that Ella is a candidate for a new cutting edge medical procedure called Anterior Scoliosis Correction or ASC. 

This will require Ella to travel to New Jersey as there are only a few skilled surgeons in the nation that do this procedure. Dr. Betz and his colleagues are not only the ones who created this procedure but also educate and train other surgeons to be able to preform it. 

Ella will need to be in New Jersey 2 days prior to surgery and will have to stay in the hospital a minimum of 6 days giving everything goes as planned. She will then be discharged and required to stay in New Jersey for an additional week before she can be cleared to travel back to NE . 

With out this procedure Ella will become permanently disfigured and will face health concerns down the road. 

Our family would appreciate any help during this time. There are going to be lots of out of pocket expenses for quite awhile and anything to help is greatly appreciated.