Lily's Post-Surgery and Recovery
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Chris Conley. I go by "ChristaBorg" on online forums, including Twitter and Twitch. I'm 30 years old, and have a wonderful wife and 4 children. My wife's name is Andrea, and our children are Nicole, Levi, Ben, and Lily Anne.
(Nicole and Levi pictured above)
(Ben and Lily pictured above)
(Myself with my wife)
This GoFundMe page is for my youngest daughter, Lily Anne. Lily was born on May 7th 2017, and the doctors immedately recognized a potential problem. We confirmed this birth defect at the Children's Hospital in Vancouver, BC last week. Lily has something called "sagittal craniosynostosis", which can be read up on here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosynostosis
Essentially, sagittal craniosynostosis is a fusing of the skull bones, specifically the ones on the top of the head, too early, creating potential problems both aesthetic and developmental later in life if not treated.
This is a photo of Lily's head showing the clearly elongated skull, which would get worse as the brain continues to grow with nowhere to go but forwards/backwards
Lily's not our first child who has had this rare genetic defect. Our 2nd child, Levi, also had it, and had corrective surgery in April of 2011 at 4 months old.
(Myself and Levi on surgery day)
(Myself and Levi during his recovery, wearing a special Orthotic helmet)
Levi's surgery was a success, but it is a long and arduous recovery time when the surgery is performed. The surgery itself doesnt cost very much, but the recovery time, helmet, and frequent visits to the Children's Hospital add up over time. During this time in 2011, we were living in Prince George, renting a duplex. The nearest Children's Hospital is in Vancouver, a 9 hour drive (or 90min flight) away. Because the Orthotic helmet needs to be adjusted once every week or two at the hospital, the stress and cost of the many trips between Prince George and Vancouver convinced us to move to a closer location (Abbotsford) partway through Levi's recovery.
Fast forward to 2016, and the housing market in Abbotsford, much like the rest of Vancouver, had exploded. We decided that since we had no "need" to be in the Vancouver area, we could move back to Prince George and purchase a nice big house for a very reasonable price, so in October of 2016 we moved back to Prince George.
As you can imagine, with Lily's impending surgery scheduled for August 8th and the weekly and/or biweekly appointments at the Children's Hospital beginning shortly thereafter, there is a large post-operation cost here. Because we OWN a house in Prince George now, its much harder (nigh impossible) to move back into the Vancouver area, so we are forced to shoulder the costs of the following:
Surgery (Free, covered by health insurance)
Orthotic Helmet: $2800 **ORTHOTIC HELMET WILL BE COVERED BY EXTENDED MEDICAL. COST TO US, $0!
Each trip to Vancouver: ~$400 a piece for 1 person (Andrea) to go on a round trip flight plus a night at a hotel/meal/etc.
(Note, driving to Vancouver is an option, but with 4 kids and a 9 hour ride in the van, if you include food and gas cost plus missed work, I think flying ends up being cheaper)
Number of trips to Vancouver: 1 every 1-2 weeks for the first 3 months, 1 every 2-3 weeks for the next 3 months. Estimated total trips: 12-15.
All donations will go into a specific bank account that is currently unused, and money will be transferred out and into the chequing account or on to the visa when we spend it. We're also applying for some charity help: Variety Children's Charity might cover the helmet cost, and Hope Air could possibly cover some of the trips.
After the 6-9month recovery time has passed, if we have extra money left over, I would like to "pay it forward" and make a sizable donation to either VCH directly (Vancouver Children's Hospital), or alternatively to St Jude Children's Charity, another Childrens Hospital that has a relationship to Twitch, where I stream.
Thank you for the consideration.
My newest little Diva thanks you!
Edit August 9th 2017
Bonus Pictures!
(Nicole and Levi pictured above)
(Ben and Lily pictured above)(Myself with my wife)This GoFundMe page is for my youngest daughter, Lily Anne. Lily was born on May 7th 2017, and the doctors immedately recognized a potential problem. We confirmed this birth defect at the Children's Hospital in Vancouver, BC last week. Lily has something called "sagittal craniosynostosis", which can be read up on here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosynostosis
Essentially, sagittal craniosynostosis is a fusing of the skull bones, specifically the ones on the top of the head, too early, creating potential problems both aesthetic and developmental later in life if not treated.
This is a photo of Lily's head showing the clearly elongated skull, which would get worse as the brain continues to grow with nowhere to go but forwards/backwardsLily's not our first child who has had this rare genetic defect. Our 2nd child, Levi, also had it, and had corrective surgery in April of 2011 at 4 months old.
(Myself and Levi on surgery day)(Myself and Levi during his recovery, wearing a special Orthotic helmet)Levi's surgery was a success, but it is a long and arduous recovery time when the surgery is performed. The surgery itself doesnt cost very much, but the recovery time, helmet, and frequent visits to the Children's Hospital add up over time. During this time in 2011, we were living in Prince George, renting a duplex. The nearest Children's Hospital is in Vancouver, a 9 hour drive (or 90min flight) away. Because the Orthotic helmet needs to be adjusted once every week or two at the hospital, the stress and cost of the many trips between Prince George and Vancouver convinced us to move to a closer location (Abbotsford) partway through Levi's recovery.
Fast forward to 2016, and the housing market in Abbotsford, much like the rest of Vancouver, had exploded. We decided that since we had no "need" to be in the Vancouver area, we could move back to Prince George and purchase a nice big house for a very reasonable price, so in October of 2016 we moved back to Prince George.
As you can imagine, with Lily's impending surgery scheduled for August 8th and the weekly and/or biweekly appointments at the Children's Hospital beginning shortly thereafter, there is a large post-operation cost here. Because we OWN a house in Prince George now, its much harder (nigh impossible) to move back into the Vancouver area, so we are forced to shoulder the costs of the following:
Surgery (Free, covered by health insurance)
Orthotic Helmet: $2800 **ORTHOTIC HELMET WILL BE COVERED BY EXTENDED MEDICAL. COST TO US, $0!
Each trip to Vancouver: ~$400 a piece for 1 person (Andrea) to go on a round trip flight plus a night at a hotel/meal/etc.
(Note, driving to Vancouver is an option, but with 4 kids and a 9 hour ride in the van, if you include food and gas cost plus missed work, I think flying ends up being cheaper)
Number of trips to Vancouver: 1 every 1-2 weeks for the first 3 months, 1 every 2-3 weeks for the next 3 months. Estimated total trips: 12-15.
All donations will go into a specific bank account that is currently unused, and money will be transferred out and into the chequing account or on to the visa when we spend it. We're also applying for some charity help: Variety Children's Charity might cover the helmet cost, and Hope Air could possibly cover some of the trips.
After the 6-9month recovery time has passed, if we have extra money left over, I would like to "pay it forward" and make a sizable donation to either VCH directly (Vancouver Children's Hospital), or alternatively to St Jude Children's Charity, another Childrens Hospital that has a relationship to Twitch, where I stream.
Thank you for the consideration.
My newest little Diva thanks you!Edit August 9th 2017
Bonus Pictures!
Organizer
Chris Conley
Organizer
Prince George, BC
