Medical and Travel Expenses for Abby

Abby has a genetic disorder that causes benign tumors. She was diagnosed with that disorder as an infant. At the age of 5 a brain tumor was found, causing excess fluid on the brain.  She was flown to Memphis for immediate surgery.   That surgery was sufficient as it kept the fluid off of her brain for several years. At age 10 she had more surgery to place a VP shunt in her brain to drain excess fluid.  She is now almost 18 and has done well up until now.  She had been a St. Jude patient since the tumor was found but has since aged out of St. Jude.  With St. Jude, cost is never an issue, but without them, the family must use their high-deductible insurance and then pay 20% plus travel expenses. 

A month ago, Abby had 3 brain surgeries to revise the VP shunt after it had malfunctioned. Since then, her and her mom have been traveling to Knoxville to East Tennessee Children's Hospital trying to adjust the settings on her VP shunt to prevent excess fluid on the brain, otherwise known as hydrocephalus, which can cause very serious brain damage or death.  That had been unsuccessful.  She was rushed by ambulance back to Knoxville on April 30th in very serious condition.  A 4th surgery will be done in a few days to replace the new shunt with a shunt with more sensitive drain pressure settings. 

Abby's mom has been off work without pay since April 4th and with more surgery planned, she may not work for a few more weeks.  This is putting a terrible burden on the family with out-of-pocket medical expenses and travel expenses to and from Knoxville