Moving Mountains For Mitzie

This is Mitzie Hensley. She is a lover of life who enjoys the outdoors, her job (nearly 20 years with the Washington County Sheriff's Department), time spent with friends, and most importantly her family which consists of her Husband Tony, son Christian-18 years old, and 2 stepdaughters Morgan-8 years old and Meranda-23 years old. This is Mitzie's story. One morning when Mitzie was 22 years old, 7 months pregnant with her son, Christian, she woke up with a raspy voice. She wrote it off as laryngitis. Soon afterward, Mitzie started getting choked (often and even on liquids) . Soon after Chriatians birth, Mitzie sought treatment and a few months later she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a goiter and nodules on her thyroid. Doctors assumed that, because the thyroid wraps around the voice box, that the thyroid and/or a virus had been the cause of Mitzie's raspy voice and choking issues...remove thyroid, problem solved. If only it could have been that simple. During the years following her thyroid removal, Mitzie endured many related issues but moved along through life, learning to cope with the issues assuming this was just how it was going to be. Fast forward to the summer of 2017. While standing in her kitchen, Mitzie had a violent coughing and choking episode; an episode that was so intense it made her sick. As soon as the episode subsided, Mitzie knew she needed to see an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor because choking on food and water was one thing; but choking on nothing was a BIG deal! Mitzie met with an E.N.T. and, like countless times before, recapped what she had experienced. She also mentioned to him that she had a small knot under her jawline near her ear. Mitzie also explained that the knot had grown and told the E.N.T. that it was not a swollen lymph node as it had been written off as before. Mitzie's E. N. T. Doctor decided to send her for an MRI and after years and years of battling symptoms and many unanswered questions, that MRI provided an answer. Mitzi had been living with a mass at the base of her skull. In Novemeber 2017 Mitzie was seen at Vanderbilt and in December she had a biopsy to determine just what the mass was... It was a Meningioma with calcification. The tumor was located at the bottom of the skull, in the jugular,posterior fossa region. From there the Meningioma decided to take a rare form...it traveled through the cranial skull canals and into her neck where it encases her internal and external carotid arteries as well as the cranial nerves. This has left her with a paralyzed vocal cord, muscle atrophy in her neck and shoulder and eating and digestive issues. After an excrutiating, three month wait Mitzie received a heartbreaking call from her team of Doctors at Vanderbilt...they would not operate to remove the tumor due to the risks involved. They would only monitor for changes and use radiation therapy if the tumor changed. Not settling to sit back and wait for the tumor to slowly destroy her life, Mitzie again visited her local E.N.T. Doctor. He took control of the situation and sent Mitzie's records to a world renowned surgeon and otolaryngology specialist in New York City who, after reviewing her case, determined that the tumor can be removed. This is where you come in. Although Mitziw has prepared as much as she can, the financial burdens that she will soon be facing are insurmountable for her and her family. She is unable to work, her husband will miss work due to traveling with her and caring for her. There will be trips to New York City to prepare for the surgery, the surgery itself as well as post surgery care. Please donate to help Mitzie and her family on this journey. Any amount will help. And please share this page with others who may be able to help. Thank you so much!