My daughter just turned 3, and she’s been facing some issues that have now hit us kinda hard back to back, not mention her day to day is hard for her to get through without being in pain at somepoint or another. In early March, she had an episode with stroke-like symptoms after frequent headaches, which was becoming a very common complaint for a two-year-old. We reached out to her pediatrician, but as her symptoms started to improve, we were told to watch and wait. Still, I trusted my instincts and took her to a neurologist, where we began a series of tests to find answers. The EEGs revealed abnormalities and rapid firing seizures, and an MRI showed she was born with Chiari 1 malformation—three times larger than what’s considered normal. This malformation is encroaching on her cervical spine and cutting off the flow of her cerebral spinal fluid. She also has a pineal cyst and possible hippocampial stenosis, which can cause seizures. The neurologist is pushing surgery as this can get dangerous and cause complications if not taken care of.. her neurologist made it a point that when we were there to let us know he wanted her to sleep in our bed with us, to watch and losten incase any breathing issues arrise. her neurologist explained that she needs surgery as soon as possible to decompress the Chiari malformation, with a bone graft or patch to sustain the decompression. This comes with an extensive surgery, hospital stay, and recovery. We have scheduled surgery for June 18th and I an planning anywhere from 6-12 weeks off work for the recovery. We are already financially stretched. I just returned to work in February and don’t have PTO or FMLA, and my husband has limited PTO. We also have two other kids at home to care for, and the costs of food, gas, bills, and medical expenses are overwhelming. Really, anything helps make this journey a little lighter so we can focus solely on her is so so appreciated