Alia Porter & Family
Donation protected
HI! I am starting this GoFundMe on behalf of my daughter and her wife, Kristen and Angela Porter to help with expenses related to their baby's complex medical issues. Along with dealing with Alia being in the hospital, they are also in the process of adopting Teah (who happens to be bio siblings with Brandon and Brynn) and its been a bit stressful for them as of late. If you can donate, any little bit will help. If not we just ask for your prayers as they continue to navigate through the difficulties until they get home to Coleraine as a family again. Please SHARE this so we can get the most exposure possible. Thanks!
FROM KRISTEN:
Our pregnancy with Alia was going completely normal 4 months ago, when we went to our 20-week scan, excited to learn our baby’s gender. Instead, we were told that there appeared to be something wrong with our baby’s brain. We were referred to a specialist in Duluth for a level 2 ultrasound. A few weeks later, the specialist confirmed that our baby has Spina Bifida, a birth defect in her neural tube. Alia’s is called Myelomeningocele, which means there was a hole in her spine, leaving amniotic fluid to seep into her body, causing nerve damage. We have no idea to what extent the damage was done. But, fortunately, her case didn’t seem quite as severe as others. We were then offered three choices. We could terminate the pregnancy, wait until after she was born to repair the hole in her spine, or we could do fetal surgery, IF we qualified. The fetal surgery has been found to prevent further damage from occurring, which they assured us would happen if we waited. Each passing day, we had no idea if her nerves were being damaged even more. Her case was so great, they felt she had more to gain from the surgery, as she had more to lose the longer we waited. But there were conditions we had to meet to qualify for fetal surgery. I would have to remain one hour from the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy, about ten weeks, and I could not lift more than a gallon of milk. It’s a very delicate surgery and would require me to be near the hospital in case of a uterine rupture, and I could not work or care for our daughter. Ultimately, we were offered the surgery and accepted.
I had surgery on December 4. It was a successful surgery, despite minor complications. We are so grateful for our amazing team of doctors here at the Children’s Hospital of Minneapolis. I spent the remainder of my pregnancy in a dorm room at the hospital, which we are so thankful for. Without it, we couldn’t have done the surgery. My c-section was scheduled for February 21, but my water broke, and Alia was born seven weeks early, rather than the four we planned on. She’s 4 weeks old and doing great so far! But because of how early she came, and because of the patch healing on her spine, she’s been in the NICU and then the ICC since she was born, and we still don’t have a discharge date set yet, but we’re hoping just a few more weeks. Her patch needs to heal completely, and she needs to learn how to eat still.
Since the surgery, we’ve had a pretty difficult time. Angela is finishing her last semester of college and will be graduating this spring. Her GI Bill was contributing to our household expenses, so we couldn’t afford for her to take time off. Her father became sick last summer with lung cancer and passed the night my water broke. She made several last-minute trips to Florida to be with her family during this difficult time. She spends nearly every weekend in the cities with me, over 3 hours away from home. We’ve traveled back and forth for countless doctor’s appointments over the last 4 months. We had a decent savings put away and planned on finishing the renovations on our home this summer. We bought the house with unfinished bedrooms and a partially finished kitchen and bathroom. We’re in the process of adopting our foster daughter, a process that has taken nearly a year and a half to get to. In the middle of all this, my car had some issues and that cost us a lot more than we could afford. Between all the traveling to and from the cities for our girls, the trips back to Florida for Angela to be with her family, the car problems and the countless medical appointments we can count on in the coming months, we are saddened to be at this point. We’ve nearly drained our savings and maxed out the credit cards. We had planned carefully for emergencies, and I don’t believe we could have been more prepared for something like this, and still, we’ve ended up here. Angela has been in the military for 10 years, even joining the Reserves when she left Active Duty, so we could keep our health insurance. The medical bills have started coming in, and even covering the majority of them, we’re still left with large copays, several months of bills that haven’t even come in yet, including the actual surgery. We have no idea what exactly we’ll be left to pay, but just a few consultations with the neurosurgeon alone will cost us nearly $1000.
This leads us to today. We’ve had several family members urge us to start a Go Fund Me, and my mom offered to set it up for us. We’re finally at our breaking point and have decided to go for it. We are humbly asking for your help, so we can continue to focus on Alia's health and completing Teah's adoption. We never anticipated being here. We are so fortunate to have insurance and have saved over the years to give our girls the best future we can. We had taken so much care to ensure our future, and still, we couldn’t anticipate this. It’s a very humbling and disappointing feeling to realize all the hard work you put in for your family isn’t enough to cover their needs. This time has also been a validation of the amazing support and encouragement we’ve had from our wonderful friends and family. We’re asking for help, whether it be by donation or prayers or sharing this account, to offset some of the costs and relieve some of the financial burden.
With the donations, we’d be able to continue our traveling to and from the cities during the remainder of Alia’s hospital stay, as well as the many appointments we can foresee in the immediate future. We will be making several trips to the cities after her discharge, as we have to do regular scans on her brain to make sure the ventricles are not swelling, which would ultimately mean brain surgery. We’re not sure what her medical needs will be, and at what cost to us. We do know that she will continue physical therapy in Minneapolis and will be seeing a team of specialists and her neurosurgeon regularly after we go home. We never thought we’d be at the point where we’re asking our friends and family for help of this kind, but we’re so grateful you’ve read our story and for whatever support you’ve shown us. Thank you!
FROM KRISTEN:
Our pregnancy with Alia was going completely normal 4 months ago, when we went to our 20-week scan, excited to learn our baby’s gender. Instead, we were told that there appeared to be something wrong with our baby’s brain. We were referred to a specialist in Duluth for a level 2 ultrasound. A few weeks later, the specialist confirmed that our baby has Spina Bifida, a birth defect in her neural tube. Alia’s is called Myelomeningocele, which means there was a hole in her spine, leaving amniotic fluid to seep into her body, causing nerve damage. We have no idea to what extent the damage was done. But, fortunately, her case didn’t seem quite as severe as others. We were then offered three choices. We could terminate the pregnancy, wait until after she was born to repair the hole in her spine, or we could do fetal surgery, IF we qualified. The fetal surgery has been found to prevent further damage from occurring, which they assured us would happen if we waited. Each passing day, we had no idea if her nerves were being damaged even more. Her case was so great, they felt she had more to gain from the surgery, as she had more to lose the longer we waited. But there were conditions we had to meet to qualify for fetal surgery. I would have to remain one hour from the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy, about ten weeks, and I could not lift more than a gallon of milk. It’s a very delicate surgery and would require me to be near the hospital in case of a uterine rupture, and I could not work or care for our daughter. Ultimately, we were offered the surgery and accepted.
I had surgery on December 4. It was a successful surgery, despite minor complications. We are so grateful for our amazing team of doctors here at the Children’s Hospital of Minneapolis. I spent the remainder of my pregnancy in a dorm room at the hospital, which we are so thankful for. Without it, we couldn’t have done the surgery. My c-section was scheduled for February 21, but my water broke, and Alia was born seven weeks early, rather than the four we planned on. She’s 4 weeks old and doing great so far! But because of how early she came, and because of the patch healing on her spine, she’s been in the NICU and then the ICC since she was born, and we still don’t have a discharge date set yet, but we’re hoping just a few more weeks. Her patch needs to heal completely, and she needs to learn how to eat still.
Since the surgery, we’ve had a pretty difficult time. Angela is finishing her last semester of college and will be graduating this spring. Her GI Bill was contributing to our household expenses, so we couldn’t afford for her to take time off. Her father became sick last summer with lung cancer and passed the night my water broke. She made several last-minute trips to Florida to be with her family during this difficult time. She spends nearly every weekend in the cities with me, over 3 hours away from home. We’ve traveled back and forth for countless doctor’s appointments over the last 4 months. We had a decent savings put away and planned on finishing the renovations on our home this summer. We bought the house with unfinished bedrooms and a partially finished kitchen and bathroom. We’re in the process of adopting our foster daughter, a process that has taken nearly a year and a half to get to. In the middle of all this, my car had some issues and that cost us a lot more than we could afford. Between all the traveling to and from the cities for our girls, the trips back to Florida for Angela to be with her family, the car problems and the countless medical appointments we can count on in the coming months, we are saddened to be at this point. We’ve nearly drained our savings and maxed out the credit cards. We had planned carefully for emergencies, and I don’t believe we could have been more prepared for something like this, and still, we’ve ended up here. Angela has been in the military for 10 years, even joining the Reserves when she left Active Duty, so we could keep our health insurance. The medical bills have started coming in, and even covering the majority of them, we’re still left with large copays, several months of bills that haven’t even come in yet, including the actual surgery. We have no idea what exactly we’ll be left to pay, but just a few consultations with the neurosurgeon alone will cost us nearly $1000.
This leads us to today. We’ve had several family members urge us to start a Go Fund Me, and my mom offered to set it up for us. We’re finally at our breaking point and have decided to go for it. We are humbly asking for your help, so we can continue to focus on Alia's health and completing Teah's adoption. We never anticipated being here. We are so fortunate to have insurance and have saved over the years to give our girls the best future we can. We had taken so much care to ensure our future, and still, we couldn’t anticipate this. It’s a very humbling and disappointing feeling to realize all the hard work you put in for your family isn’t enough to cover their needs. This time has also been a validation of the amazing support and encouragement we’ve had from our wonderful friends and family. We’re asking for help, whether it be by donation or prayers or sharing this account, to offset some of the costs and relieve some of the financial burden.
With the donations, we’d be able to continue our traveling to and from the cities during the remainder of Alia’s hospital stay, as well as the many appointments we can foresee in the immediate future. We will be making several trips to the cities after her discharge, as we have to do regular scans on her brain to make sure the ventricles are not swelling, which would ultimately mean brain surgery. We’re not sure what her medical needs will be, and at what cost to us. We do know that she will continue physical therapy in Minneapolis and will be seeing a team of specialists and her neurosurgeon regularly after we go home. We never thought we’d be at the point where we’re asking our friends and family for help of this kind, but we’re so grateful you’ve read our story and for whatever support you’ve shown us. Thank you!
Organiser and beneficiary
Joanna Frisby
Organiser
Coleraine, MN
Kristen Porter
Beneficiary