Coach Cara's Best Chance - Help us, help her

‘Coach Cara’ is a Mummy of two young boys, AFL junior coach to lots of boys and girls ‘her kids’ and a loving friend to many.

After Cara’s last scan showed that her illness has progressed and has completely eaten away the L5/S1 disc in her spine, with a crushed nerve root and other complications in the area, she is now facing critical spinal fusion surgery.

Her specialist reports, ‘The only reasonable solution is surgical intervention for her disabling pain’.

Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion – An ALIF is a spinal operation where the spine is approached from the front rather than from the back. It is performed through the abdomen, with the assistance of a vascular surgeon to move the major blood vessels out of the way. Bone marrow from the hip is inserted within a wedge and a large titanium plate is then placed in the space where the disc was located, and screws are inserted through the plate and into the spinal bones for extra stability.

Beginning of October, Cara will fly solo to Brisbane to have the crucial surgery. She will spend one week in extensive hospital rehabilitation, before braving the painful flight home where intense recovery will begin.

Not to dismiss the current pain and restriction Cara is already in, post-surgery comes with massive reduction in movement. Everyday tasks such as walking, bending, twisting, sitting and lifting are going to be nearly impossible for her for at least 8 weeks.

Life as we know is expensive, every day there’s always ‘something’.

The Baulch family is faced with all that we know plus so so so much more.

Living rural, surgery itself, rehab, post-surgery doctor and specialist appointments, medications and more is why we are appealing for your help in hand.

‘Every little bit counts’

We can’t take her pain away or what she is going through but maybe we can help ease the burden of the expense… just one less thing for them to worry about.