Help Jen raise money for Brain Surgery

Many of you know Jennifer Audrey Kim-Blum as a daughter, sister, niece, auntie, wife, mom (to 4 handsome boys), a neighbor, a baseball mom, heart sister who had heart failure, a stroke survivor, a Moyamoya warrior, and friend. She is the first person to lend a hand to a friend, family member or stranger in need. She is the last person to ask for help which is why I am asking for her. Jennifer needs our help.


In 2008 she was diagnosed with PPCM, a rare congestive heart failure brought on by pregnancy. Ten years later, she had a hemorrhagic stroke to the left side of her brain followed by two more ischemic strokes to the right side of her brain. This led to a diagnosis of another rare disease, moyamoya disease. (Her husband calls her the “unluckiest, luckiest” girl in the world.) 

I met Jen right after her she was diagnosed with moyamoya. We were introduced through a mutual friend who knew that I also have moyamoya. We bonded right away and have been providing emotional support to each other ever since.

In June of 2018, Jennifer had her first bypass surgery to her brain on her left side. This was followed by a second bypass surgery to her brain in October 2018 to her right side. Despite the surgeries, she did not experience relief of her symptoms. Nothing really seemed right. She continued to have chronic headaches, pain, and right-sided body deficiencies impacting balance, eyesight, and causing weakness. Doctors told her these continued symptoms were remnants from her stroke damage, but Jennifer’s intuition kept telling her that something was not right.

A month ago, Jennifer took a leap of faith and mailed her records and imaging to the doctor who treated me, Dr. Steinberg at the Stanford Moyamoya Center, for a second opinion.  Stanford is the top hospital in the country for treating adult moyamoya patients. Two weeks ago, Dr. Steinberg’s team called to let her know that she is not getting enough blood to the left side of her head. She was advised that she needs a third surgery, an omental bypass. This surgery is a last resort surgery and less than a handful  of physicians in the United States have performed this surgery. No other active physician has performed more omental bypass surgeries in the United States than Dr. Steinberg. 

Jen needs to fly out to Stanford in less than two weeks. She will need to stay there for almost three weeks. She will have to pay for lodging for herself (before and after hospital admission) and her caretakers. Inexpensive lodging close to the hospital in Palo Alto averages 250 a night with taxes. 21 days totals just over $5000. Cross country flights, rental car, and medical deductibles and copays will quickly escalate beyond $10,000. Jen will also be unable to work for at least six weeks which is lost income for their family.

Jen should not have to choose between financial stability and getting the care she needs to extend her life. If you have the means and are able, please consider helping Jen get to California. If you do not have the means, but want to help, prayers are just as appreciated!

For those who do not know what Moyamoya is, it is an incurable progressive cerebrovascular disease that causes narrowing in the internal arteries of the brain. This narrowing reduces blood flow to the brain and can lead to strokes, transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), seizures, headaches, tremors, movement disorders, cognitive decline. Surgeries are necessary to reduce stroke risk, but do not stop progression, so in some severe cases like Jen's, patients have to have multiple surgeries to keep up with the progression.