Help Karti beat Atlanto-Axial Instability

After having a traumatic fall when 8 months pregnant Karti developed a condition called Atlanto-Axial instability, a condition whereby her neck is unable to fully support the weight of her skull due to the ligament now being Un structurally sound. She was constantly misdiagnosed and dismissed for 2 years under the Australian healthcare system. She was told that nothing was wrong with her despite being in debilitating pain. She went from specialist to specialist as she knew something was terribly off, being unable to support the weight of her neck, losing a lot of her functional capability and developing symptoms no one could answer for. She suffered financially going from numerous appointment, scans and undergoing non conservative care that had made her condition worse.

After finally getting a diagnosis 2 years later they still were not too sure how to treat her as there a limited options in Australia. Her last resort would be fusion surgery, which is not guaranteed, and we have researched that it may not even give her relief due to the high complication rates and adjacent segment disease that occurs after having this type of procedure- this means she may have a life of re-occurring surgeries. Once fused she will not be able to take this decision back. We have watched her health decline significantly over the last few years and fear what her outcome may be.

We came across a treatment called PICL which stands for Percutaneous Implantation of the Craniocervical Ligaments. This is a procedure invented under interventional orthobrologics. Regenexx offers a procedure to the damaged ligaments whereby they inject the patient's bone marrow stem cell aspirate into the damaged ligament to allow healing. She has undergone one treatment and has noted some stability however was advised she will need 4+ treatments within 4–6-month intervals. Each treatment is approx. $30,000 AUD (Treatment, Flights, Accommodation and Exchange Rate) to get to Colorado. This treatment is not available anywhere else in the world besides Colorado, Denver. The treatment also has a 70:30 ratio success rate. More information about the procedure can be found in the below link:

https://centenoschultz.com/treatment/picl-procedure/

She has been in constant pain since 2021, from severe suboccipital pain, muscle spasms, head tremors, tinnitus, numbness and tingling and requires wearing a cervical collar throughout most of the day. After the first PICL injection she had some improvement. However, due to her condition she has been unable to work and has taken extended medical leave.

We want to raise money for my sister so she can access this treatment and get the recovery she deserves to get her back to a somewhat normal life physically, mentally and emotionally. If there is anyway in which you could assist, we would be forever grateful. We want to try and help her as much as we can to cover these medical costs.

Link to where she is getting her procedure is as per below:

https://centenoschultz.com/contact/