Help the DePauls with Medical and Travel Expenses

Although they have had almost too many surgical procedures to count between the three of them over a lifetime, the last few years have been full of medical and travel expenses for the DePauls. In the last several years, they have had a total of 18 surgical procedures between the three of them, beginning with hip replacements for both Vince and Nicole at the Center for Special Surgery in NYC.  

Going back and forth to Florida was a life-changing decision for all of the DePauls. They had previously been going to an orthopedic surgeon at DuPont in Delaware, who told them at one point after a consultation for Mackenzie, that there was really nothing else that could be done for her and that “Lots of people get around just fine in a wheelchair.” As serious advocates for their daughter, Vince and Nicole did not find this to be a satisfactory answer and ultimately found the Paley Institute and Dr. David S. Feldman in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

The medical and travel expenses have been a tremendous financial burden for them, with the last surgery alone costing several thousand dollars in just airline tickets and a hotel stay, Between airline tickets and housing, the health related expenses have climbed into tens of thousands. At one point, they even lost $2500 on an AirBnB that was listed as handicap accessible but happened to be on a second floor walk up. Due to a loophole in the AirBnB contract, they weren’t able to get back any of the money and Nicole had to stay in a hotel instead.  

This does not even include the trips back and forth between where they stay and the hospital by taxi. Nor does it include the numerous copays and coinsurance for them.  Read on for some more detail about what all three of them have experienced in the past few years. 

Since April of 2018, Mackenzie, Nicole and Vincent have had to travel back and forth between New York and Florida for lifesaving and/or life-changing orthopedic surgical procedures  for all three of them.  Each procedure has required travel and living expenses on top of regular home maintenance and mortgage expenses, with multiple trips to WPB required for all.

Mackenzie’s leg surgery in 2018 required the family to rent a place to live in Florida from April to October and they have been going back and forth by plane for follow up care and new procedures since then. 

After the leg surgery but before the arm procedures, Mackenzie had a spinal fusion to correct her kyphosis and scoliosis. Thanks to these procedures, she can now stand and walk without constant pain and pressure on her hips and legs, and has shown much improvement. See before and after photos of her X-rays in the pictures above. After the spinal surgery, she is much more mobile and in a lot  less pain than before. Due to the nature of her dwarfism, she will likely require hip replacement surgery at some time in her future. 

Now that Mackenzie has had surgical correction of both legs and a spinal fusion, she is now having both arms corrected at the same time. The arm and leg surgeries required external fixators to be put in place and the procedures require daily adjustments to be done so that the bones lengthen about a millimeter at a time and heal to the correct proportions.

Nicole and Vincent have also been patients of Dr. Feldman, both having had spinal fusions in the last two years. Nicole had progressively worsening numbness and tingling in her legs and feet and when she met with Dr Feldman, he scheduled her for her fusion in December of 2019. Her projected 8 hour surgery turned into a 14 hour procedure. Without the surgery, Nicole would have lost all sensation in her lower body or at worst, been paralyzed. She stayed in Florida for over two months for the surgery and subsequent physical rehabilitation therapy. 

Vincent was scheduled for his spinal fusion at the end of July of 2020, and flew to Florida expecting to be admitted and have his procedure. Upon arrival at the hospital, he was tested for Covid and had a positive test, even though was completely asymptomatic and he hadn’t been anywhere or left his home since the beginning of the lockdown, and unfortunately, he was sent home.  He was instructed to return after three negative tests, which he did, jetting off to West Palm Beach again less than a month later. Dr. Feldman had told him at that point that a sneeze or a little fender bender could have paralyzed him.  His surgery was scheduled for August 5th and went off without a hitch. However, an unexpected travel expense popped up when he felt that something was off. He had some X-rays done locally and sent to Dr Feldman, who immediately had him return to Florida for a repair to the fusion. Fortunately, it turned out well and the surgery was successful (see photos!) and the next phase was planned. 

In January 2021, both Vince and Mackenzie flew south again for the above mentioned  corrective procedures for their arms. Vincent had one arm done and Mackenzie opted for doing both at the same time.  They are both still in their external fixators after six months and despite several infections and lots of local visits to urgent care for X-rays and lots of different medications, they have been doing generally well and are gearing up for their return trips including more flight expenses and hotel stays. 

The next step for them is to look into a new vehicle for Nicole, as she can no longer drive their minivan. A van with a ramp is likely in their future. To give you an idea of what these cost, a pre-owned 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan is going for over $58,000. 

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