My Sister's Spinal Surgery Fund
Donation protected
My sister Shandi has always had a way to bring a smile to my face. In fact, this is the beginning of how she got hurt.
It was 2003 and ever since she joined the Air Force in 1999 I had been missing her terribly. In the first years you join, you don't get to come home and I hadn't seen her in over a year. She drove all night from Albuquerque, NM just to wake me up for school. That was the first time in my life I knew what it was to cry happy tears.
Unfortunately, because of the little time she had for leave she had to quickly get back on the road. But she assured me that the whole thing was worth it just to see my face that morning. We said our goodbyes and she drove off down our little dirt road.
That was the last time our lives would ever be normal.
Shandi was struck by a tired semi driver and thrown off a ravine. The semi kept going. Luckily, the accident was spotted and she was air lifted to a nearby hospital. Her spine was broken in several places, she was unrecognizable. Her kidney's were beginning to fail and spinal fluid was leaking in to her system. She was given very little surgical options, and at the time this kind of high risk surgery had a low survival rate.
She began trying other options as dying didn't seem like the good one. Her spine started to fuse itself together in a twisted S shape. She then became pregnant with her first child.
During this time, I had graduated high school and moved to Los Angeles. There I started researching new and innovative surgeries and their pioneering spinal surgeons. I read an article about one Robert Pashman, M.D. who was doing spinal surgeries differently with a much higher survival rate. I began making appointments. I spoke with anyone who would listen. With my sister's M.R.I.'s under arm and the will of a starving actress. It became my part time job and my obsession. I'll never forget the call from his assistant Jenny telling me I won the appointment. I felt hope for the first time in months.
In this time, Shandi had her first born and was constantly receiving a series of cortisone shots around her spine almost bi-weekly. She was in constant pain and her doctors couldn't help.
Dr. Pashman looked at her MRI, then in to my teary eyes and said "Get her down here, get her down here now."
The series of calls and appointments after this led our family down a crazy rabbit hole with finances, insurance payments and expensive surgeries. But Shandi was getting the help she needed to live.
Dr. Pashman built a bracket system around her spine to straighten it and support her weight. Still, Shandi's was an extreme case and he didn't know if it would heal right the first time.
It didn't.
In 2008, Shandi had to have a correctional surgery to help her keep her back straight. It has held, through the birth of 2 more beautiful children. Until a month ago.
Shandi called, and being the strong willed unbending oak she is, said to me in a calm voice. "Jinny, last night I had to go to the ER. I was putting JJ in to his crib and heard a loud pop. I couldn't breathe and it was too much pain for me to handle. They took an X-Ray and it looks like one of the steel rods holding up the left bracket snapped in half. Now it sounds like my back is full of ever grinding gears. I think I have to call Dr. Pashman."
I am starting this GoFundMe so that I can do something to help my sister, her 3 children and her fiance handle it financially. They have to spend a month in Los Angeles, close to Cedars Sinai which is adjacent to Beverly Hills. (Not the cheapest in L.A.), their travel, medical bills and this whole thing really came out of the blue. They had no time to save or plan. I know how hard it is for everyone right now, so I'm not asking for a lot. Just a hand up for someone who's had some hard luck.
Every little dime is appreciated and won't be forgotten. Please help me to reach this goal for my sister Shandi, and try not to tell her about this as she would never allow it.
I am forever grateful to you for reading this, sharing this and doing what you can to help us in our hour of strife.
Love,
Jinny Lee
It was 2003 and ever since she joined the Air Force in 1999 I had been missing her terribly. In the first years you join, you don't get to come home and I hadn't seen her in over a year. She drove all night from Albuquerque, NM just to wake me up for school. That was the first time in my life I knew what it was to cry happy tears.
Unfortunately, because of the little time she had for leave she had to quickly get back on the road. But she assured me that the whole thing was worth it just to see my face that morning. We said our goodbyes and she drove off down our little dirt road.
That was the last time our lives would ever be normal.
Shandi was struck by a tired semi driver and thrown off a ravine. The semi kept going. Luckily, the accident was spotted and she was air lifted to a nearby hospital. Her spine was broken in several places, she was unrecognizable. Her kidney's were beginning to fail and spinal fluid was leaking in to her system. She was given very little surgical options, and at the time this kind of high risk surgery had a low survival rate.
She began trying other options as dying didn't seem like the good one. Her spine started to fuse itself together in a twisted S shape. She then became pregnant with her first child.
During this time, I had graduated high school and moved to Los Angeles. There I started researching new and innovative surgeries and their pioneering spinal surgeons. I read an article about one Robert Pashman, M.D. who was doing spinal surgeries differently with a much higher survival rate. I began making appointments. I spoke with anyone who would listen. With my sister's M.R.I.'s under arm and the will of a starving actress. It became my part time job and my obsession. I'll never forget the call from his assistant Jenny telling me I won the appointment. I felt hope for the first time in months.
In this time, Shandi had her first born and was constantly receiving a series of cortisone shots around her spine almost bi-weekly. She was in constant pain and her doctors couldn't help.
Dr. Pashman looked at her MRI, then in to my teary eyes and said "Get her down here, get her down here now."
The series of calls and appointments after this led our family down a crazy rabbit hole with finances, insurance payments and expensive surgeries. But Shandi was getting the help she needed to live.
Dr. Pashman built a bracket system around her spine to straighten it and support her weight. Still, Shandi's was an extreme case and he didn't know if it would heal right the first time.
It didn't.
In 2008, Shandi had to have a correctional surgery to help her keep her back straight. It has held, through the birth of 2 more beautiful children. Until a month ago.
Shandi called, and being the strong willed unbending oak she is, said to me in a calm voice. "Jinny, last night I had to go to the ER. I was putting JJ in to his crib and heard a loud pop. I couldn't breathe and it was too much pain for me to handle. They took an X-Ray and it looks like one of the steel rods holding up the left bracket snapped in half. Now it sounds like my back is full of ever grinding gears. I think I have to call Dr. Pashman."
I am starting this GoFundMe so that I can do something to help my sister, her 3 children and her fiance handle it financially. They have to spend a month in Los Angeles, close to Cedars Sinai which is adjacent to Beverly Hills. (Not the cheapest in L.A.), their travel, medical bills and this whole thing really came out of the blue. They had no time to save or plan. I know how hard it is for everyone right now, so I'm not asking for a lot. Just a hand up for someone who's had some hard luck.
Every little dime is appreciated and won't be forgotten. Please help me to reach this goal for my sister Shandi, and try not to tell her about this as she would never allow it.
I am forever grateful to you for reading this, sharing this and doing what you can to help us in our hour of strife.
Love,
Jinny Lee
Organizer and beneficiary
Jinny Lee Story
Organizer
Livingston, MT
Shandi Story
Beneficiary