Olivia Carey's Brain Surgery
Donation protected
PLEASE SUPPORT OLIVIA
CAREY’S MEDICAL JOURNEY
Many of you know Olivia Carey, daughter of Joe and Katy Carey, soon to be junior at Spencer High School. Olivia is a talented and passionate artist, maintains a place on the honor roll, and is a familiar, friendly face at the HyVee bakery in Spencer. Some of you are aware that Olivia has suffered from epilepsy since age 11. Though this is NOT an easy thing to live with in a world where teens just want to be like everyone else, Olivia has endured this awful disease with courageous grace, bravery, and a smiling, head- held- high, optimistic attitude. After numerous medications, tests, and procedures, lesions discovered on the left temporal lobe of her brain have been determined to be the cause of her seizures and epilepsy. The prognosis is that her seizures will continue to worsen and spread to other areas of her brain, and that medications will never work for her type of epilepsy. It has therefore been recommended she proceed with brain surgery to remove the areas of her brain causing her seizures as the best medical option for the possibility for Olivia to live a seizure free life.
Olivia is scheduled for a Stereoptic EEG procedure to burr and drill holes to place 16 EEG probe needles throughout her skull to probe deep into the brain while being hooked up and monitored with MRI imaging for 12 days, with the brain surgery scheduled immediately following this 12 day procedure at The University of Iowa Pediatric hospital in Iowa City. This will involve an approximate 4 week inpatient hospital stay for Olivia and her family in July, as well as a lengthy recuperation period at home afterward.
This journey the past 5 years has been fraught with many trials and tribulations, for the Careys, beginning with the diagnosis of both Olivia and her brother Jack, with epilepsy within a month of each other! The expenses of Drs. Appts. In Sioux Falls, then Iowa City, for tests, procedures, medications and travel with several lengthy inpatient stays has become a way of life for the Carey family. Living life with 3 kids is always crazy, fun, chaotic, and unpredictable, but having 2 of them who are preteen/ teens with epilepsy is also a journey of fear, anxiety, and constant, deep concern for their health, safety, and future. Their family is so very grateful and blessed to now have found that Jack has become seizure and medication free in the past 2 years! They now pray (and hopefully), look forward to the same successful option for Olivia as well, with her upcoming neurosurgery.
We are asking for your prayers, positive thoughts, and consideration of possible donations to help support the Carey family during this time of need with medical expenses, including travel, food, accommodations, and maintaining a somewhat normal life for Jack and Janey during Olivia’s extended hospitalization and brain surgery in Iowa City! Thank you all for your well wishes for the Carey family! Please share with friends and any others concerned for Olivia! She is so very thankful for all of you praying for her!
Organizer and beneficiary
Lisa Carey
Organizer
Spencer, IA
Joe Carey
Beneficiary