Please help Julie with her brain surgery expenses

Hello everyone. My name is RT Weeks and I'm reaching out to ask for help for this amazing lady Julie Barrientes (on the right in the pic). Julie is awesome! She's a giver and takes care of everyone she comes in contact with-- and now she needs our help after her brain surgery last month. Julie has been a speech therapist for years and helped my wife Sudi (on the left) after Sudi's stroke in early 2019. Julie understood Sudi's needs more than I could have ever hoped & prayed for because of her own brain surgeries. Now Sudi is working again, driving, and doing more than we every dreamed due to the intense cognitive work Julie did after her stroke.

Julie was diagnosed with Chiari malformation in 2010 and had already been through three surgeries when we met in 2019. She needed a 4th surgery on January 19th as she had developed truncal ataxia and the surgeon had to back into her brain to shrink the cerebellar tonsils (where all the cranial nerves are housed). Once the doctor got in, he found her dura (lining of her brain) was damaged from the pressure and he had to do a dural repair. Eight hours later she was out of brain surgery, but of course the recovery may be longer than originally expected since the surgery was more involved.

Julie is the bread-winner in her household with her two boys Justin who is 18 and a High School Senior and Tyler who is 13 and in the 7th Grade. She is supposed to be out of work another 2-4 weeks, then plans to slowly build her schedule back up in her own private practice. She is exhausting her savings to keep her business and household bills paid but we can't be sure how much longer her recovery will take or how she'll be able to pay the anticipated $10k+ in medical expenses and maintain her household and business. She started physical therapy and was told her balance and walking are better than pre-op so that's great! Unfortunately, she now has some complications from the surgery itself. Her daily regimen includes walking, cognitive work, mindfulness for pain and emotion regulation, and trying to incorporate daily home activities in her day.

In my life, I've been blessed to have been raised by, married to, and been friends with some of the strongest women. Julie is right there at the top and her heart and love for giving to others is second to none. As I've noticed with most people who give everything they have, it's difficult for her to ask for help. I asked her permission to discuss her situation and ask for assistance as her need is so great and no one will ever know as all you get when you see her is her smile.

I'm asking for any assistance and prayers for Julie and her crew. I'm positive that with together we can make a world of difference in her life as well as her and her family's future. Please help by donating as you can and by keeping Julie and her family in your prayers.

In her own words: "I am just doing what I think God called me to do. I just want to get back to it already!" Let's help her get back to it! LOL

Julie's business website-- check out her About Info: Grow The Vine Speech & Wellness Center https://www.gtvspeechgym.com

Grow The Vine Community Connection - read about Julie's 501-C charitable organization and it's outreach as well as the Antonio H. Barrientes "Courage To Grow" Memorial Scholarship in memory of her husband who passed away in 2017 at https://www.growthevine.org.

Thanks for your help!