Sally Tiska Rice Recovery from 4th Spinal Surgery

Sally has been very hesitant to ask for help but with hours and hours of trying to resolve the medical bills from previous surgeries and now a fourth surgery I convinced her and her family to allow to do a GoFundMe.

Recently Sally was being treated for Pericarditis a heart condition and while at work on January 20th the chest pain was enough for her husband Mark to bring her to Baystate Hospital when she got out of work, where she was admitted for several days. The cardiologists ran multiple tests while treating Sally for Pericarditis. Baystate testing also revealed a Triangular Nodule in her right lung as well as Severe Cervical Spine Stenosis in her neck above and below a previous spine surgery. She was advised to go to Brigham and Women’s Hospital regarding her spine. Her husband Mark has been driving her back and forth to Boston for multiple medical appointments that included needed hotel stays. Where they were informed by the neurosurgeon of the serious nature of the needed surgery to make the required repairs. In Sally’s case not only was the nerve pinched where it exited the vertebrae but in this rare circumstance it ruptured inward and was compromising the left anterior of the Spinal Cord. Unfortunately on April 15th the surgeon has had to remove the existing hardware from a previous spine surgery to have the room to make the delicate repairs. Her esophagus and voice box had been stretched and moved out of the way for the surgeon to reach her spine. Resulting in the surgeons revision of C5-C6 and C6-C7 through the front of her neck. Sally is healing well but as you may remember that she has paralysis in her left leg including a drop foot from a previous spine injury. She has a multitude of upcoming medical appointments. Including physical therapy and possibly swallow/voice speech therapy. The Triangular Nodule still needs to be addressed as well. Her medical insurance costs changed again this year and it doesn’t cover a deductible of $4,000.00 and then there is a out of pocket responsibility of a additional $7,000.00. This has been a long road for Sally medically and for her family financially and she is still on the road to recovery.

If you could, please consider helping Sally and her family during this difficult time.

Thank you, Stephanie Worth friend of Sally since our children were young.