Help Steff's family through her "LEG"acy journey

My sister, Steffanie Young, has been fighting a very long battle that no young mother should have to go through – a Giant Cell Tumor with a secondary aneurysmal bone cyst that was diagnosed in June 2020 – all while in her final month of her first pregnancy. It was a benign (non-cancerous) blood-filled bone tumor in her left knee that was so large it had infiltrated part of her femur (upper leg), causing it to fracture, along with weakening the bone in her tibia (lower leg).

Due to the complexity of this diagnosis, the closest medical specialists and surgeons were more than a 6-hour drive from her hometown in North Dakota. It was determined by the surgeons that she would return approximately one month following the birth of her child for an extensive 9+ hour surgery that would result in a full knee replacement along with partial removal and internal placement of prosthetics of her femur and tibia. Steff would then begin almost a year-long painful recovery with physical therapy.

This bone tumor has negatively impacted Steff’s quality of life in many ways. She was not only looking forward to becoming a mother for the first time but was in the process of completing her bachelor’s degree for Fisheries and Wildlife – both of which would have allowed her to spend a lot of time outdoors – playing, swimming, hiking, walking, etc. Following the surgery, any time outdoors became difficult to navigate, especially uneven terrain, since she would now have limited mobility requiring walking aids and/or a wheelchair.

Over the past 3-½ years, Steff made numerous long trips for follow-up appointments, often without her husband, Aaron, since he could not attend due to work constraints. He would often stay back in their home state with their (now) two children to help reduce any travel costs associated with her appointments.

In August 2023, Steff suffered a devastating setback when an infection invaded the leg that her surgeons tried so hard to save. Multiple trips back and forth ended up leading to a lengthy hospital stay that required another surgery which, unfortunately, failed to resolve the infection. In October, it was determined the next best course of action would be to schedule Steff for a rotationplasty on November 29th, 2023, where she will undergo a partial amputation of her left leg.

Steff will spend a minimum of five days in the hospital away from her support network for yet another extensive surgery. Steff is hopeful that this surgery will resolve the infection and may even allow the possibility of her returning in some form to some of the previous activities she has missed out on for so long, such as dancing with her two young children, but much is still unknown at this time.

This GoFundMe account was created to help cover any travel expenses for my sister’s husband and children to be near her while she undergoes this partial amputation and for any subsequent prosthetic and physical therapy appointments. As anyone can imagine, travel and accommodations are extremely costly, which is more than the Young family can financially endure right now.

Thank you for your support that will enable Steff’s family to be with her to provide the emotional support necessary for a successful outcome.