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Angela & Elizabeth's Story
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All Angela wanted was for her thirteen-year-old daughter Elizabeth to be able to live a normal, healthy life. However, this wish seemed increasingly impossible by the day, as Elizabeth’s health was quickly declining. Elizabeth had been diagnosed with Tarlov Cysts, a rare disease in which fluid-filled nerve root cysts are found along the base of the spine causing extreme pain, muscle weakness, and even loss of reflexes. Angela and Elizabeth visited countless doctors before receiving this diagnosis.
“It was stressful, very stressful,” Angela said. “When you know something is wrong with your daughter and all you want is for your kid to live a normal child life. All you want is to find one doctor that believes in you to say this is what’s wrong, we are going to fix it and she will be ok. It was hard.”
The only way for Elizabeth’s disease to be cured, she would have to travel to Dallas and undergo major back surgery. While this operation would pose a fair amount of risk, it was the only way for Elizabeth to regain a normal life. Due to the countless medical expenses that accompanied Elizabeth’s disease, Angela did not know how she and Elizabeth could travel to Dallas for the life-saving procedure.
“We had the stress of trying to figure out how to get down to Dallas,” Angela said. “And figuring out we were going to stay because we had to be there for eight days.” Desperate to find a way to make the trip from Salina to Dallas, Angela came to Catholic Charities and met with Jill Smith- Barker, community engagement and outreach coordinator, where she was able to receive Catastrophic Illness Assistance.
“Catholic Charities helped us without hotel and food,” Angela said. “It was a lot of reassurance to know that money was there to help.” Because of the generosity of donors like you, Elizabeth was able to travel to Dallas with her mother and receive back surgery, a procedure that ultimately gave her a new chance at life. “Before her surgery, her outcome was just being at home,” Angela said.
“Now she can go back to school, she is in driver’s ed. She gets to go do things and be a kid again where before she couldn’t before she was stuck at home in bed. Angela says that the assistance she received from Catholic Charities not only changed her daughter's present life but her future. “Catholic Charities’ help brought hope to us,” Angela said. “Hope for her to be able to live again.”
