History and Info from Jessica's Mother

     Jessica was born on January 20, 1986 missing both of her fibulas and riddled with many other deformities in her legs and feet. The first year of her life we were told to amputate her legs because she would never walk, but there way no way on Earth I could bring myself to take my baby's legs away. She had her first surgery at five months old when the doctor removed a fibrous cartilage that was growing in place of the fibulas. At one she took her first steps across the floor with straight leg braces that went up to her diaper. She didn't get her first pair of shoes until she was almost three because they wouldn't fit over her braces. When she was eight she had staples put in her knees to counter knock knees. These backed out in a few weeks so she had to have the surgery again two months later.
     Jessi's condition worsened. Every time she took a step the pain was excruciating. The bones in her ankle were beginning to deteriorate and crumble. Her suffering was such that she begged for her legs to be removed. That is when we found Shriners Hospital for Children in Pennsylvania , one of the best hospitals of its kind in the world. It also became Jessi's second home. Shriner's did her next seven surgical procedures to try to make her pain go away. It never did.
      About nine months ago she came to me again and stated that she wanted to find a doctor that would amputate her legs because she wants a better quality of life. She started to contact numerous doctors in New York but they all wanted advance payment before they would see her. I was repeatedly told that insurance wasn't accepted. Jessi didn't give up. She started to look in Connecticut where she found three doctors that would work with her insurance plan provided by her father. The first two doctors spent more time telling us what they would have done than agreeing that this is the only way to assure a better quality of life for her. They both finally agreed that she would eventually have to amputate but they still wanted to attempt surgery to save them, at our expense of course. Finally the third doctor agreed that she would have a better quality of life if she amputated now than if she waited.
      The surgery was set to be performed September 1, 2006. Jessi started to search for a prosthetic company to make her limbs. She went to two different places and ended up with J&K Prosthetics where she has gone since she was two months old because she and the prosthetist have had a long relationship. She also started to see a therapist and go to amputee clinics. She has talked to people around her age that are amputees all over the country.
      As of July 31st Jessi's insurance coverage changed dramatically. Thankfully, she was able to get under the umbrella of her step-father's insurance, a very limited HMO. My husband and I both agreed that she will have this surgery even if we have to sell our house. We saw a sparkle of hope in her eyes that we hadn't seen since she was very young.
      Everything was set. On August 25 th , the hospital called. The surgery was canceled. Because of liability reasons, the hospital was not willing to accept private payment. By the grace of God we found a doctor in the area that was willing to do the surgery and it is back on for September 7th. This doctor is within our insurance plan. Jessi must have won a spot in his heart because why else would he be willing to do the surgery so fast?
      We are still faced with many problems though. The insurance only pays a portion of the surgery and will not cover the prosthetics from J&K Prosthetics.

As a mother and a human being, I am asking you to help Jessica walk again.

Sincerely,

Beth Pelkey