For those who are new to our story, allow me to shine some light on our need for surgery.

To start, Kurstin is an incredible person, a mother of three, a wife, and a phenomenal photographer. She is my closest friend, my soul sister. She has something called Chiari Malformation, a condition that causes her brain to come out of the base of her skull, creating intense compression and pressure on her spinal canal, cerebellum, and discs in her spine. Among the many problems this is creating for her, it has diminished her C1 and caused Empty Sella Syndrome. She has to have decompression surgery to release the compression in her skull, remove her C1, and address any other issues that they can help when they open her skull. They will also be permanently removing a piece of her skull to keep the crowding to a minimum. She will likely need more than one surgery, but this is the first step, and with how debilitating and dangerous her symptoms have been in the last year, it is impossible to put off her surgery any longer.

As for myself, (Catie), I am a wife, a dog mom, and a God mom and aunt to several babies who are not my own, (although I do claim them). 5 years ago they found that I have an arachnoid cyst on the base of my skull. Initially they told me that it was having no effect on my symptoms, and would cause no further issues. In the years since, I have had a dramatic increase in debilitating symptoms, and have fought to find someone to listen. Finally, my primary care doctor advocated for me to have a new scan done to look more in depth and we found that my cyst had grown considerably. That scan was done one year ago, this month. At the beginning of this year, we found a neurosurgeon in Michigan who was in agreement that the cyst needed to be dealt with. Kurstin and I both were originally scheduled to have our surgeries in early May of this year, but because of Covid it was delayed. In a strange way, I am grateful for that delay, as I was able to have another scan done, showing rapid and dangerous growth of my cyst, and changing the way my surgery would be done. I will be having a craniotomy done incredibly similar to Kurstin's, though not exact. Our surgeon will be removing two pieces of my skull, one permanently. She will be fenestrating my cyst, and creating room in the base of my skull from the incredible crowding and compression that is happening at the moment. My cyst has taken over the entirety of the right base of my skull, and surgery is now my only option for relief of the many symptoms I am experiencing.

Kurstin and I are both in urgent need of these surgeries. They are no longer able to be pushed off or avoided, no matter how nervous we are to move forward with them. The fundraising we are currently doing will be covering many things; a great deal for our out-of-state copays for surgery itself, travel and lodging expenses, necessities for recovery, any work our husbands will be missing, especially for Kurstin's husband, and any child care and help needed for Kurstin's children. We are desperately in need of your help, your support and your prayers. Please know how incredibly grateful we are for everything you have to offer. 

We will be updating this page as we come closer to our surgery dates, during the process of surgery and recovery, and the aftermath. Depending on how Covid plays out, we may use the meal train option on this page, so please check that once we are close to surgery. We love you all so much! We trust and believe that God will provide for our needs.