Support a 9 y/o beautiful girl undergoing congenital kyphoscoliosis surgery

Mila is a beautiful, precious 9 y/o girl whose journey of life goes beyond that of congenital kyphoscoliosis. Mila was born with VACTERL association and has since tackled all obstacles with grace, strength, love, and faith. She has had greater than 15 surgeries up to this point including that of tracheoesophageal fistula, esophageal atresia, anterior tracheal suspension, left hand ulnarization, pollicization, and more. Mila was born with a left radial club hand and as such was born without her left thumb and without her radius. Ever since she has been born she has been a miracle, an inspiration, and she maintains her smile and joy through all the challenges.

As part of the "V" in VACTERL, Mila was born with vertebral anomalies. The anatomy of Mila's vertebrae are not fully formed in certain areas. These hemivertebrae / butterfly vertebrae have created both a kyphosis and scoliosis in Mila's spine that has progressed with increasing age. Currently, Mila's spine is 78.5 degrees in kyphosis and 63 degrees scoliosis. A leading spine surgeon in the field, Dr. Lawrence Lenke, has been conservatively monitoring Mila's spine and stated now is the time to intervene with treatment to prevent further progression.

So what is the plan? Mila is scheduled for congenital kyphoscoliosis surgery 10/28 with Dr. Lenke. The plan is to perform a vertebral column resection, removing an entire vertebrae, at the apex of Mila's kyphosis and exposing her spine. A subsequent cage and fusion is carried out at this level closely monitoring neurologic activity. During the same surgery, Dr. Lenke will then correct the scoliosis with a combination of fusion techniques where vertebrae are prematurely fused and placement of growing rods where Mila's spine still has growth potential. The operation was stated to be 8 hours long not including that required for anesthesia and positioning for surgery.

Mila is a bright girl who loves to read and write. She just recently completed reading the entire Harry Potter collection of books. She loves to swim. She can be in a pool all day. Mila loves to roller blade, ride her bike, shoot hoops in basketball. She is involved in mixed martial arts and is currently a blue belt. Mila is a caring, loving big sister that always wants the best for others. She is built tough. Despite her endured obstacles she continues to shine bright. She is our hero. She is our inspiration.

Please support Mila in her mission to assist Global Spine Outreach to continue to help kids in Mila's shoes by purchasing a t-shirt and becoming part of Mila's Team. All proceeds will go to Global Spine Outreach. Please then upload a picture wearing the "Mila Team" t-shirt to facebook under Team MILA or please email a picture to TeamMila9@gmail.com and the photo will be uploaded for you to facebook. T-shirts will be arriving 2 weeks after fundraiser closing or estimate delivery date of Oct 13th. We would like to receive photos by Oct 21st. Mila will be following all the support and all the photos for her to see all the people in her corner. Your support is beyond expression of words. Thank you.