A year and a half ago, Kelly started having a lot of trouble and pain while swallowing. After an ER visit and a CT scan she was diagnosed with Fibrosing Mediastinitis. This disease is extremely rare, only a few hundred people have ever been diagnosed, and it causes lymph nodes to calcify, which makes them as hard as bone. In Kelly's case, she has multiple calcified lymph nodes that are affecting her lungs and esophagus. After visiting the hospital at the University of Minnesota, she was told that the pain and issues she was experiencing while swallowing was due to a calcified lymph node that is pushing against her esophagus which was compressing it. The doctors at the U of M told her that there wasn't anything they could do to help so she continued living with the pain. In March 2017, she became really sick and was having trouble breathing and had a lot of chest pain. She was admitted back into the hospital and was diagnosed with obstructive pneumonia which was caused by another calcified lymph node that had eroded through the wall of her right lung and was obstructing her airway. The doctors told her once again that there wasn't anything they could do. In the last 7 months, Kelly has had pneumonia 6 times, has been hospitalized 5 times, has undergone 9 bronchoscopies and has had multiple CT scans. During one of the bronchoscopies, they discovered that part of Kelly's lung had collapsed and they had to put a stent in to hold it open to prevent that portion of her lung from dying. Kelly quickly realized that she couldn't continue like this so she decided to go to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for a second opinion. The doctor at Mayo, who is considered to be one of the leading experts in Fibrosing Mediastinitis, informed Kelly that she not only has a calcified lymph node that has eroded through her lung wall but also has one eroding through her esophagus. After seeing this, he suggested immediate surgery out of fear that the lymph node in her esophagus could cause an extreme infection that could kill her. Kelly will be undergoing a thoracotomy surgery on November 9th. They will have to cut out a section of her ribs to be able to access the calcified lymph nodes and will attempt to remove that section of her lung. She will have to have multiple chest tubes and will be in the hospital for at least a week.

In the past year, Kelly has racked up over $10,000 in medical bills. Although she has been extremely ill, she has still been working full time as a nurse to help keep her family afloat. Between three little kids, a new mortgage and endless medical bills they are finding it hard to cope.

Between being a mother of three and a full time nurse, Kelly spends every second of everyday caring for other people. Now she needs our help to care for her. I am reaching out to family & friends to ask for your help. Every cent donated will be used to help pay for Kelly's surgery and medical bills.