Chelsea Fisher wasn’t worried when she took her youngest child, Aspen, for her six-month check-up. She was a happy, healthy baby. At the end of the visit, they told her everything was fine, and then the doctor came in to do a quick check and see if Fisher had any questions.
The doctor measured Aspen’s head and said, “Surely her head is not shrinking. Babies are wiggly. It’s hard to get an accurate measurement. Let me recheck this.”
A red flag went off in Fisher’s mind. She had heard the same comment at one of Aspen’s previous check-ups. The doctor re-measured the baby’s head, looked concerned, and said, “Huh.”
“I know that ‘huh’ look,” Fisher says. “My first baby stopped breathing and was admitted to the NICU, my second baby started having seizures when she was seven months old, and doctors found something wrong in utero with my third child’s heart, so I know the ‘huh’ look.”
Aspen was diagnosed with craniosynostosis. This condition is when the bones in a baby’s skull fuse together too soon. Typically, the spaces between the skull bones, called sutures, are flexible until around two years old. These flexible spaces allow the brain room to grow. When they fuse too soon, the baby’s brain lacks the room needed to develop to its usual size, and pressure can build up inside the skull.
Aspen’s doctor wanted her to see a specialist. At first, Fisher shrugged off the news and headed to a scheduled chiropractic appointment. The chiropractor knew Aspen. At the visit, Fisher told him what the pediatrician said. When he agreed with the diagnosis, reality sunk in. Fisher cried all the way home to Rossville.
She says, “It’s really hard because I thought this was going to be my one child with no issues. I thought I was in the clear. So, I guess I was just completely blindsided by it because I thought everything was fine.”
Fisher and her partner, Casey Campbell, have six children in their blended family. Two are his, two are hers, and they have two together, including Aspen. The kid’s ages range from 13 years to 11 months. The couple owns Midwest Float and Wellness Center, and Campbell, an Army veteran, also owns a construction business with two military buddies.
While all of Fisher’s older children are doing well now, their medical issues early in life taught her to be what she calls their warrior medical advocate. When her oldest daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy, she learned to research all treatment options, both traditional and alternative. She did the same thing after Aspen’s diagnosis.
Through a Facebook group for parents of children with craniosynostosis Fisher discovered Jeffrey A. Fearon, M.D. at The Craniofacial Center in Dallas, Texas. She trusted him from the first appointment. His surgical method, which he’s performed more than 1,000 times, requires much less time under anesthesia, rarely needs a blood transfusion, and offers a recovery without the use of narcotics. All of that appealed to Fisher and Campbell for their daughter.
Unfortunately, the couple’s insurance will not cover the cost since the Dallas practice is out of network. That’s why Fisher started Aspen’s Allies, a fundraising effort to come up with the needed $60,000. So far, $33,000 was raised through a bake sale, a $4,700 Culver’s Restaurant fundraiser, and a $4,000 grant from the Team Blake Foundation. People are also making donations through a Go Fund Me account and via Venmo, Cashapp, and the mail.
Fundraising been a roller-coaster ride for Fisher. For example, the first two days of the bake sale were pretty quiet. Then, late on the second day, a local television news station showed up to cover the event, so she decided to extend the sale one more day—Valentine’s Day.
People were waiting in line when the sale started at 9 a.m. They not only bought the baked goods and signed up for silent auction items, but many just came in to donate. Everything sold out by 2 p.m., with the final total reaching around $10,000.
Fisher says, “It’s been amazing. I can’t even put it into words how amazing everyone has been. It has been a whirlwind. The co-parenting, the business, the meetings. It’s like I’ve taken on another job. It’s very time-consuming, doing all of this, but it’s obviously necessary.”
Some of Fisher’s earliest memories are giving back to the community, particularly through volunteering with her grandparents. As an adult, she’s teaching her children the same give-back philosophy. For instance, she and her son collected donations and delivered them to Texas for Hurricane Harvey relief.
Being on the receiving side of giving has taught Fisher new respect for those in need. She says it’s a humbling experience, too, because of the many people who have shown up to help Aspen and the family.
“This isn’t just about raising money about my daughter’s surgery,” Fisher says. “Everybody deserves the level of care that we’re working towards, whether you’re in-network or out of network. No matter what your situation is, this is what’s fair. To have something that has lower complications and a higher success rate should be fair and available to everyone. It’s about our daughter and getting her the care she deserves.”
To help Aspen Campbell, donate through:
· Go Fund Me https://gofund.me/f7e902fc (fees)
· Venmo: Aspens-Allies (no fees) *Preferred
· Cashapp: AspensAllies (no fees)
· Cash/Check: 2120 SW Brandywine Ln Ste 120 Topeka, KS 66614 c/o Aspen Campbell
You can follow Aspen’s progress through the Aspen’s Allies Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AspensAllies785.