Hi friends! Thanks so much for visitng my fundraising page for Team Superstars! Five years after completing Grandma's full marathon, I am returning to Duluth to run the Grandma's Half, this time with a bigger purpose to support an amazing program at Children's Minnesota.
I've had the incredible opportunity to focus my professional fundraising efforts in support of the Midwest Fetal Care Center at Children's Minnesota. The Fetal Medicine program gives all babies the best possible opportunity for a full and healthly life by specializing in diagnosis and treatment of congenital conditions and abnormalities in unborn infants, offering prenatal treatment and intervention, as well as open fetal surgery. Experts in fetal medicine include pediatric surgeons, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, pediatric neurosurgeons, pediatric cardiologists, neonatologists, fetal radiologists, genetics specialists and an entire team of clinical and psycho-social staff who deliver really amazing care. We are one of only a handful of advanced fetal care centers in the country, and while I may be biased, I think we have the best in terms of clinicians, physical space and overall patient experience.
In addition to prenatal diagnosis and surgery on babies before they are born to mitigate the impact of diseases like spina bifida or to remove complex tumors, our center is also leading groundbreaking research in gene therapy to CURE in born errors of metabolism of the liver. Yes. The team will CURE these dieseases (there are 35 total in born errors of metabolism like PKU and Tyrosinemia, effecting 1 in 1200 babies born)!
SO. Long story short, I am super passionate about this program, and am humbled by the opportunity to represent the amazing team, lead by Dr. Brad Feltis and Dr. Joe Lillegard, in our community. My goal is to raise $13,100 before I run 13.1 miles on June 16 at Grandma's Half Marathon. I would be extremely grateful for your support -- every dollar counts and impacts this innovative and important perogram. Join me in supporting the future of medicine. It is happening right here in Minnesota!
Thank you in advance for your gifts. If you are interested in learning more about Fetal Medicine and the Midwest Fetal Care Center, I would be delighted to host you for a tour and conversation in Minneapolis. You can also learn more by watching this video of a story about the first open fetal surgery at Children's by KARE 11, or by visiting the website.
