Missoula, MT
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MJ Benefit Fund

Donations

Mail Checks to:

MJ Benefit Fund
PO Box 3285
Missoula, MT 59806

6/30/2011

As many of you know, Mikaslyn, MJ, needs to go back to Texas for surgery to remove the hardware from her reconstructive hip surgery last November. We found out this week that it will cost about $17,000 plus travel expenses. Kettlehouse Community UNite is our first fundraiser to raise this amount. The surgery needs to happen within the next 4 months.

 

Kristine and I are hoping there is a good turn out to this event to get us off to a good start so please consider attending. Also, it would be very helpful if you would share this on your Facebook page and invite your friends to this event.

 

If you would like to help with fundraising please contact either Kristine or me.

Press Release - 11/11/2010

Word Doc, PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Medicaid Is Failing A Disabled 8-Year Old Little Girl In Montana.

What does a family do when there are no doctors in their state to treat their daughter, and Medicaid
does not pay for care out of state? Medicare does not cover children; Medicaid does not cross state
lines.

Missoula, Montana. November 8, 2010 - The Larsen family of Missoula need to raise awareness for
donations to pay for a life-altering surgery for their 8-year old daughter, MJ. Time is running out, and
they are trying to gain support and funds by Friday, November 12th. Without the funds, their daughter
will never walk again. They will miss the one opportunity – which is time-sensitive – to give MJ the
medical care every child in America deserves.

MJ's story: Mikaslyn (MJ) Larson was born with a neurological/neuromuscular disorder of unknown
origin, which has caused low muscle tone and, as a result, her left femur bone has dislocated out of the
hip socket. She used to be able to get around using her special walker, but now because of the
dislocation, is bound to a wheelchair, potentially for the rest of her life.

There is a surgical procedure that can fix the dislocation, but on a child so small and young, the
Larsons have searched the U.S. to find a surgeon who is experienced and willing to operate
immediately. They finally found the Dr. David Yngve, but he is located about as far away as possible,
while still be in the country - at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.

Everyone the Larsons have spoken with at the hospital in Texas, Medicaid, even Montana Senator
Baucus have all tried to help, but the ‘system´ is not designed to work for children needing care ‘out of
state´.

The basics are:
· Medicare is a federal program that does pay for services across the country, across state
lines, but Medicare does not cover children.
· State run Medicaid covers children, if they and their families qualify under rigorous
guidelines, but they cannot make payments to any medical facility/provider out of state.

After more than a year, the family has found a qualified, willing surgeon. The bad news is that the
Texas hospital will not accept their Montana Medicaid insurance. Timing is critical - the surgery must be
performed before her 9th birthday. A surgery date of November 16th is available, but the hospital must
be paid in full by noon November 15th. The Larsons have been left to come up with $35,000
immediately in order to cover surgical and hospital expenses, as well as their travel to/from Galveston.

CONTRIBUTIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED NOW. Donations can be made online with major credit
cards and Paypal at http://www.thegrubclub.com/story-mjl.htm or MJ´s facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1671580514086#!/MJFund. Checks can be made out to:
MJ Benefit Fund, c/o Missoula Federal Credit Union, 3600 Brooks Street, Missoula, MT 59803.
For up-to-the-minute postings, news clips, press materials and additional media resources to help
create more awareness for MJ´s story, please go to
http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_c5fdae10-ec8c-11df-86ca-001cc4c03286.html

Contact:
Stacy Hollingsworth
stacyh@earthlink.net
phone: 650-353-3238

Rick Larson
rel@asurefit.com
phone: 406-550-7240
###


The information below is correct but dated. The most up to date information about MJ can be found at : www.facebook.com/MJFund

Mikaslyn Update January 2010

On New Year's we went to Helena, MT to pick up a hip brace (hip abduction brace) to help Mikaslyn's hips to stay in place while we are determining the best course of action. The brace seems to help when she is lying down but in the sitting position things don't look as good. When she is lying down it even appears that the hip might be in place but there has never been a good time to take an x-ray to determine if this is true.

Mid-January Mikaslyn's physical therapist took a good look at how the brace was working and determined that it was doing more harm than good in the sitting position. We agree with the PT's assessment so she has not used the brace again.

We have had some favorable reports on hip reconstructive surgery but it is still very scary. In fact, today one of the children we know that had the surgery went into emergency surgery because there were problem with the plates and screws used to patch the bones together. Unfortunately we see no alternative to the surgery at this point so we made the decision to go ahead. This does not give a parent a warm and cozy feeling.

Since we made the decision to go ahead with the surgery we did find that there is one possible therapy that could get her hip in place and get the bones to correct. Unfortunately it is not covered by insurance. The therapy is called the Feldenkrais Method. Mikaslyn has had excellent results with this therapy in the past and sees a local practitioner here in Missoula. We are still researching this but it looks like an intensive program could either get the hip in place and improve the condition of the bones or at the very least make the recovery process go better.

Money always seem to be the biggest issue for kid like Mikaslyn especially since the treatment that works the best for her is not traditional medicine. Your donations are all appreciated and could make the difference for Mikaslyn. With her hips working well and her success with neuro-feedback (see December 2009) Mikaslyn is going to make it to completely "normal" function in all areas of her life.

December 2009

Kristine and I have recently received some bad reports about Mikaslyn's hips. Her left hip is dislocated and not forming properly due to lack of walking. Her right hip is in better shape but still not completely developed. The specialist that saw her thinks the best course of action is surgery, a very invasive surgery. We are completely against this because the drugs used for anesthesia in major surgery are very hard on the brain and could set her back.

MJL Christmas 2009This comes at a time when Mikaslyn is experiencing excellent development due to a new therapy called neuro-feedback. Her doctor doing this therapy has been very hopeful about what it could do for her. Now that she is several weeks into the therapy we are seeing the results we had hoped for. Neuro-feedback is working on her brain at the cellular level and improving the internal communication of the neurons. This will help all of her other therapies work better! Recently at her parent-teacher conference they were very excited at her development. It was the best one ever. This bad report about her hip was a shock to us since we are seeing so many new developmental steps.

We do not want Mikaslyn to have the surgery on her hip. We feel that she is very close to being able to walk normally and in fact the neuro-feedback doctor also believes this. We have been praying for her healing for many months and believe that healing is very close. We are asking everyone who believes God has the power and desire to heal to pray with us agreeing with our prayer and thanking God for Mikaslyn's healing.

Prayer Petition

Father God, We come to you in agreement in accordance with Matthew 18:19 and present to You our petition in accordance with your Word in Hebrews 4:16 where it says it is "quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

We lift up Mikaslyn's healing to You, God, and have faith which we have from "hearing the Word of God" as in Romans 10:17. And see the promises you gave to us in Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24 "by His stripes we are healed" and Matthew 8:17 "[Jesus] Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases" and Psalm 21:2 where it says "You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips".

We also Father lift up our entire family and declare Psalm 91 "that You are our refuge and our fortress, our God, in whom we trust and that you will save us from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence, We will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday". We stand on that scripture for our entire family as You are our refuge and our fortress and no sickness, disease, infirmity, virus, bug, infection or illness may enter this household or touch any member of this household in the name of Jesus!

And we stand on Hebrews 4:13 "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

We stand humbly before you Father as it says in James 4:10 that we "shall humble ourselves in the presents of the Lord and He will exalt you".

We lay the promise of 1 John 5:1 before You "and if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him." We ask the Holy Spirit to "guide us into all truth, for the Spirit of truth will not speak on His own initiative but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will disclose to us what is to come" as it says in John 16:13.

We know that we have a "great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God" as the Word says in Hebrews 4:14.

So Father, we see in Your Word that Mikaslyn is already healed through the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross. Her hips are healed and her underlying condition is healed. She is healed and made whole in all areas of her life. We know that in Psalm 139:14 where it says that she "was fearfully and wonderfully made" and in setting ourselves in agreement that her healing is complete and she has been made whole since we know that your Word does not return void as it says in Isaiah 55:11 "So shall [Your] word be that goeth forth out of [Your] mouth: it shall not return unto [You] void, but it shall accomplish that which [You] please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto [You] sent it.

We establish this agreement as our Word-based declaration of faith and we present to the high priest of our confession, Jesus.

And we "hold fast our profession"!

We know from James 1:3-4 that the "testing of our faith produces endurance and we let endurance have its perfect result and so that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

We have come "boldly unto the throne of grace…and find grace to help in time of need. [Hebrews 14:16]

In Isaiah 43:26, You say "Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. So Lord, right now we believe we receive what YOU have said in your Word, we believe and stand on Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24 and Matthew 8:17, Psalm 21:2, Psalm 139:14 and Isaiah 55:11. We are not saying it because we feel it or see it. We are saying it because we believe your Word. We believe it is done in the name of Jesus.

We are prepared to succeed. We make no provision for the flesh as written in Romans 13:14. We make no provision for failure because we have put on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

And Satan, we bind you and render you helpless in this situation. As a matter of record, you are hereby bound in the Name of Jesus. We thank you Lord that Satan in bound and unable to work in this situation. We refuse to give Satan any place. We are not conformed to this world.

We Praise You, Father, for the Manifestation of Victory!

We give You the glory and honor and thanksgiving for Your faithfulness to fulfill Your promises. (Philippians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 1:20)

Our Declaration of Faith

We agree with God's Word that these scriptures are in full operation in the life of our family. God's Word is life to each of us and health to each of our flesh! We declare it is done in Jesus' Name. It is finished! In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

September 2006

Currently MJ is seizure free and developing. She is using her walker and getting better eye-to-hand coordination. She is about to start preschool and we are very excited about the prospects of having more kids in her life. We believe that MJ has a very good chance at having a "normal" life if we can work with her enough and get enough therapy for her. We also believe that right now in her life more is better. The more help she gets the faster she develops. It is wonder to finally see this progress but frustrating that we cannot afford to do more. We have tapped out our finances, our insurance benefit and all the state benefits we can qualify for. So we need to raise more more through other avenues. That is why we are asking for volunteers to help get the word out about The Grub Club®. If we can get enough traffic to this web site, we can sell advertising and use those resources to pay for more help for MJ.

We have also spent most of our savings and continue to spend everything we can on MJ. If she is going to get a college education we need to get beyond spending every dollar we earn. This could definitely help that while helping restaurants get new customers and keep existing ones. If will also help all Internet users looking for information on specific restaurants or restaurant locations. Many can benefit from the success so please consider helping out.

Below are links the letters

April 2005

November 2004

June 22, 2004

June 3, 2004

May 2004

Christmas 2003

July 2003

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