Kendall Pallone is a 15-year-old girl full of strength and sass. Born 3 months prematurely (due to mom getting pre-eclampsia), weighing 1lb 13 oz, she has battled everything life has thrown her way, and it has been a lot. Kendall’s overlying diagnosis is Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy. She also suffers from hydrocephalus, bilateral grade IV brain bleeds, Chiari malformation, and seizure disorder. Kendall is nonverbal, receives her nutrition through a feeding tube, spends the majority of her time in a wheelchair and receives around the clock medical care.
Kendall had her first neurosurgery at 10 days old and has had over 60 surgeries since, including spinal and orthopedic procedures. The past couple of years have been the hardest after battling infections and becoming septic twice. Kendall averages 1-2 extended stay hospitalizations every year.
Cerebral Palsy comes in many forms. The version Kendall lives with doesn’t allow her the ability to control any of her four limbs and her muscle tone is very tight. This makes it hard for her to control movement or even the volume of her voice when she makes sounds. She has had surgeries to lengthen her muscles in her calves and hamstrings to help reduce the pull and ultimate pain that is caused by her high tone.
Kendall had a selective dorsal rhizotomy, which entailed cutting the sensor nerve roots at the spinal cord to help alleviate some of her spastic movements. She has undergone bilateral hip surgery because her muscle tone and tightness had dislocated both hips. Kendall has a ventriculoarterial (VA) shunt which drains cerebral spinal fluid from her brain to the right atrium of her heart to help with the hydrocephalus (extra fluid on her brain). The side effects of this, are the seizures and inability to control her own body temperature (Kendall overheats very easily).
Kendall receives 4.5 hours of therapy while in school each week. On top of that, therapy is continued at home so that Kendall can be as active as possible in daily living activities.
We are grateful for the medical care, therapies, educational support, and organizations that create atmospheres for children with special needs. Kendall has had the opportunity to play adaptive baseball in the Miracle League of Mercer County. She loves riding the adaptive bike at school, she thinks she is a mermaid when in water, she is a frequent flyer at the local library, loves art and music. Surprise, surprise, this 15-year-old is a huge “Swifty”.
As you can imagine, Kendall’s out-of-pocket medical expenses are very high, and put a tremendous strain on our family’s finances. That is why we are grateful and honored to have been selected as a recipient family for The Shannon Daley Memorial Fund. Your generosity means the world to us, and we cannot thank you enough.
