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"Find a penny pick it up, all day long you will have good luck..."

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FOR UPDATES ON PAMELA AND HER PROGESS TO BEING NORMAL****

(New Update Posted 2/16/2009)

A common phrased uttered by many people across the country. Most people these days are in such a rush with their busy lives that a penny seems worthless. The face value to some is that it is just one cent. But what if those "worthless" pennies added up? What if those pennies can help a teenager live a normal life?

PenniesforPamela.com is a site dedicated to helping with just that. Pamela suffers from a condition called Chiari Malformation. In order to correct the condition, it takes a massive and expensive surgery in which the insurance can not cover 100% of the cost.

Every so often, my parents and Pamela make the 4-5 hour trip to Long Island to have her tested and check on her progress. These test help determine when and how the surgery will be performed. With the rising gas prices, you can imagine the fuel bill alone to and from the site.

Through this site, I am hoping to help my parents with the finanical aspect of it. I am hoping that through donations of pennies, it will make some dent in the debt that is building in medical bills. Every penny collected will go towards the bills and if through a miracle we raise more than enough money, the rest will be donated to The Chiari Institute to help futher the research into this condition.

Coming soon is a new page. Pamela's mother will begin to sell hand crochet blankets online. These blankets are not only warm and beautiful, but they also make excellent gifts for a new baby, get well, or simply just because!

Most people just throw away their pennies. Some people drop them, some vaccum them up without thinking they are much. Why not save them and send them to someone who can truely use them?

In Plain English...What is Chiari Malformation?

CMI is caused by the underdevelopment of the lower back of the skull (known as the posterior cranial fossa, or PCF). The PCF is abnormally small but, not really noticeable to the eye. It's only a matter of millimeters. The small PCF causes crowding and results in a downward growth of the cerebellar tonsil through the opening at the lower base of the skull (known as the foramen magnum).

Traditionally, CMI has been identified by whether or not it extends below a line drawn from the basion to the opisthion.

When this downward growth extends below the lower opening of the skull, it literally creates pressure on the brain stem (the upper part of the spinal cord). The brain stem is responsible for a vast majority of body functions and people who have this condition have all kinds of strange symptoms, ranging from headache to irritable bowel syndrome. In people with minimal CMI, there is little or no descent of the tonsils and, therefore, less pressure on the brainstem. These people may suffer horrible headaches, fatigue, and even seizures but, may not notice symptoms associated with pressure on the brainstem.

When not associated with trauma, syrinx is a buildup of fluid inside the spinal cord due to increased pressure caused by blockage and can take years to form. Ideally, there should be continuous, uninterrupted flow of CSF around the spinal cord and brain. When this flow is blocked (as with CMI), pressure builds and the fluid can eventually form "pockets" inside the spinal cord itself. Imagine using a needle to inject water into the middle of a hot dog - this is a good analogy. Syrinx can be extremely painful and can lead to permanent damage of the spinal cord.

*Above taken from http://www.chairione.org

Some sites for you to check out about CM1:

http://www.thechiariinstitute.com

http://www.pressenter.com/~wacma/

http://chiaripeopleofpa.com/index.html

http://www.chiarione.org/

What Does It Look Like?

PenniesforPamela.com

" A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned..."