March 6, 2010
Amador County Catholics raise needed funds for toddler’s surgery
Wilson has mobilized the Catholic community of Amador County, which has raised $17,000 toward treating the toddler’s evasive lymphangioma.
Photo courtesy of Ilona Wilson
By Denise MacLachlan
Herald staff
The parish communities of Amador County have united in their efforts to help one small girl escape a life of disfigurement and pain.
Katie Rose Wilson was born with a lymphangioma, a tumor caused by a rare malformation of her lymphatic system. The tumor is located in her mouth, where it causes flesh-eating bacterial infections and makes her lips and cheek swell.
Left unchecked, the tumor will grow much larger, disfiguring her entire face. Medication infections can require months-long bouts of daily dental visits.
The tumor is so rare that most surgeons have never seen one, and only one surgeon in California, at Stanford University, was willing to perform a biopsy on Katie Rose, according to the Katie Rose’s mother, Ilona Wilson.
Dr. Milton Waner, an otolaryngologist and vascular specialist at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, has agreed to perform the surgeries to Katie Rose’s tumor, Wilson said, but the family’s medical insurance carrier will not pay for the procedures because the surgeon and the hospital are “out-of-network providers.”
When Wilson began placing donation cans at Amador County businesses to raise money for the surgery, the Catholic community learned of her plight and took action, including parishioners from Immaculate Conception Parish in Sutter Creek, St. Mary of the Mountains Mission in Plymouth, St. Patrick Parish in Jackson, Our Lady of the Pines Mission in Pioneer, St. Bernard Mission in Volcano and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Ione, as well as the Serbian Orthodox community at St. Sava Church in Jackson.
Members of the Young Ladies’ Institutes of Immaculate Conception and St. Patrick parishes, as well as the Men’s Club of Immaculate Conception Parish and the Knights of Columbus Council No. 1849, hosted a fundraising dinner and auction on Jan. 23 at St. Sava Serbian Church, a venue larger than any of the Catholic parish halls in the area. The Serbian Orthodox community made their facility available for free.
Ilona Wilson was overwhelmed by the community’s response.
“The Catholic community just mobilized,” she said. “They learned about it in November, and by January they were hosting this amazing, amazing fundraiser. My whole family is so very blessed.”
Katie Rose’s surgery is scheduled for April 7. More information on her progress is available at www.friendsofkatierose.com.
