Chiari Queens - Love For Austyn, Amelia, Aubrey, & Addy

11/21/2025

UPDATE!! Amelia did great during her MRI and woke up perfectly from anesthesia. We are back at the hotel and will start the drive back home soon! Thank you all for the prayers! It means so much to us.

Please whisper a prayer for Amelia. She was just taken back for a sedated MRI of her spine. She was so brave going under anesthesia but she started crying quietly and saying she was a little scared once she was on the table. We agreed she would dream about Christmas and she went off to sleep. This never gets easier. 💔

The Ronald McDonald house was full so they were excited to get a hotel with a pool to enjoy last night!

11/15/2025

I believe I posted this on my personal Facebook but not on here when it happened in February for Austyn’s 2nd Brain surgery and Addy’s Tethered cord surgery. This trip ended up being extended almost a week longer because of issues with insurance. We decided to come home a day earlier than we had told them and suprise everyone. The video shows us suprising Aubrey at school and the relief on her face just melts my heart. She had already had her surgery for Chiari Malformation & tethered spinal cord the year before so she knew what her sisters were up against.

Everyone knows that surgery is hard. That our girls have been through so much between all of their surgeries.

This is the part everyone forgets. While we sat in NYC for weeks at a time for each surgery(4 trips. 5 surgeries. I believe close to 60 days in NYC) our life was still happening at home. School, sports, and everything in between. When one girl was in surgery, our other kids had to keep on living their normal lives without their parents and sibling. We are thankful we have a village who stepped up to help that we could trust but it never got easier leaving them.

11/07/2025

Post from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital w/ links to both CBS News & People Magazine’s articles about our family, our girls, & their medical journeys w/ Chiari Malformation & Tethered Spinal Cord…💜💚

When Paul and Ashlee Higginbotham first noticed unusual irritability, mild developmental delays, and a tremor in their baby girl, Austyn, it was the beginning of a health journey that would lead to four of their daughters being diagnosed with the same rare brain condition: Chiari malformation, an abnormality that causes brain tissue to press down through an opening at the base of the skull and into the upper spinal canal, creating pressure on the brain and spinal cord that causes symptoms like limb weakness, headaches, and nerve pain.

Austyn was 18 months old when a genetic test revealed her diagnosis. After learning that she required brain surgery, her family traveled from West Virginia to seek help from Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield, a pediatric neurosurgeon at of Children’s Hospital of New York. In March 2023, he performed a procedure to give Austyn’s brain more space and restore the normal flow of spinal fluid. When she woke up from the surgery, it was clear to her parents that she was finally out of pain. "When we did the follow-up with Dr. Greenfield, I told him, 'You gave me her laugh," said Ashlee.

In the two years that followed, Ashlee and Paul noticed symptoms in three of Austyn’s sisters — 3-year-old Amelia, 7-year-old Aubrey, and 11-year-old Adalee — and each received a diagnosis of Chiari malformation and tethered spinal cord, a related issue that occurs when the spinal cord becomes attached to surrounding tissue. Dr. Greenfield performed surgery on Amelia in October 2023, Aubrey in November 2023, and Adalee in March 2025. Austyn also underwent a successful follow-up surgery in February 2025.

While about 10% of Chiari malformation cases have a genetic link, Dr. Greenfield said it was extremely surprising to have four siblings diagnosed with the condition. Today, the girls are all active and thriving. "Dr. Greenfield gave us our family back, and that is the most amazing gift anyone could get," Ashlee said.

Read more about their incredible story, which has been featured by:

CBS News: https://nyphosp.co/3Jz2XaL
People: https://nyphosp.co/43jPFWb

Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Weill Cornell Medicine

11/06/2025

People Magazine / People.com have came on board sharing our girls medical journey w/ Chiari Malformation & Tethered Spinal Cord…💜💚

Although the Higginbotham children had surgery for Chiari malformation, they're still coping with the "lasting effects."

11/05/2025

In Cincinnati for Amelia to have some testing done. 🙂

11/01/2025

Happy Halloween 💜💜
From Glenda (& Elphaba)
Happy Gilmore (& Oscar the Caddy)
Rumi
Minion

10/28/2025

10/28/2025

Happy 10th Birthday to our beautiful Aubrey!!!
We love you so much. We are incredibly proud of you sweet girl! ❤️❤️

10/27/2025

💜 our girls story

30.8K likes, 236 comments. “Paul and Ashlee Higginbotham knew what was and wasn’t normal for their kids. As the parents of six, they had seen a lot of illnesses and tantrums. But they were baffled by the behavior of their youngest daughter, Austyn. She wouldn’t stop crying. Then, when she was ...

10/27/2025

💜

10/25/2025

To everyone involved…thank you for bringing national attention to Chiari Malformation & Tethered Spinal Cord. Thank You to Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield & his staff for life changing procedures & giving our girls their lives back. 💜💚

Ashlee and Paul Higginbotham's baby wouldn't stop crying. An MRI found an unusual condition. Soon, they found three of their other children had it too.

09/28/2025