In August of 2020, Christine Brown informed her then-husband Kody that their 17-year-old daughter Ysabel Brown would be getting much-needed spine surgery for her severe scoliosis in September. They would have to travel to New Jersey to get the surgery, which made Kody ask that the surgery be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At one point in their conversation, Kody suggested that Ysabel go to her spine surgery alone, which made her break down in tears. Ultimately Kody chose not to go with Ysabel for the surgery because he felt he could not be away from his young children with his fourth wife Robyn, which whom he spends most of his time. The COVID-19 pandemic consolidated Kody’s time with Robyn and he stopped making the rotations he used to make.
Kody didn’t seem to understand why Ysabel needed the surgery right away. At that time she had been experiencing severe pain every single day for m months and couldn’t live a normal life. In just a few years her spine had gone from a 24-degree curve to a 50-degree curve.
Ysabel says she would get sharp pains every time she moved. Before her surgery, Robyn asked Ysabel what she was most excited about doing after her surgery, and her answer was heartbreakingly simple. “Being more pain-free,” she answered. “Driving without pain. Waking up with out pain, going to ed, breathing without pain.”
We later learned that Kody also thought that Christine was trying to get a vacation out of this because they’d be arriving in New Jersey two weeks earlier to visit with her sister. Even after he acknowledges the pain Ysabel was in, he still carries resentment towards Christine over what he calls her “vacation.”
Even after Ysabel returned home from surgery, Kody did not come over to her house to help care for her. Christine was getting very little sleep during this time because of Ysabel’s medication schedule and could have used the help.
Thankfully, after the difficult surgery, Ysabel was able to get a straighter spine and her extreme pain has been relieved. She was also able to get an extra inch taller.
