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Imagine waking up one day and all you see is black. Imagine thinking about the possibility of never being able to one day see your child’s face. Imagine the thought of going from being an independent 32 year old, up and coming nurse to being dependent on others for the rest of your life. It’s not something that anyone would want to even imagine and this is Tracy-Ann’s reality for the last three years.
Tracy-Ann graduated nursing school in June 2013. After taking a well needed month off for rest and relaxation, she scheduled her exam with the Florida Board of Nursing for November and started studying. Being a nurse was always something Tracy was passionate about and she was so excited at the idea of fulfilling one of her life long dreams of being able to help people.
One morning in October 2013, Tracy woke up and couldn’t see anything, everything was pitch black. After going to the emergency room, she was given the very unfortunate news that the retina in both of her eyes had become detached and she was diagnosed with a condition called Diabetic Retinopathy. Based on the extent of the damage that had been done to her eyes, she had been an undiagnosed diabetic since she was a child. If that’s not bad enough, she was informed that the damage to her right eye was so extensive there was nothing that could be done to salvage vision in that eye.
After months of ongoing doctor appointments, in December 2013 Tracy underwent her first surgery on her left eye. Initially it appeared to be a success however, about a month later the pressure in the eye was extremely high and she was diagnosed with glaucoma. In order to reduce the pressure in her left eye, Tracy underwent a second surgery, to implant a shunt, in February 2014. Unfortunately, this procedure too was unsuccessful and Tracy was left with approximately 5% vision in her left eye.
For almost three years, Tracy has tried to live her life with this “new normal” thinking that there was nothing that could be done for her to regain her eyesight. She’s cried many tears at the thought of not being able to see her nieces and nephew grow up, not being able to see her future children’s faces, and not being able to fulfill her dream of being a nurse and helping people through these very types of situations. It broke all of our hearts to have to see Tracy “feel” her eldest niece’s prom dress to really understand how beautiful she looked and also miss seeing her cross the stage at her graduation.
In April 2016, while listening to the news, Tracy heard a story about a doctor named Dr. Jonathan F. Wise, an Ophthalmologist from Boca Raton, Fl who specializes in helping people with this very same condition and history. Thinking this was the answer to her prayers; Tracy quickly gathered all her medical records and contacted him to make an appointment. Needless to say, after the examination she was elated to hear Dr. Wise say he can help to restore the vision in her left eye. He does this through a process of removing bone marrow from her hip and injecting it into the eye which would, over a three month period, repair the damage and restore the vision her left eye.
Heartbreak set in again when Tracy learned this procedure would cost $19,600 and is not covered by any type of insurance.
We ask you today to please think of how you feel seeing your loved ones faces in a moment of happiness and help to bring that feeling back to Tracy. Please consider donating whatever you can, even if it’s $5. Every little bit helps, and every little bit gets Tracy that much closer to fulfilling her dream of one day being a nurse and helping others.
Tracy-Ann graduated nursing school in June 2013. After taking a well needed month off for rest and relaxation, she scheduled her exam with the Florida Board of Nursing for November and started studying. Being a nurse was always something Tracy was passionate about and she was so excited at the idea of fulfilling one of her life long dreams of being able to help people.
One morning in October 2013, Tracy woke up and couldn’t see anything, everything was pitch black. After going to the emergency room, she was given the very unfortunate news that the retina in both of her eyes had become detached and she was diagnosed with a condition called Diabetic Retinopathy. Based on the extent of the damage that had been done to her eyes, she had been an undiagnosed diabetic since she was a child. If that’s not bad enough, she was informed that the damage to her right eye was so extensive there was nothing that could be done to salvage vision in that eye.
After months of ongoing doctor appointments, in December 2013 Tracy underwent her first surgery on her left eye. Initially it appeared to be a success however, about a month later the pressure in the eye was extremely high and she was diagnosed with glaucoma. In order to reduce the pressure in her left eye, Tracy underwent a second surgery, to implant a shunt, in February 2014. Unfortunately, this procedure too was unsuccessful and Tracy was left with approximately 5% vision in her left eye.
For almost three years, Tracy has tried to live her life with this “new normal” thinking that there was nothing that could be done for her to regain her eyesight. She’s cried many tears at the thought of not being able to see her nieces and nephew grow up, not being able to see her future children’s faces, and not being able to fulfill her dream of being a nurse and helping people through these very types of situations. It broke all of our hearts to have to see Tracy “feel” her eldest niece’s prom dress to really understand how beautiful she looked and also miss seeing her cross the stage at her graduation.
In April 2016, while listening to the news, Tracy heard a story about a doctor named Dr. Jonathan F. Wise, an Ophthalmologist from Boca Raton, Fl who specializes in helping people with this very same condition and history. Thinking this was the answer to her prayers; Tracy quickly gathered all her medical records and contacted him to make an appointment. Needless to say, after the examination she was elated to hear Dr. Wise say he can help to restore the vision in her left eye. He does this through a process of removing bone marrow from her hip and injecting it into the eye which would, over a three month period, repair the damage and restore the vision her left eye.
Heartbreak set in again when Tracy learned this procedure would cost $19,600 and is not covered by any type of insurance.
We ask you today to please think of how you feel seeing your loved ones faces in a moment of happiness and help to bring that feeling back to Tracy. Please consider donating whatever you can, even if it’s $5. Every little bit helps, and every little bit gets Tracy that much closer to fulfilling her dream of one day being a nurse and helping others.