- C
- C
- S
Update 03/28/22
It's been a wild three months but the good news is I am recovering incredibly well! My incision is all sealed up and feels great, I have a great deal more stamina and energy as well as feeling unbelievably relieved that I made it through the worst of the ordeal so far. I was able to complete my first machining semester at school and received a Basic Technical Certificate in Machine Tool Technology. At the end of may I'll have an advanced technical certificate halfway towards my associates which is a milestone I've been yearning to reach for years and am so excited to be this close. Neuro has approved me to go back to work this week as well which is excellent news considering how much of a nightmare depending on disability has been and I'm glad to be able to get my resume back on track.
Though my craniotomy went fine I have developed a chronically painful condition caused by atrophied muscles in my entire upper body region and was the worst pain I have ever endured in my life. It made my incision feel like nothing in comparison to the excruciating agony I was in from the chest up. I can only describe this as the most violent muscle spasms on your worst day at your physically weakest point pulling your fascia and tendons in all the wrong directions, creating so much pressure you can feel waves of agony flood up your neck, concentrated in your brain stem, shooting through all the pressure points and tender sinuses throbbing sharply with your heartbeat so intensely you feel it pulsing in your eyes and lips in a way that makes you wonder if your skull might explode. I was in so much pain the thought of moving any part of my body caused terror and hysteria on a level I've never experienced before. It hurt to breathe or swallow, which made it impossible to ingest water or medicine, and talking was almost impossible as well. There were times I almost soiled myself because I wasn't able to get to a bathroom even with help because I physically couldn't tolerate movement of any kind. 75% of my daily routine revolved around managing, or enduring these brutal symptoms from January to early march. This was absolutely physically incapacitating in its entirety and it only let up when my muscles completely fatigued and failed to contract for maybe twenty minutes or so, which usually left me so spent I would instantly fall into a state of deep sleep from pure exhaustion as if I ran a desert marathon with no water. It's been a truly difficult journey so far but I'm not letting up on my goals despite how tired and discouraged I've felt in recent weeks. Throughout the entirety of this series of ailments I was dealing with, my doctors weren't able to provide any insight on what the cause could be even after ordering more ct scans and several in person appointments. They plainly stated they had no clue and we would have to play by ear. This was devastating and discouraging to hear over and over again for two months until my neurologist referred me to physical therapy where I found the probable cause to be a muscular syndrome that creates painful symptoms somewhat similar to what a person recovering from whiplash would experience. When I started physical therapy a majority of my day was spent in agony, unable to function without a constant minimum 1200 mg of ibuprofen and 600 mg acetaminophen in my system, as well as cranial anti inflammatories. A 20 minute lapse in doses after my body had finished processing it would have me convulsing in pain every time. Starting my second week of therapy I was ecstatic to find I was able to be mobile longer, drop down to just ibuprofen twice a day, and go on very short walks without experiencing a great deal of pain and discomfort and needing to lie down after. Two more weeks later and I can go a few days without pain medicine and feel almost back to normal on my best ones! I went from agony every day to mostly just feeling like I always have a solid hangover and can go a few days without ibuprofen. My double vision is still pretty severe, much worse at night and with screens or bright lights, but I still have 20/20 vision and will be able to have an eye specialist look into it as soon as the referral is processed. Its indescribable how amazing it feels to recover from the muscular atrophy so quickly after nearly relentless suffering for months. Progressing back to health like that is no less than a precious gift I'll never take for granted.
Unfortunately, at this time I am going on week number six of no income due to the leave administration and disability claims department agents failing to file my paperwork correctly and delaying my claim over a month for the second time. The pandemic has really stripped many of these large companies, running on worn out improperly trained skeleton crews, of accountability and competency but that's besides the point for now.
It's been a wild three months but the good news is I am recovering incredibly well! My incision is all sealed up and feels great, I have a great deal more stamina and energy as well as feeling unbelievably relieved that I made it through the worst of the ordeal so far. I was able to complete my first machining semester at school and received a Basic Technical Certificate in Machine Tool Technology. At the end of may I'll have an advanced technical certificate halfway towards my associates which is a milestone I've been yearning to reach for years and am so excited to be this close. Neuro has approved me to go back to work this week as well which is excellent news considering how much of a nightmare depending on disability has been and I'm glad to be able to get my resume back on track.
Though my craniotomy went fine I have developed a chronically painful condition caused by atrophied muscles in my entire upper body region and was the worst pain I have ever endured in my life. It made my incision feel like nothing in comparison to the excruciating agony I was in from the chest up. I can only describe this as the most violent muscle spasms on your worst day at your physically weakest point pulling your fascia and tendons in all the wrong directions, creating so much pressure you can feel waves of agony flood up your neck, concentrated in your brain stem, shooting through all the pressure points and tender sinuses throbbing sharply with your heartbeat so intensely you feel it pulsing in your eyes and lips in a way that makes you wonder if your skull might explode. I was in so much pain the thought of moving any part of my body caused terror and hysteria on a level I've never experienced before. It hurt to breathe or swallow, which made it impossible to ingest water or medicine, and talking was almost impossible as well. There were times I almost soiled myself because I wasn't able to get to a bathroom even with help because I physically couldn't tolerate movement of any kind. 75% of my daily routine revolved around managing, or enduring these brutal symptoms from January to early march. This was absolutely physically incapacitating in its entirety and it only let up when my muscles completely fatigued and failed to contract for maybe twenty minutes or so, which usually left me so spent I would instantly fall into a state of deep sleep from pure exhaustion as if I ran a desert marathon with no water. It's been a truly difficult journey so far but I'm not letting up on my goals despite how tired and discouraged I've felt in recent weeks. Throughout the entirety of this series of ailments I was dealing with, my doctors weren't able to provide any insight on what the cause could be even after ordering more ct scans and several in person appointments. They plainly stated they had no clue and we would have to play by ear. This was devastating and discouraging to hear over and over again for two months until my neurologist referred me to physical therapy where I found the probable cause to be a muscular syndrome that creates painful symptoms somewhat similar to what a person recovering from whiplash would experience. When I started physical therapy a majority of my day was spent in agony, unable to function without a constant minimum 1200 mg of ibuprofen and 600 mg acetaminophen in my system, as well as cranial anti inflammatories. A 20 minute lapse in doses after my body had finished processing it would have me convulsing in pain every time. Starting my second week of therapy I was ecstatic to find I was able to be mobile longer, drop down to just ibuprofen twice a day, and go on very short walks without experiencing a great deal of pain and discomfort and needing to lie down after. Two more weeks later and I can go a few days without pain medicine and feel almost back to normal on my best ones! I went from agony every day to mostly just feeling like I always have a solid hangover and can go a few days without ibuprofen. My double vision is still pretty severe, much worse at night and with screens or bright lights, but I still have 20/20 vision and will be able to have an eye specialist look into it as soon as the referral is processed. Its indescribable how amazing it feels to recover from the muscular atrophy so quickly after nearly relentless suffering for months. Progressing back to health like that is no less than a precious gift I'll never take for granted.
Unfortunately, at this time I am going on week number six of no income due to the leave administration and disability claims department agents failing to file my paperwork correctly and delaying my claim over a month for the second time. The pandemic has really stripped many of these large companies, running on worn out improperly trained skeleton crews, of accountability and competency but that's besides the point for now.
In two weeks I'll be back to my previous schedule at my job, which is a huge relief, but until then I have had no means to pay any of my bills and am desperate to remedy this somehow with very very few options. I am beyond grateful for everyone who was kind enough provide support, be it through donations or groceries, or sharing the fundraiser links. Every gesture of compassion and generosity has an immense impact on my ability to keep my head above the water and find a way to make it to the point where I'm sustaining myself financially again. For the moment I am still in desperate need of assistance and anything helps. A thousand thank yous to everyone who has so far!
-Theo
-Theo
11/21
Hello, my name is Theoden, and I am once again asking for your support. The last time I had used gofundme was to catch a flight to an audition with recruiters at The Voice my senior year of high school. Back then I was stunned at how many people were willing to pitch in to help me chase a dream and I'll never forget how impactful it was to receive that much support from the people in my life. Even though I didn't make it past the audition I'm still grateful for the experience and continue to work towards those goals while tackling the obstacles life has thrown at me. At this time my medical predicament poses a challenge that is putting me in a position of having to ask for more help than I've ever needed.
Before I graduated in 2014, I was diagnosed with a small brain aneurism on my ophthalmic artery behind my left eye. My neurologist assured me it wouldn't be an issue as long as I get an mri on an annual basis to monitor its growth. Unfortunately due to the costs associated with doing so I was unable to afford the co-pays for another scan until this year after noticing some alarming changes in my vision back in march.
An angiogram performed earlier this month showed the aneurism had grown from 2mm-2mm in 2013 to 7mm-5.2mm, a near triple in size. At this point the aneurism is pressing against my optic nerve, which causes vision changes among other issues. Its been increasingly difficult to stay focused, I've developed migraines and I find myself lacking the energy and stamina it takes to go to school full time and maintain my responsibilities as a full time assistant manager as well. As a result I've had to drop down to part time at work in order to make full use of my small bouts of energy to finish my projects for finals this semester without over exerting myself before I can get brain surgery. To put it in perspective, 25% of patients that experience a ruptured aneurism die before they make it to a hospital, another 25% die after they get to the hospital, a quarter of them survive with complications like paralysis from the stroke, and the other lucky 25% recover with no issues. Instead of pushing my luck I'm minimizing my stress factors, taking high blood pressure medication, and resting as much as possible until the surgery date comes around.
The procedure involves cutting into a section of my skull and inserting a titanium clip over the saccular aneurysm beneath my optic nerve, then re-securing my skull with a few bolts and a titanium plate. Scheduling the surgery to treat the aneurysm for December 21st gives me a small window of time to recover enough to be able to start my second semester at cwi for my machine tool technology degree in mid January. In the meantime recovery will require I take a minimum of 3 weeks off for work, and then continue part time hours for a while after until I'm well healed and ready to roll.
This means I won't be working enough hours to pay my bills for the next three months.
When budgeting around these parameters I was shocked at how much the gap of my income to cost of living increased and realized there is no way for me to recover from this financially as I had an incredibly invasive abdominal/ pelvic surgery that ended up causing hemmoraghing complications requiring emergency surgery which kept me out of work for over a month, which used up almost all my paid time off for the year, back in july.
For the last several years I've worked hard and done my best to be the kind of adult who is devoted to growth, self improvement, kindness, and excellence. I've never faced this many sets of circumstances that have me wondering how in the world I'm going to pull this off, but I've been floored by the generosity and love from the people in my life and hope I can ask everyone the huge favor of donating to my medical fund so I can stay enrolled in school and finally move past this huge cloud over my head once I'm healed up from this mess and start living my life without the limits I've been struggling to break away from.
Thanks for taking the time to read into the fundraiser!
-Theo