Help Emih fight!
Donation protected
Ever heard of a pseudo tumor in your brain and a Chiari Malformation? Neither had I until Emih called me last month.
She went to a routine eye exam and is now facing brain surgery, medical bills and prescription bills ($220 per month) that she can’t handle on her own.
If it goes untreated the pseudo tumor could leave her blind and the chiari malformation causes unmanageable migraine headaches and can cause cysts to form in her spinal cord.
If you are in a financial position to donate any amount, I'd be so grateful! Emih is an awesome lady, and I really want to see her beat this without going into extensive financial debt.
Her parents are helping as much as they can but are dealing with their own medical needs, which have them struggling financially even with insurance coverage.
Emih's story below:
This all started with a routine eye exam because I have been having migraine headaches over the past 3 months. While the optometrist was checking my eyes she stopped mid-exam and told me I needed to go to the ER right now because she couldn’t see my optical nerve.
The ER doctor tells me I have a pseudo tumor in my brain, which means there is no tumor but my brain is storing spinal fluid like it's a hot commodity and thinks there is a tumor. The ER doctor said, "we will do a spinal tap and send you on your way and you should be feeling better in no time" ... they come back after consulting a neurosurgeon and say "actually, we're not. You have low hanging cerebral tonsils (who knew that was a thing?) Please go see this neurologist". They give me some prescriptions for the pain and medication to slow down the production of spinal fluid.
I go to that neurologist and they say the same thing and they send me to a Brain Expert. He describes the brain surgery he has to do to relieve the Malformation and will then do a spinal tap to relieve the pseudo tumor. He explains there is no pain medication that can relieve the headaches effectively and I will have to live with them until the operation.
But until then you need to see a neuro-ophthalmologist to see what he can do for the pseudo tumor. Unfortunately the spinal tap is off the table for the moment because I could have a massive stroke due to the Chiari Malformation. He states that I need to stay on the medicine I am already on. His role is to monitor the pressure on my optical nerve and determine if the brain surgery needs to me moved up. So I will be seeing him every 6 weeks.
At this point you may wonder why the surgery isn’t scheduled until January. It’s because the health insurance I have doesn’t cover it. It does cost over $100 per month but it turns out not to cover emergency room visits, surgery, hospital stays – it basically provided one wellness visit. I am waiting for the open enrollment so I can sign up for insurance that will provide more coverage. So I am dealing with daily migraines and high prescription bills and returning doctors office visits until then.
Thank you for reading this, just knowing you have my back in any way you can, means a lot, even if it is just a prayer or a well wish.
She went to a routine eye exam and is now facing brain surgery, medical bills and prescription bills ($220 per month) that she can’t handle on her own.
If it goes untreated the pseudo tumor could leave her blind and the chiari malformation causes unmanageable migraine headaches and can cause cysts to form in her spinal cord.
If you are in a financial position to donate any amount, I'd be so grateful! Emih is an awesome lady, and I really want to see her beat this without going into extensive financial debt.
Her parents are helping as much as they can but are dealing with their own medical needs, which have them struggling financially even with insurance coverage.
Emih's story below:
This all started with a routine eye exam because I have been having migraine headaches over the past 3 months. While the optometrist was checking my eyes she stopped mid-exam and told me I needed to go to the ER right now because she couldn’t see my optical nerve.
The ER doctor tells me I have a pseudo tumor in my brain, which means there is no tumor but my brain is storing spinal fluid like it's a hot commodity and thinks there is a tumor. The ER doctor said, "we will do a spinal tap and send you on your way and you should be feeling better in no time" ... they come back after consulting a neurosurgeon and say "actually, we're not. You have low hanging cerebral tonsils (who knew that was a thing?) Please go see this neurologist". They give me some prescriptions for the pain and medication to slow down the production of spinal fluid.
I go to that neurologist and they say the same thing and they send me to a Brain Expert. He describes the brain surgery he has to do to relieve the Malformation and will then do a spinal tap to relieve the pseudo tumor. He explains there is no pain medication that can relieve the headaches effectively and I will have to live with them until the operation.
But until then you need to see a neuro-ophthalmologist to see what he can do for the pseudo tumor. Unfortunately the spinal tap is off the table for the moment because I could have a massive stroke due to the Chiari Malformation. He states that I need to stay on the medicine I am already on. His role is to monitor the pressure on my optical nerve and determine if the brain surgery needs to me moved up. So I will be seeing him every 6 weeks.
At this point you may wonder why the surgery isn’t scheduled until January. It’s because the health insurance I have doesn’t cover it. It does cost over $100 per month but it turns out not to cover emergency room visits, surgery, hospital stays – it basically provided one wellness visit. I am waiting for the open enrollment so I can sign up for insurance that will provide more coverage. So I am dealing with daily migraines and high prescription bills and returning doctors office visits until then.
Thank you for reading this, just knowing you have my back in any way you can, means a lot, even if it is just a prayer or a well wish.
Organizer and beneficiary
Molly Leland
Organizer
New York, NY
Emih Abrahamson
Beneficiary
Begin your fundraising journey
