Help Erin and her family Recover from Eye Removal Surgery

Hello everyone!

Last year, on August 4th, 2023, I had to have my right eye completely removed. Many of you know I had already lost vision in that eye. But after months of constant and unexplained pain, it was discovered that scar tissue from an earlier eye operation had built up inside the eye around my molteno valve implant, and had worked its way past my dislocated lens, to eat away at my cornea (the surface of my eye). The pain was essentially the result of my eye becoming a constantly open wound. With no possibility of restoring my sight, and the risk of further complications in the future, complete removal became my only real option.

There are two types of eye removal surgery - one involves losing damaged material from inside, or part of, your eye, and the other involves complete removal of the globe and sclera, the surrounding tissue. The second is what I needed.

This is a very scary surgery, and I am forever grateful to my amazing team of doctors. They eye, valve and all affected tissue were removed successfully, and a silicone implant was put in to maintain my eye socket integrity, as well as support a future prosthesis. Incredible that this process is even possible!

In the months of healing that followed, I wound up with an infection that caused me to reject my implant. This put me back in the operating room on December 11th, to have the surgery re-done. The implant, as well as all affected tissue had to be removed, and the delicate muscles that allow movement of the eye (or implant) had to be detached for a second time. I required a second surgical site on my abdomen to obtain natural, subdermal tissue for an organic replacement implant that I would not reject. Again, I could not be more grateful to the outstanding care team - medical and personal - that got me through this. Modern medicine is truly a miracle. And I must be highly favored by Odin, as I had to lose the same eye twice! I spent last Christmas with my eyelids stitched closed, and the first few months of this year healing, regaining balance, stability, and strength, and starting the prosthetic process over for a second time, after the implant and eye socket shape had to change.

Now, I need help from all of you. The cost of two surgeries, two attempts at a prosthetic eye, and two arduous recoveries have piled up, and I am humbly asking for your support. Your donations mean I can tackle the mountainous bills, as well as ensuring that I can continue to get any care I need moving forward. It will make all the difference in helping me provide for my family, instead of them needing to go without. The physical healing has come a long way, and I am more grateful than I can say. Thank you for helping me conquer the rest of the battle before me.

More details of the past year, and updates as we move forward, will be shared here. I am so grateful for all of you. Once we reach my initial goal (and dare I say exceed it?) I would like to be able to donate some of this money to support the Fun Eye Fund, a non profit organization helping people get the prosthetics they need as they recover from this kind of amputation. I will also be sharing information about them and the amazing work they are doing - eye prosthetics cost many thousands of dollars each, require care and maintenance for optimized health over time, and ideally need to be replaced every 3-10 years, depending on each individual situation. They are dramatically under covered by most health insurance plans, and access to assistance can be very hard to come by.

Any contribution you make helps - me, my family, and hopefully other people in need - and every dollar is tax deductible. I look forward to sharing more with you, and continuing this journey with your loving and generous support. Thank you will never be enough.

Love, Erin (and Odin)