Hello, my name is José Luis De La Cruz Daza, and I'm fundraising to pay for my brain surgery.

I am a 22-year-old, 5th. year university student. I am very close to graduating from my studies in Mechatronic engineering.

I want to tell you about the situation I am going through currently.

It all started in the middle of last year, when I was at home, I got nauseous and had to go to the bathroom immediately. At the time, both my family and I thought it was simple stomach flu or that I had food poisoning from something I had eaten the day before, so we didn't give it much thought. That's how it was in the beginning...

Three months passed and the symptoms did not improve, the nausea continued every day and always in the morning, when I bent down to do anything like pick up something from the floor or reach for something under the bed, the nausea was unbearable and I had to go quickly to the bathroom to vomit, then I went to the doctor, and I was prescribed medication for acid reflux. They also did blood and glucose tests. But the medications didn't help me.

I realized that it was not just nausea, when I tried to write something, I noticed that my hand was not working properly, even though I have been writing for many years, I simply cannot do it. What I wrote were doodles.

Then I kept going to the doctor several times, and he sent me more and more tests but the results of these did not help to identify my disease.

I also noticed that my balance was off (Vertigo) and other symptoms persisted, now when I walk, I go sideways and when I try to walk in a straight line I go zigzag, I felt dizzy almost all the time as when you go around in circles. It was at this moment that everything began to get worse. After waking up one morning I noticed that my right ear had decreased its hearing capacity. In addition, my left leg and the right side of my face felt strange, the sensitivity in those two parts of my body had decreased a lot, the cold water feels icy and when I rest my hand gently on the affected parts I didn’t feel anything.

At that time, I was very scared. So, I started looking on the internet for possible diseases that caused those symptoms, what I found was scary because they had no cure. I got very depressed thinking that I could have something like that. In those days an otolaryngologist doctor ordered me to make a medical appointment with a neurologist and it took almost 30 days until she was able to see me because the medical centers have been busy. When the neurologist sent me to get a nuclear MRI of the brain with gadolinium contrast, which would take another 30 days or so, the neurologist also told me that probably what I had was a condition related to my cerebellum.

The following days were even worse because all my symptoms worsened, I began to hear a beep in my right ear and I could hardly walk, I had to go very slowly so as not to fall, and to walk out of the house I always had to go hand in hand with my mom or dad, nausea that was in the morning extended until noon and the movements on the right side of my body became slow and very clumsy, I consider this probably the worst moment of my life, I felt very sad and I came to have very negative thoughts, I thought I would not make it.

Then several days passed and I was finally able to get the MRI exam done that the neurologist had ordered, and I finally discovered the cause of all my symptoms.

I have a tumor in my beneath my skull that is affecting the right side of the cerebellum.

The news was heartbreaking for me and my mother, who was with me at the time. I never imagined that something like this could happen to me, I was shocked and could not assimilate what was happening, so my mother began to cry, that was enough so that I could not bear it anymore. I also began to cry, many thoughts were crossing my mind at that time, we called my dad in the middle of crying and we gave the news, then to my uncles, my aunts, and my grandparents, everyone was very sad about the news, and some cried when they received it, but they all gave me very nice words of support, they also offered me all the help they could give me. I felt very happy and blessed to have such good family members.

That same day, we were able to meet with the neurosurgeon, who relieved us a little, and explained several positive things, first it is not a cancerous tumor. Second, the operation has a high probability of success, and third, she has a lot of experience in this field, in addition, we still have time to remove the tumor. She also explained that I must take a rest for several days after surgery and perform therapies so that I can continue a normal life.

There is only one drawback, the news took us by surprise, and we do not have the economic resources to carry out the surgery and the costs related to it such as therapies and the days I must take care of my rest, in addition to the fact that it is affecting my health, it must be done as soon as possible.

During all this time I have barely been able to do things on my own and I feel like a burden to my family. I really want to be able to get ahead and continue with a normal life. It is for these reasons that I ask for help today. Please help me and my family to overcome this situation, we would really thank you with all our hearts.

Thank you very much for reading.

 

Respectfully,

José Luis De La Cruz