Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm fundraising to pay for an operation to fix a CSF leak in my spinal membrane. I became ill with this rare condition 3 years ago, coming down with what I thought at first was just the worst headache of my life but then transpired was intracranial hypotension, a loss of pressure in the brain due to the CSF fluid leaking into my spine. My brain ended up sinking so low it was sitting in the top of my spine. I spent 9 days in hospital (with an inspirational view of a graveyard, see photos below ) while doctors scratched their heads as to what was wrong. Medical students were brought round daily to test them on diagnosing what might be wrong with me, I felt a bit like The Elephant Man. Since then I have received two unsuccessful blood patches to try and seal the leak, where they inject your own blood into your spine in the hope it will coagulate and patch the hole. Surgery is the next step which should, fingers crossed, finally resolve the ongoing symptoms of chronic pain in my neck, shoulders and head, tinnitus and piercing ear pain, brain fog, pins and needles and cramps, and a debilitating fatigue. I would love to return to my pre-leak self, a keen road cyclist (so much so finding a photo of me without a cycle helmet can be hard!) who would help lead rides for women and take part in 100km+ sportives and the like. Right now just walking our dog can be enough to do me in for the day. I am now on an NHS waiting list for surgery - the wait is estimated at a year though. The longer I wait for treatment, the greater the risk of siddrosis in the brain, and issues with long term damage to my nerves. I can get the operation done privately, I believe as quickly as July based on current availability. My finances have taken a knock in these last three years, using savings to get by after initially taking a step back in my career due to the impact of my symptoms, hence this Go Fund Me to see if anyone would be prepared to help. While it's not a life-threatening condition, it is limiting on my life, I can't do physical activities with my daughter like swimming, running and of course cycling. Also, the time sensitivity of this is the worry, the longer I wait the greater the risk for my long term health. I hope you can help, anything you can contribute would be very much appreciated, thank you.