Fundraising for Mirka's endometriosis surgery

Hi, my name is Stuart and I am trying to raise money for my friend Mirka. Mirka and I worked together for many years developing new therapies for patients with cancer and other inflammatory diseases, the picture of her here was taken when we delivered the first advanced cell therapy to a patient in Birmingham.

Unfortunately, Mirka has battled with severe endometriosis for many years and despite several surgeries and countless appointments with specialists up and down the country, she still lives in daily pain. This has become so life limiting that she cannot now sit or stand for more than a few minutes without agonising pain, she was unable to complete her PhD studies, and can no longer work. Even walking a mile has become impossible.

Her consultant referred her to a private specialist in Zurich for review and she has now been diagnosed with an area of increased vascularisation (blood vessels), around the pelvic nerves in her sacrum (where the spine and pelvis join), caused by a deep pocket of endometriosis. These vessels are compressing the nerves which is causing the pain. There is also suspicion that the endometriosis has recurred on these nerves and elsewhere which is adding further to her suffering.

The complexity of the surgery she now requires, to give her any hope of regaining her life, can only be performed by a few private clinics globally, the facility in Zurich is the closest. Even with this surgery, Mirka faces a long recovery period of up to one year with extensive physiotherapy before she can expect improvement in her condition. I want to try and raise sufficient funds to allow her to have this surgery and the opportunity of a pain free future, and the chance to work again in our scientific field, in which she has so many years of valuable experience.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, please help if you can.