Help a WNY mom of 2 get her brain stent

Hi! My name is Kayliana Factor. I’m a 24 year old mom of 2 beautiful boys. A 5 year old and a 6 month old. This is my story.

In November of 2021, I began hearing a whooping sound that sounded like my heartbeat on an ultrasound machine in my left ear. I went to my PCP with this, where she wrote it off as high blood pressure. I never had elevated BP but I just ignored it. Fast forward a few months, the sound never went away. I had begun to experience other symptoms: left sided pressure and headaches, I was quickly loosing vision in my left eye and all around my quality of life and health depleted slowly.

I was in and out of the hospital 20+ times in the course of 4 months in the beginning of 2022. I was being told nothing was wrong with me, ignore it, it’s nothing, it’s in your head. I had seen 8 different neurological specialists in WNY, I had seen heart specialists, ENT’s. I had a lumbar puncture as well just to see if it was IIH…it was always “it’s in your head, it’s nothing.” I was giving up hope that I would ever feel ‘normal’ again.

I was scrolling on my phone one day, when I came across a video about a girl, who had the same exact symptoms as me. She was at a stand still. I related to her fully. She than explained how she came across Dr. ATHOS PATSALIDES. He specializes in pulsatile tinnitus - which is the “whooshing heartbeat” I hear in my ear 24/7.

I did my own research and decided it didn’t hurt to try to reach out to him. I was lucky he took my insurance and was able to get me in 4 months later. I sent him all of my MRI’s, MRA’s, and CT’s. In my appointment, he validated my feelings, my concerns and assured me it was in fact in my head but it wasn’t nothing after all.

It’s time to get my surgery, and live a normal life for myself and for my family. I need an endovascular procedure to place a mesh stent into spot in my brain where the aneurysm is.

However, I need help.

Dr. Patsalides is located in NYC at NorthWell Health. I have to travel by car with my partner, who will have to miss work in order to support me during and after my procedure. The time off work will be extremely stressful while I heal and he navigates maintaining our home and livelihood without me being able to help much.

The costs of traveling, the duration of the stay, and the bills at home, well exceed what we have saved.

If you have read this far, thank you for listening to my story. If you are able to donate or share so others can see this, I would appreciate it to the ends of the earth and back.

Thank you so much.