Help Grace get her CSF leak patched

Hello,

My names Lizzi, and my wonderful friend Grace desperately needs surgery to get a blood patch done over her CSF leak. 

Grace has a condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, amongst other co-morbid conditions, and this has led to her getting 2 CSF leaks in the last 2 years.

A CSF leak is a hole in the dura which protects the spinal cord, leading to spinal fluid leaking, and low intercranial pressure, which leads to numerous symptoms. It has led to excruciating head and neck pain, dizziness, loss of balance, full body nerve pain, pins and needles, skin crawling sensations, electric shock pain in her legs, tinnitus, double vision, eye pain, tremors, weakness in her legs, concentration problems, memory problems and violent muscle spasms. This means that grace is housebound, almost completely bedbound, cannot work or continue her degree, she had to give up a job she loved, working within the drug and alcohol service. It can cause neurological damage, and the longer it goes on the worse that damage will be. 

With the NHS as it currently is due to covid and other pressures Grace has already waited 2 years, and has at least 6 months, most likely significantly more, of waiting  housebound and largely bedbound and in incredible amounts of pain, before the NHS will be able to operate. This will also impact on Grace's mental health, which over time would deteriorate, understandably, by the pain and the limits the CSF leak plays on her day to day life. Grace won't be able to go back to the life she had before her CSF leak as some damage is already done, however the longer she is left in this condition the worse her prognosis. 

The only option left to Grace is to go private and have a blood patch done, where they use Grace's blood to make a patch that seals the leak. This would halt any deterioration, fix the leak, and mean Grace could start rebuilding her life again, getting back some of the mobility she has lost, and slowly being able to get some of her life back.

Unfortunately going private isn't cheap, and that's where we need your help! Any donation, even tiny, would help Grace to get the surgery she needs as soon as possible.

We appreciate any and all donations!