Help Me Get Vital Medical Care at Tufts University

Improving the lives of others has always been my calling. But now I need help, and I'm praying you'll be there for me. Normally, happy and healthy, you may be surprised to hear how my life has deteriorated over the past four years. I have lost everything: my home, my health, my work, my piece of mind and my future. So, I have no choice but to ask for your financial help so I can recover, and have my life back again.

As a way of thanking you for your support, I'll do my best to help you in any way I can in my capacity as a Nutritionist, or just as a friend.

My story...

In July 2021, I began experiencing intense eye pain. When I saw the doctors, they couldn't find a reason. The pain became worse and worse - daily, and constantly - and sometimes felt like a thousand pins stabbing my eye. I was finally diagnosed two years later, in July 2023, with, "Corneal Neuropathic Pain." It took me another year to find the best doctors, ones with a successful track record, to treat my condition.

After researching Corneal Neuropathic Pain, I learned the reason why my pain ultimately became so excruciating that I have been unable to work normally, nor earn a living during these past few years.

The following information is from: "Ocular (Corneal) Neuropathic Pain." It is published in the National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine's Center of Biotechnology Information. This particular piece explaining "Corneal Neuropathic Pain" is a "StatPearl." StatPearls are physician continuing education activities needed for doctors to maintain their ability to keep practicing. It states:

The human cornea is often referred to as one of the most potent pain generators in the human body. It has more nerve tissues, with approximately 7000 nerve terminals per square millimeter, than any other part of the body, making the cornea about 300 to 600 times more sensitive than skin.

Corneal nerves carry the sensation of touch, pain, and temperature, and they detect mechanical, thermal, and chemical stimuli. With Corneal Neuropathic Pain, normal conditions, like eyes being exposed to light or air, create abnormal pain.

[After a good night's sleep, my eye is ok, but as the day wears on, the pain increases. After a couple of hours, any time my eyes are open, I feel a constant state of the following sensations]

Photoallodynia (pain sensation in response to a non-painful stimulus, light)

Burning

Irritation

Dryness

Grittiness

For sufferers of Corneal Neuropathic Pain, this increased sensitivity intensifies pain signaling. Chronic stimulation can cause sensitization of the central nervous system and thus increased awareness of pain.

The prognosis of patients with ocular neuropathic pain dramatically varies. Patients often have chronic symptoms requiring a multimodal treatment approach. Early interventions yield better outcomes.

For reasons other than the obvious, treatment and management of chronic pain is an arduous task. Patients with chronic pain become increasingly anxious about it, and anxiety correlates with increased susceptibility to pain–a vicious cycle. Chronic pain is not only psychologically taxing but physically as well. Studies have found comorbidity with many other conditions such as chronic fatigue, joint pain, and depression.

The StatPearl continues to say that "the severe pain sensation, and light sensitivity, prevent those afflicted with ocular neuropathic pain from performing activities of daily living and is associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression—even suicidal thoughts in extreme cases."

My appeal:

There is only one group of opthalmologists that have a track record of treating my condition successfully, but they're at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. At Tufts, they have found, and studies confirm, that corneal nerves can be regenerated. It could take several years, but there is a good chance it could work in my case. My excellent doctor, Pedram Hamrah, MD, doesn't take my insurance.

I need funds for traveling to and from Boston (I don't need to stay overnight) - two or three times a year for several years - as well as for treatment, testing, and medications.

Here is a 10-minute video describing my condition and the Tufts program:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks50QzQcH3I

I'd feel thankful if you would please donate to my medical fund. I hope to start living a high quality of life soon. Hold a fundraiser? Ask your friends to help, too?

For anything you do, I'd feel grateful.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I hope to see you soon...