Help My Sister Elisa Get a Life Changing Surgery

Help Elisa Get Life-Changing Surgery for Rare Vascular Conditions

Hi, my name is Jillian, and I’m writing on behalf of my incredible sister, Elisa McRae, a School Teacher and writer who lives in Alberta, Canada.

Elisa has spent her entire life battling two extremely rare vascular conditions: Sturge-Weber Syndrome and Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome (KTS). These conditions cause painful, disfiguring vascular malformations, asymmetrical limb overgrowth, and a host of debilitating symptoms that have affected her face, eye, ear, and overall well-being.

Despite everything she faces daily, Elisa remains the most compassionate, brave, and determined person I know. She’s a devoted sister, an amazing aunt, and a fiercely loyal friend. She has always faced these challenges with dignity, grace, and strength—but now, she finally has a chance to get the help she’s never had access to before.

The Reality of Living with KTS and Sturge-Weber

Elisa’s lower lip is severely enlarged—causing her constant pain, difficulty eating and speaking, and serious impacts on her mental health and sleep.

Her left eye—once partially functional—is now fully blind, with worsening pressure and pain due to glaucoma and vascular damage. Doctors told her nothing could be done for her eye or drooping eyelid, but we now know that’s not true.

Over the years, Elisa has also developed vascular “blebs”—dangerous growths that can expand or bleed without warning—and her left ear has begun to thicken and droop due to the same condition.

There Is Hope – But It’s Not in Canada

After decades of being told nothing could be done, Elisa was finally referred to Dr. Todd Remington and nurse Barb Humphrey in Calgary. They connected her with the world-renowned Vascular Birthmark Institute in New York, where Dr. Waner and Dr. O specialize in treating rare cases like Elisa’s.

These surgeons are willing to perform the complex surgeries Elisa needs—procedures that no Canadian surgeon will attempt. They’ve given other patients with these same conditions new chances at life, and they’ve given Elisa something she’s never had before: hope.

Her first surgery is scheduled for August 2025.

What We’re Fundraising For

To get Elisa this life-changing treatment, we need to raise $105,000 USD to cover:

    •    ✨ Surgery: $80,000

    •     Hospital Stay: $25,000

    •    ✈️ Travel & Lodging in NYC

    •    ❤️ Post-op recovery care (I’ll be staying with Elisa as her caregiver to help reduce costs)

This doesn’t include other long-term treatments she may need, but it gets her the critical help to stop the progression of her condition—and relieve the suffering that’s already taken so much from her life.

How You Can Help

Our family is doing everything we can, but we can’t do this alone. Every single donation—no matter the amount—gets us one step closer to the surgery Elisa urgently needs.

If you can’t donate, please share this campaign. Your support means the world to us.

Together, we can give Elisa a future where she can eat, speak, sleep, and smile without pain—a life where she’s no longer told “there’s nothing we can do.”

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading, donating, and helping bring hope back into Elisa’s life.

With love and gratitude,

Jillian Cardona & the McRae Family