Help save Tessa's eyesight
Donation protected
We have changed our daughter's name, for her privacy and protection.
My name is Heather, and Craig and I are the proud parents to two children with special/medical needs. We are hoping to get assistance for our daughter, Tessa.
Tessa got her first pair of glasses several years ago; she is nearsighted. We have taken her to the optometrist every two years for exams, and up until recently, things were going pretty good. Her vision seemed to be fine.
Until about a year and a half ago, she began to complain that her vision was getting worse. She said she was having troubles seeing, even with her glasses. We took her into see her optometrist, who gave us the news that she had a significant decline in her eyesight, and said that we needed to return every 3-6 months, to keep close tabs on her eyesight.
With every visit, her vision has had additional decline. She has been to an opthamologist, who has also verified that she is slowly losing her vision.
Her last appointment confirmed our worst fears; she is going to continue to lose vision, until there is nothing left (past a few feet).
Her official diagnosis is progressive myopia. Because of her decline each visit, her doctor has now recommended agressive therapy to attempt to halt the progression of her vision loss, or to at least slow it.
She has to start atropine eye drops immediately, twice a day, for a minimum of the next two years. She also has to start orthokeratology, or "ortho k". Think of this as braces, except it's contact lenses to reshape her eye.
She has to put hard contact lenses in her eyes every night before bed. The hope is that this will gradually reshape her eyes, and stop/slow the progression of her vision loss.
The orthokeratology is the most expensive portion of both of these therapies. Depending on the specialist that fits her for the contact lenses, we are looking at a $2000-$3000 fee for the fitting. And as we understand it, she may have to have them changed/fitted annually.
My benefits at work do not cover this therapy, and they will only cover a portion of her eye drops, which are specialty eye drops, and we can only have them made at one pharmacy in the city. They need to be sterile, which limits us to the one pharmacy; of course this is not cheap.
In addition to these therapies, she also will need her glasses upgraded every 3-6 months. My benefits only cover one pair every two years. The prescription she requires is also quite costly.
Our goal is to start the eye drops immediately, and get her into her fitting within the next week or two, but I have to have the money to get her fitted. Our estimation of $7000 will hopefully cover her out of pocket therapies and glasses for the next two years. We may be underestimating the two year cost, but at least we can get her started if we can raise this money.
The last thing I want to mention is what will happen if we cannot raise this money. Her doctor said that with untreated progressive myopia, in addition to the loss of her far-away vision (nearsightedness), she is at risk of retinal issues, including a retinal detachment. The worse case scenario with a retinal detachment is complete blindness.
Her father and I have reached out to every agency that we can think of; we have even contacted other's that have had vision issues. The problem with these agencies' mandates, is that they are only set up to help once she has lost her vision, and not to help with funding to stop the loss. Crazy.
Our little girl is only 13. We are desperate to help her save what vision she has left. She is an amazing young lady, and has a bright future ahead of her. We only want to make sure that her future stays as bright as her potential.
Thank you for your consideration.
Tessa's hopeful parents,
Heather and Craig
My name is Heather, and Craig and I are the proud parents to two children with special/medical needs. We are hoping to get assistance for our daughter, Tessa.
Tessa got her first pair of glasses several years ago; she is nearsighted. We have taken her to the optometrist every two years for exams, and up until recently, things were going pretty good. Her vision seemed to be fine.
Until about a year and a half ago, she began to complain that her vision was getting worse. She said she was having troubles seeing, even with her glasses. We took her into see her optometrist, who gave us the news that she had a significant decline in her eyesight, and said that we needed to return every 3-6 months, to keep close tabs on her eyesight.
With every visit, her vision has had additional decline. She has been to an opthamologist, who has also verified that she is slowly losing her vision.
Her last appointment confirmed our worst fears; she is going to continue to lose vision, until there is nothing left (past a few feet).
Her official diagnosis is progressive myopia. Because of her decline each visit, her doctor has now recommended agressive therapy to attempt to halt the progression of her vision loss, or to at least slow it.
She has to start atropine eye drops immediately, twice a day, for a minimum of the next two years. She also has to start orthokeratology, or "ortho k". Think of this as braces, except it's contact lenses to reshape her eye.
She has to put hard contact lenses in her eyes every night before bed. The hope is that this will gradually reshape her eyes, and stop/slow the progression of her vision loss.
The orthokeratology is the most expensive portion of both of these therapies. Depending on the specialist that fits her for the contact lenses, we are looking at a $2000-$3000 fee for the fitting. And as we understand it, she may have to have them changed/fitted annually.
My benefits at work do not cover this therapy, and they will only cover a portion of her eye drops, which are specialty eye drops, and we can only have them made at one pharmacy in the city. They need to be sterile, which limits us to the one pharmacy; of course this is not cheap.
In addition to these therapies, she also will need her glasses upgraded every 3-6 months. My benefits only cover one pair every two years. The prescription she requires is also quite costly.
Our goal is to start the eye drops immediately, and get her into her fitting within the next week or two, but I have to have the money to get her fitted. Our estimation of $7000 will hopefully cover her out of pocket therapies and glasses for the next two years. We may be underestimating the two year cost, but at least we can get her started if we can raise this money.
The last thing I want to mention is what will happen if we cannot raise this money. Her doctor said that with untreated progressive myopia, in addition to the loss of her far-away vision (nearsightedness), she is at risk of retinal issues, including a retinal detachment. The worse case scenario with a retinal detachment is complete blindness.
Her father and I have reached out to every agency that we can think of; we have even contacted other's that have had vision issues. The problem with these agencies' mandates, is that they are only set up to help once she has lost her vision, and not to help with funding to stop the loss. Crazy.
Our little girl is only 13. We are desperate to help her save what vision she has left. She is an amazing young lady, and has a bright future ahead of her. We only want to make sure that her future stays as bright as her potential.
Thank you for your consideration.
Tessa's hopeful parents,
Heather and Craig
Organizer
Heather D Colvin
Organizer
Black Diamond, AB