Leara’s Medical Expenses

Hi my name is Leara Nicole Wright,  I am a 20-year-old college student at Missouri Western State University and I just started my junior year on Tuesday .

On Saturday, January 16th we had a small family Christmas get together. Everyone was finally COVID-19 free. During dinner, my aunt had noticed that my right pupil was smaller than the left along with slight droopiness of the eyelid. While it wasn't something that I had noticed beforehand my family urged me to get it checked out as soon as possible. 

I then made an appointment on Monday for the following Thursday the 21st with an ophthalmologist. Later that day I had intense pressure behind my right eye along with neck pain on my right side. The increased droopiness of my eyelid also lead to concerns, so I then followed up with the ophthalmologist who said I needed to be seen immediately. During the exam I was then given liquid cocaine drops in my eyes which then led to the diagnosis of Horners Syndrome. 

Horners Syndrome- A disrupted nerve pathway on one side from the brain to the face and eye.
Horner's syndrome is the result of another medical condition, such as a stroke, tumor, or spinal cord injury.
Symptoms include a smaller pupil, drooping eyelid, and little or no sweating on the affected side.

That Wednesday I had an intense ache in my right eye followed by extreme neck pain, so I then went to the Emergency room. There I was given a CT scan of my head and neck that showed no signs of disruption of the carotid artery, with having clear scans and the hospital being full due to COVID-19 along with not having any insurance they then sent me home with medication even though I was still experiencing neck and eye pain.

On Saturday the 23rd while enjoying watching tv I then had extreme spinning, dizzeness and heart palpataions. This happened a total of three times within an hour coming in waves. I then took my medication from the hospital to try to subside my syptoms. At this time my boyfriend  called his mom who is a nurse practioner to come and check up on me. After monitoring me she noticed my heart rate was elevated, even at rest for some time. She then adviced me to go to another ER.

I was addmited after showing symtoms of shooting pain in my head and eye, along with an intense pressure in my chest followed by some confusion while in the ER. 

Since being admitted I have had approximately a dozen or so of what we have been calling "episodes".  These episodes consist of the following:
Loss of focus on current task
Blank stare
tingling in feet 
legs going numb
increased pain in eye and increased drooping of eyelid 
falling into and out of sleep
shooting pain across forehead
shooting pain down and through shoulder and right arm
calf and thigh muscle spasms along
shooting chest pain and pressure 
elevated heart rate
left arm goes numb 
Trying to wake and hard to wake up and confusion 
Lower back muscle spasm
Numbness inside mouth
dry mouth
confusion and loss of regonition/ memory
whole body shakes 
sweating perfusly  

In a normal state, outside of the episodes, I am experienceing numbness in the right side of my face , complete loss of deep tissue reflexes in my right leg along with the majority of feeling in my left leg being gone. I can no longer walk to the restroom without assistance and am using a bed pan due to lack of strength and feeling.  As of last night, during my worst episode yet my heart rate reached 190 bpm. Also upon waking I didnt recognize my boyfriend of four years. These episodes can last from 10-30 minutes or maybe longer.

They have administered numerous tests including MRI, CT, x-ray, EKG, and spinal tap among others. None of these results have come back irregular. After a loss of what to do next they currently have me hooked up to an EEG, which is monitoring my brain waves. They wanted to transfer me to another hospital as they have a Neuro-ophthalmologist there.  Unfortunately, I do not have insurance, nor results on any tests, so they denied my transfer.  I am nervous about my health.  I am nervous about the hospital bills that are continuously accumulating  while they are having trouble pinpointing the cause of my symptoms. 

While I know times are tough for everyone right now, my family and I deeply appreciate an thoughts, prayers, donations to ease the burden of expences we accumulated to try and find answers. 

This is all we know at the time, and will try to keep diligently everyone posted, please check here or Facebook for future updates.

 Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers thus far. Please continue to keep my family in your prayers also, as they are going through this as well.

Feel free to share my story as it may help others in similar situations.

Written by me with the help of my mom and aunt.