Our mother needs 2 surgeries to end years of pain

Hello, my name is Djeneba. My brother Adam and I are reaching out to raise funds for a crucial nerve surgery that could end our mother's ten-plus years of pain.

Our mom Ramata, injured her right arm, shoulder and neck while working as a caregiver. She loved that job and dedicated herself to helping those who could not help themselves. She hurt herself while helping others. The injury occurred in early 2010 while transferring a patient from a wheelchair to a bed. The main problem identified was a ripped biceps tendon, even though she told doctors at that time that she also had pain in the shoulder and neck. While undertaking the surgery to reattach her biceps tendon, the surgeon mistakenly damaged a nerve that resulted in constant, severe and complex pain in the whole right arm, shoulder, neck and head. Her other injuries were not addressed as she struggled to have the botched first surgery corrected.

After one year of denials of any problem by the first surgeon, a second surgeon identified that the first surgeon had damaged a nerve. What has followed has been years of battle with workers comp lawyers and doctors to address the botched surgery and the need for corrective nerve surgery, which has constantly been denied as a real problem. Ramata has suffered the past 12 years from constant pain in her right arm while battling within a corrupted system that only cares about profits over lives. Her pain was so severe; stabbing needles, tingling, aching and burning, and cold made it impossible for her to do anything at home, let alone work again. Nothing helped the pain, and she went days without sleeping. Her life was a literal hell, and it did not help that some declared that the pain was all in her head. It was almost too much to bear.

Our family was convinced there were solutions to resolving our mother's pain. We were offered no answers by the entrenched medical pain management for-profit industry and its “It's in your head” attitude. After denying that the problem was real for so many years, we were forced to take our mother's treatment into our own hands. After exhausting all options within Minnesota, we searched extensively and discovered a specialist in Nevada. Our family spent thousands of dollars in 2021 for Ramata to undergo the first surgery on the right Brachial Plexus that resolved the pain in the neck and head. Thus far, the worker's comp refuses to reimburse us for the surgery's cost. Without that money, we cannot undertake the additional surgeries recommended by the specialist to resolve our mother's years of pain.

The specialist is Dr. Timothy Tollestrup, and thus far, he has done what others were never capable of doing, ending our mother's pain. His first surgery brought great relief and improvement in Ramata's battle with pain. However, he had told us that further surgeries would ultimately be required to heal her from all these years of pain.

We are asking for your help to end Ramata's twelve years of pain and once again allow her to lead an everyday, happy life. With your help, we believe our mother can lead a life of happiness, love and care again.

Thank you for listening!

Djeneba Diakite & Adama Sly