Your support: A lifeline for my Chiari battle

Jorge Kattan is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hello, my name is Jorge, I am from Honduras, and I am 39 years old. I will share a bit of my story and explain why I am doing this. Since I was a child, I remember suffering from headaches, pains that have always been there, every day, some days less intense than others, many days feeling like I’m going to faint from the pain. These headaches have always prevented me from doing common activities such as playing sports, watching TV, reading, studying, or simply sleeping well. Throughout my life, I have visited four different neurologists, but they all said it was just a migraine. A little over a year ago, the pain became more intense and constant, and other symptoms appeared, such as ringing in the ears, dizziness, nausea, and increased difficulty sleeping. Because of this, and taking advantage of a short visit to my home country, my wife insisted that I seek the opinion of another neurologist, who, after reviewing my case and hearing about my symptoms, thought it was appropriate to recommend an MRI. The results showed that I suffer from a congenital malformation in my skull called “Chiari Malformation.” This malformation causes the bone in my skull to put pressure on my cerebellum and brain, which in turn causes the symptoms in my body. I was referred to a neurosurgeon, who, after analyzing my symptoms and the MRI findings, indicated that surgery was necessary to remove part of the skull bone and relieve the pressure on my cerebellum and brain. Surgery is the only solution to Chiari Malformation. Failure to surgically correct this malformation will result in loss of mobility in my limbs, vision loss, loss of coordination, difficulty speaking, difficulty eating, and fainting, among other symptoms. I recently moved to Canada, and my legal status does not allow me to access the local healthcare system, and I do not have the financial resources to cover the surgery and its follow-up care, as I will need to stay in the hospital for at least a week. Because of all this, I find myself in the position of needing to create this campaign and ask for help from generous, kind-hearted people to help me achieve my dream of living pain-free and having a normal life.