Hi. My name is Raquel and if you don’t know me, I am writing this to share with you my journey in the hope that you can offer some support during this difficult time. I am 24 years old. I am a vegan, nature, and animal lover. I love spending time with family and friends, experiencing new things and traveling. For the last 6 years, I have been working as a lash and brow technician and I’m also an aspiring singer/songwriter.  I’ve been living on my own, in seemingly perfect health, and completely independent as it was always a goal of mine to have my own space for me and my pets. 

 All of this suddenly changed at the end of December of this past year. Just after arriving home from my Christmas travels, I suffered a major seizure in my sleep witnessed by my boyfriend. Since that night, my whole life has been turned upside down.

  


I was working on seeing a neurologist and getting tests done, but it took two weeks to get appointments with my providers. Over those two weeks of waiting, I had several more seizures in my sleep and two while awake in public, which were very distressing, to say the least. Once I finally saw a neurologist, I was put on anti-seizure medication right away and informed that I wouldn't be allowed to drive legally until I was six months seizure-free. This was a devastating blow because losing my independence so suddenly as a 24-year-old working woman with tons of plans left me feeling completely lost about what I would do next. 

An emergency MRI was scheduled for the next morning, and I was looking forward to getting some answers about what could be causing all of this. Immediately after completing the MRI, they brought me into a room where the doctor told me they found a very large tumor on the right side of my brain, and that I would need to have brain surgery as soon as possible to remove it. I was surprisingly relieved to know what was causing my seizures, but the thought of brain surgery was extremely daunting. The surgery was scheduled for two weeks later, and I was still having seizures, so the dosages of my anti-seizure medications had to be adjusted multiple times. The medications also came with side effects with one of the most troubling ones being anxiety. I already had a pretty high baseline of anxiety due to my new uncertain circumstances and with the added side effect amount, I felt quite unstable and began anticipating my brain surgery, which is something that I never thought I would have to go through to in my life. 

The day finally came. The surgery was 11 hours long. The next days after coming out of surgery were the hardest of my life, but I believe that challenges make you stronger and I was going to need all the strength I could get. It is a blessing that I am even able to be writing this. 

They did a biopsy on the tumor and although I was just focused on recovering from surgery and staying positive, three weeks later the pathology results came back indicating that the tumor was a cancerous, grade 3 astrocytoma. After undergoing the craniotomy- brain surgery- to remove the tumor, there has been extensive recovery time and now having to undergo radiation and chemotherapy is a whole new challenge. It has been a difficult and exhausting experience, but I am fighting every day to beat this cancer and regain my health. 

Due to being unable to drive or work and still being at risk and medicated for seizures and being physically exhausted from treatment, I have had to put my plans for the future on hold, and now there is the added financial burden of my medical expenses.
The bills and expenses for post-operative care and treatment are adding up quickly. I am reaching out to my loved ones and the community for help in covering these costs and making ends meet during this difficult time. Any contribution, no matter how small, or even just sharing this link will be greatly appreciated and will help alleviate some of the financial stress that has come with this situation.

 
I am determined to make a full recovery and get back to my normal life, but I need your support to make that a reality. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and generosity.
Sincerely, Raquel