Help save Blair's eyesight!

Hello, I'm Blair Evans! I am 22 years old. I have a lot of information to share, but please bare with me for these few minutes. I greatly appreciate the fact that you are taking your own personal time to read this. Thank you!

In August 2014, I was diagnosed with an uncommon degenerative eye disease called Keratoconus scarring. Affecting 50 to 230 per 100,000 people, Keratoconus is when the cornea of one or both eyes begin to cone outwards and change their shape causing blurry and distorted vision. I always suffered from somewhat poor eyesight. When I was younger I was told to wear an eye patch on one eye to strengthen my weaker eye. Having troubles keeping up with that, my weaker eye slowly got worse, resulting in blurry and double vision, but my good eye was getting me through life so I just kind of shrugged it off. My eyesight never really bothered me too much until I was in high school which made it so I had to sit in the very front of the class. I didn't really acknowledge this as an issue (even though I should have!) In 2012, finally graduated and in college, my family and I moved into a new apartment. Living there, I began to notice some changes in my vision and I developed very bad allergies. I've always suffered from seasonal allergies and eczema, but these new allergies were something different. It was extremely intense eye allergies and eczema all over my eyes, patches on my face, and all over my neck. I was so itchy all the time, literally nothing could stop the itch. I would rub my
eyes raw until they were swollen and red all over. It was even painful just trying to hold myself back from scratching. I had to do something or I wouldn't be able to go about my day. Sleeping was the worst. I would try to tie up my hands behind my back to avoid scratching, but that barely worked.

As months go by, my allergies and eczema were on and off. The only help my doctors could give me was prescribe me medication and tell me to use a cool cloth, but none of this seemed to work. I still managed to pass majority of my college classes even though I was too embarrassed to be seen with swollen messed up eyes, face, and neck. No matter how insecure I was, I pushed myself through those hard times because getting a good education has always been very important to me.

Suffering through all these skin issues has been extremely difficult in my everyday life, but what made it a thousand times worse was the decrease in my eyesight that came along with it. I was literally losing my eyesight from the constant rubbing of my eyes. It got to the point where I could barely read the white board when at the very front of the class. I spoke with my eye doctor and the only thing he suggested was to get a change in my glasses prescription. I had glasses since 13 and wore them on and off but I didn't really need them back then. I tried out my new prescription but my eyesight was still bad with the glasses. Not until late spring 2014 was when I thoroughly described to my eye doctor about what I was experiencing with my eyesight. He looked more closely at my eyes and realized that I possibly had developed the disease Keratoconus. Apparently one of the symptoms of Keratoconus was itchy irritated/excessive rubbing of the eyes (other symptomps are halos from light, double vision, headaches, poor night vision). I never regretted anything more in life as I do about rubbing my eyes. (Putting pressure on your eyes the way I did drastically affects your vision so please don't ever rub your eyes! No matter how badly you want to!) He basically told me that glasses are no help because the actual shape of my corneas are damaged. Then he proceeded to make jokes and laugh, while I began to tear up, saying there wasn't anything I could do besides possibly getting contacts. I never went back to that doctor again. I went to another specialist but he also practically told me there was no hope in getting help because my insurance, Medi-Cal, didn't cover these kinds of medical issues.

In only a year, my vision had deteriorated to 20/50 in my left eye and 20/100 in my right eye, when I previously almost had close to 20/20 in both eyes. Now it being 2016, my eczema and allergies have calmed down but I do have flare ups which leave me bed ridden for a few days to weeks. These eczema flare ups have been a huge negative factor making it very difficult for me to get the help that I need.
I currently have 20/150 vision in my left eye and 20/250 in my right eye. I can barely participate in any of my favorite activities, drawing and skateboarding, anymore. I can't read a book unless I almost touch the pages with my face and I can hardly read a computer screen no matter how big the font. I can no longer see my face in the mirror or the facial features of people from less than a few feet away. Driving is now impossible. Everything I see is very distorted and blurred. It's like looking through murky stained glass windows.


Finally after multiple phone calls, I was able to get help at University of San Francisco (UCSF) where they would be able to prescribe me rigid gas permeable contact lenses. Unfortunately my insurance only paid for the visits, I had to pay $500 for a single pair of lenses. I got my first pair of "hard" contact lenses in August of 2015. These lenses have been a blessing and a curse. They provide me with almost 20/20 vision in my left eye and 20/70 in my right eye. My right eye is so damaged to the point of it being useless. Even with the lens I cannot read a book or drive so I have to be extremely careful with not breaking my left lens, which I did last October when I was cleaning my contact. Though these contacts help me see better, they are very painful majority of the time, I can only wear them for 8 to 10 hours a day. 10 hours if I want to make myself suffer and have them fog up. A lot of the time I can't even wear them due to irritated or swollen eyes.

The most terrifying part of this disease is that it is progressive so it'll only continue to get worse. Eventually contact lenses will no longer be able to help. I've recently been noticing that my good eye isn't benefiting from the contact as much anymore which could mean that the cornea in that eye is getting worse.
A painful cornea transplant is offered, but that only replaces the bad corneas and doesn't stop the progression of the disease. The only procedures that are available and will completely save my eyesight are called The Holcomb C3-R, Intacs, and CK. All of these are very safe and offered by Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, located in the Los Angeles area, who has years of experience in this specific area and can go about all 3 of these procedures in less than a few hours. The Holcomb C3-R, trademarked by Dr. Boxer, also known as collagen crosslinking, will stop the progression and prevent any future progressive distortions in my vision. This procedure costs $3,700 per eye. The placing of Intacs, plastic rings, under the surface of the corneas, will reshape my coned cornea to further correct my vision. This costs $4,900 per eye. The 3rd procedure, CK, helps reduce astigmatism which will also improve my vision greatly. CK is $3,700 per eye.

Through many months of research I have learned that Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler is one of the only doctors who offer everything I need to save my eyesight and has the experience to do them successfully. He is regarded as the inventor for these procedures and has preformed them more than any other doctor. Getting treated by the best will save my eyesight and tons of money in the long run. There really is no room for error when it comes to my vision. The downside of all of this is that Holcomb C3-R and CK are not typically reimbursable. Insurance companies see C3-R as a "preventive medicine" and CK as only a "vision correction procedure." It is stated that my insurance MediCal especially does not see any of these procedures, including Intacs, as actual medical necessities. Therefore they do not cover any of the expenses at Dr. Boxer's vision institute. I have researched and asked in person about insurance through Veteran Benefits and learned that insurance through VA also does not cover these kinds of treatments. I am always researching about other possible coverages, but for now I just need all the help I can get to conquer this disease. Full payment is due at the time of the appointment. 

That is why I am reaching out to you today! My goal is to reach as close as possible to $26,250 ($400 of it goes the initial vision exam, rest is for follow ups and medications) to help save my eyesight!
It is extremely urgent that I get these medical procedures done. If I do not get help fast enough, I could damage my corneas to the point of not being able to save them. I will be seen by Dr. Boxer August 10th. I'm very sad that I wasn't informed sooner by any of my doctors about how serious this disease is and had to find out on my own. Even my doctor from UCSF didn't tell me how urgent this was. So please, always keep in mind that not many doctors will tell you the truth or inform you of anything very serious going on.

With your help and support, I will be able to live the life that I've dreamed of since I was young, explore beautiful places, see everyone’s smile again, successfully achieve a college degree in computer science, be able to help out my disabled veteran father, and much more! I cannot wait for the day to come where my disease has finally been stopped, where I won't be in constant fear of not being able to ever see again. I extremely appreciate every bit of help from every single one of you! No matter if you donate, share my fundraiser, or just send a word of support and hope; anything at all means so much to me! Even if I don't end up raising my goal amount, I will use every single penny for this operation and continue on working hard to come up with the money needed to conquer this health issue that is holding me back from living a normal and happy life. Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this! I cannot be more thankful! :) I will not let this disease take over my life any longer!

Your friend, Blair

This could happen to my eyes if I do not get my eye operations done in time. If my eyes reach to this point then saving them would be nearly impossible!