Tessa vs. Chronic Illness
Donation protected
Please help Tessa get to the Mayo Clinic! Tessa is a smart, caring 26 year old professional. As a social worker she has worked hard to help her elderly clients live a better quality of life each day. That is until now.
At age nine Tessa began her battle with a variety of debilitating migraines. For her, this means not only intense pain, but also significant loss of vision/doubled vision/ aura, confusion, numbness/weakness, aphasia (issues speaking and understanding speech) vertigo, fainting and severe nausea. Over the years she has worked hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle and has worked with her neurologists to find the best ways to prevent and manage migraine symptoms in order to live as normal of a life as possible. Still, she has frequent hospitalizations for migraine episodes that are severe. There has been some improvements in preventative treatments (anti-seizure medications) and pain management, Botox given every 3 months and SPG nerve blocks. Her migraines are getting worse. This year, much worse. Not only did the frequency of Tessa’s migraines amp up to 3-4 days a week, but the severity has increased. This past May (2017) Tessa began to have what her family thought were symptoms of a stroke. She was completely paralyzed on the left side of her body, she was disoriented, had difficulty speaking, and her faced drooped. Thankfully, upon admittance to the hospital they found this was a hemiplegic migraine and not a stroke. Her hospital stay was difficult and afterward she needed to go through physical and occupational therapy in order to walk and regain her strength and movement. On October 9th 2017 another severe migraine started. Since that day she’s had a status migraine with aura without a single day of relief. She’s been treated with oral migraine medications, outpatient infusion therapy, and 8 days of intense inpatient hospital treatment. In the hospital they use a variety of medications, but the most effective drug used for migraine is DHE-45. This is a harsh drug which plays havoc on a patients veins and makes one feel very ill. Tessa’s veins are getting more and more fragile and she has been told she is building a resistance to this and her other migraine treatments. Her neurologist is the best in Syracuse but we need to find out more about why Tessa’s migraine are coming more frequently. What other treatment options are there for severe migraine patients? What are we missing? Currently Tessa is not functioning. She hasn’t been able to work since October. She cannot drive, or even be left home alone for long periods of time as she is dizzy and unstable on her feet. Her quality of life is gone.
PLEASE HELP HER GET TO THE MAYO CLINIC! Within a day of her applying, Tessa has been accepted to the Mayo Clinic Neurological Unit in Rochester Minnesota! The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN is ranked #1 for Neurology in the United States. There they will do comprehensive studies to find answers as to why her migraines are so severe. They will look for ways to prevent these debilitating migraines as well as discuss the most recent treatment methods. She will need to stay for at least 7-10 business days. Donations will go towards medical expenses and travel to Minnesota from Syracuse. No donation is too small. This could change Tessa’s life. Please help!
At age nine Tessa began her battle with a variety of debilitating migraines. For her, this means not only intense pain, but also significant loss of vision/doubled vision/ aura, confusion, numbness/weakness, aphasia (issues speaking and understanding speech) vertigo, fainting and severe nausea. Over the years she has worked hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle and has worked with her neurologists to find the best ways to prevent and manage migraine symptoms in order to live as normal of a life as possible. Still, she has frequent hospitalizations for migraine episodes that are severe. There has been some improvements in preventative treatments (anti-seizure medications) and pain management, Botox given every 3 months and SPG nerve blocks. Her migraines are getting worse. This year, much worse. Not only did the frequency of Tessa’s migraines amp up to 3-4 days a week, but the severity has increased. This past May (2017) Tessa began to have what her family thought were symptoms of a stroke. She was completely paralyzed on the left side of her body, she was disoriented, had difficulty speaking, and her faced drooped. Thankfully, upon admittance to the hospital they found this was a hemiplegic migraine and not a stroke. Her hospital stay was difficult and afterward she needed to go through physical and occupational therapy in order to walk and regain her strength and movement. On October 9th 2017 another severe migraine started. Since that day she’s had a status migraine with aura without a single day of relief. She’s been treated with oral migraine medications, outpatient infusion therapy, and 8 days of intense inpatient hospital treatment. In the hospital they use a variety of medications, but the most effective drug used for migraine is DHE-45. This is a harsh drug which plays havoc on a patients veins and makes one feel very ill. Tessa’s veins are getting more and more fragile and she has been told she is building a resistance to this and her other migraine treatments. Her neurologist is the best in Syracuse but we need to find out more about why Tessa’s migraine are coming more frequently. What other treatment options are there for severe migraine patients? What are we missing? Currently Tessa is not functioning. She hasn’t been able to work since October. She cannot drive, or even be left home alone for long periods of time as she is dizzy and unstable on her feet. Her quality of life is gone.
PLEASE HELP HER GET TO THE MAYO CLINIC! Within a day of her applying, Tessa has been accepted to the Mayo Clinic Neurological Unit in Rochester Minnesota! The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN is ranked #1 for Neurology in the United States. There they will do comprehensive studies to find answers as to why her migraines are so severe. They will look for ways to prevent these debilitating migraines as well as discuss the most recent treatment methods. She will need to stay for at least 7-10 business days. Donations will go towards medical expenses and travel to Minnesota from Syracuse. No donation is too small. This could change Tessa’s life. Please help!
Organizer
Tessa Wood
Organizer
Liverpool, NY
