Support Erika Clogston & Family

Erika Clogston is a wife, mom of two active boys, a self-employed hairdresser, a hockey fan(atic!), an outdoorswoman, and a lover of people. Her life is spent loving and on caring for the people in her life and in her community, including working with Compassion Highway Project. Erika uses her talents by providing haircuts in the park for the homeless, but even more than a fresh cut, she offers care and dignity to people who are hurting.

She is a special lady who is facing an impending second brain surgery and the personal and financial ramifications of a serious medical treatment.  Our desire is to eliminate any of the financial pressure so that Erika, Daniel, Noah and Weston can focus on her care and recovery. Any help that you can provide will help to offset the large out-of-pocket expenses for the treatment, cover some of Erika's lost wages, and alleviate some of the stress on this young family as they face a daunting procedure and the unknowns of her recovery. 

Erika was born with an Epidermoid Brain Cyst, a mass that has been growing since well before birth. The mass was first discovered when Erika was 23 after she experienced years of headaches, nausea, and seizures. Her first surgery was 8 years ago, but the nature of the mass and the location in her brain made it impossible to remove it completely, and she has faced the spectre of multiple surgeries throughout her life. Annual MRIs are done to track the growth of the cyst, but until recently surgery wasn't being recommended. Erika has been experiencing chronic, severe headaches and multiple vision changes as the mass is in close proximity to her optic nerve, and a recent MRI made it apparent that the growth had grown dramatically from last year and was beginning to encroach on her brain stem.

Erika's surgery has been scheduled for Monday, February 10 at OHSU in Portland. The procedure is expected to take 8-10 hours, she will recover in ICU for a few days, and will eventually return home in need of constant care and a quiet, dark place as she will be (or at least was for the prior surgery) extremely sensitive to light and noise. 

Because of the cyst's proximity to the optic nerve and to previous damage of the nerve in surgery, Erika is expected to have permanent double vision that will need to be corrected through special glasses and perhaps a future eye surgery. We are praying that this is the only side-effect of the surgery and that no other systems or senses are affected. 

There is a great deal of family in the area who are able to help with her two sweet boys and a meal train has been created and will be updated as her return home date is more settled.  Erika, Daniel, Noah and Weston appreciate your care, your prayers, and your support. Please feel free to share this post and to get the word out. <3