- M
- D
Hello everyone and thank you for caring enough to be here. If you don’t know me, my name is Morgane, I am 30 years old and currently living in Portland, Oregon. Less than one week ago my entire life was turned upside down by a medical diagnosis.
Over the last year I have experienced hearing loss in my left ear. Since it seemed to be worsening, I was referred to an ENT specialist who then referred me to have an MRI. Unfortunately, the results of the MRI were sent to me via an online patient portal before I had a chance to speak with anyone in regards to the results which was utterly terrifying. Seeing as they described a “large tumor” in my brain which included a lot of other medical jargon difficult to understand. I wanted to think that the results were incorrect or misunderstood by me but the terminology was very concerning. The first couple of days felt like an out of body experience. Since it was the weekend and I had no way to speak with my ENT in regards to the results, a kind on-call doctor recommended I go to the ER and speak with them in regards to questions about the results. The staff at the ER briefly went over the findings and let me know my next steps should be a referral to a neurologist.
The results of the MRI revealed what the neurologist believes to be an Acoustic Neuroma or a Vestibular Schwannoma which is a benign tumor located near my inner ear. Usually, these types of tumors are slow growing and can sometimes continue to be monitored over time if found early on, sometimes radiation therapy is also an option, but due to the size of this tumor, neurosurgery is my best option.
The tumor is now approximately 1.5 inches, and in the doctor’s opinion, large in size, so it is not recommended that I wait long to have the surgery since it could cause further displacement within my brain and restrict blood flow to critical areas.
We are still in the process of scheduling when the surgery will occur and are going over our options for neurosurgeons and facilities. Since it is not recommended that I fly on a plane at this point, the surgery will most likely happen in Oregon or within reasonable driving distance.
Never in my entire life did I ever picture this being part of my life and the impacts that it will physically and mentally have on me. Due to the formation of the tumor, they will most likely have to operate in a way that will cause deafness in my left ear. There is also a chance that I will have facial paralysis/equilibrium issues or worse but I am trying to stay positive. I can’t even put into words all of the scary possibilities. To me, what will happen will happen and thinking too deeply into it is just causing me crippling anxiety. At this point, I am just appreciating every moment of normalcy that I have.
We don’t know how much this surgery will cost yet but we have created this estimate as a starting point seeing as I don’t know how successful the surgery will be and what aftercare I will need. It seems from our research that the surgeries themselves typically range between $55,000-$85,000 not including recovery and we also have to think about how long I may be out of work after surgery. If everything goes well, they suggest that I will be out of work for at least 6-8 weeks once I am discharged from the hospital and may even take up to 6 months to fully recover.
The good news is these types of surgeries have a low mortality rate and because it is a benign tumor the probability of successful removal is high and re-occurrence is low.
I am so grateful for my fiancee, Kory, my partner of almost 12 years for supporting me through this waking nightmare. The love that we share is the truest love that I could ever fathom. I am also so incredibly thankful to all of my family and friends that are doing everything they can to help. I am so thankful for every single one of you. I know some of you may not be in a financial place to help me and I completely understand, positive thoughts and intentions can also go a long way.
I thought that by this time next year Kory and I could have saved up enough to put a down payment on a home together, we have been saving for years and it has been a struggle with the price of everything skyrocketing but we were making headway. Our plan is to buy a small home with some land where we can live a simple life, sustainably grow our own food and possibly have some animals. Like many couples, a dream of ours is to get married, and to save money, we had planned to have our wedding on our own property once we purchased our home. I have to believe that one day this will still happen.
If you are able to help at all with any donation, I would be forever grateful.
If you are interested in learning more about me, feel free to look me up on Facebook or Instagram.