On Wednesday February 25th, I experienced a medical emergency that required immediate care to save my vision.

Hi, I want to start by saying thank you for reading and sharing my fundraiser. It means a lot to me that you'd come across this and lend a helping hand.

To start I will share a few facts about myself and the reasons that led to the medical emergency in the first place. I do not have health insurance, I currently do not have a job (although I was searching before this incident occurred), and while I have support day-to-day a surprise like this isn't able to be accounted for by my immediate support system.

The medical emergency: I have Sickle Cell Anemia, and am extremely nearsighted. These things matter as they are massive contributors to what has happened. Sickle Cell Anemia is a hereditary blood disorder that impacts how much oxygen is carried around the body, due to the affected cells lacking hemoglobin. When one is nearsighted, their eyes are longer and thinner, this makes them weaker overall. As it so happens Sickle Cell Anemia can cause scar tissue in the eye as it essentially punches through the tissue (due to its "sickled" shape with thinner eyes making this an easier feat). Additionally, this occurrence can cause deadzones. Those deadzones will cause the impacted area to request more bloodflow or for new capillaries to form. In my case the latter was necessary, however due to the thinness of my eyes from being nearsighted the capillaries struggled to latch on properly.

That brings us to the afternoon of the 25th. Around 12:45p several capillaries in my left eye ruptured causing bleeding in that eye. I went to the emergency room and was sent on to a more specialized hospital within the network where more specific testing was done on both eyes to determine what happened. That is what I have shared with you above. The next day after even more testing they determined that I needed emergency surgery to save my vision. So that is what was done.

That brings me to now. The preliminary surgery has happened, my right eye has had most of the work needed completed while they only tackled the most dangerous areas of my left eye. My next scheduled surgery is for March 18th.

So far my bill sits at roughly $3,600, this doesn't include the cost of the surgery yet. The surgery is estimated to be another $2,400, however I do not know if that is per eye or for both. I am asking that you help me with the cost of these procedures that saved my vision. Thank you again for anything you are able to donate or places where you can share this.