Support Savannah's CSF Leak Fund

On January 31st, 2018, I went to Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat hospital for an outpatient endoscopic sinus surgery, turbinate reduction, and a septoplasty with my ENT, Dr. Tal Dagan, as a result of chronic sinusitis. My recovery was estimated to be roughly one week, meaning I should have been able to return to work around February 7th. 

As I was "recovering", I began to notice a clear and watery fluid dripping from the right side of my nose, as well as worsening headaches. Dr. Dagan took a sample of the fluid and sent it off to the lab, which determined it was cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). He prescribed strict bed rest at home for an additional week, in hopes that the leak would heal itself. 

After comparing pre and post operative CT scans, he discovered that I already had a defect before my first procedure. This was likely caused by a work related concussion that happened less than a month before my pre operative CT. (We plan to investigate this further, but haven't had time to do so yet) Therefore, when he scraped away the additional tissue, polyps, etc. he released the CSF leak that had been pooling above the small fracture. By February 13th, the leak had not yet healed itself, so he scheduled another endoscopic surgery for the following day. 

On February 14th (Happy Valentines Day! lol), my surgery that was scheduled take around 45 minutes ended up taking nearly 2 1/2 hours, and they decided to keep me overnight as the leak unfortunately continued. I remained in the hospital for 6 days. On February 16th, they placed a lumbar drain in my back to drain CSF to relieve pressure from my head, allowing his surgical patching time to heal. On February 18th, they clamped the drain to see if the leak would return. Luckily, this time it did not return, so they removed the drain and discharged me the next day on February 19th.

I have been on extended bed rest at home until my nasal packing is removed, and am still having bad headaches. Because of the continued headaches, I am unsure if I will need any further treatment or when I will receive the "all clear" to return to normal activity. Once I do, I must wait an additional month (or possibly longer) before returning to my normal line of work, as it is too physically demanding. (No bending, lifting, climbing ladders, etc) I plan to reach out to temp agencies and find some sort of office job in the meantime. 

I have now been out of work for nearly 3 weeks beyond my expected return date. I had work lined up the entire time and had to pass it along to others. Because I am a freelance artist/independent contractor with no private disability insurance, it seems I am unable to receive any sort of financial support for these lost wages.

This has all been extremely difficult for me financially. I am out roughly 3k for lost wages so far, and hundreds of dollars in transportation, as I have to take private cars everywhere due to an increased risk for meningitis/brain infection with an open pathway from my nose to my spinal fluid. On top of that, I now have thousands of dollars in medical bills. 5k is nowhere near the debt I am in right now and I am sure I will be making payments for quite some time, but in the meantime I am trying to get back on my feet and simply need to be able to pay for rent, food, transportation, pet supplies, etc, while I still have no idea when I will be able to return to work.

Any amount of donations, prayers, positive thoughts, etc. are much appreciated. It's pretty embarrassing asking for financial support like this, but I am in such a bind.

Thank you for reading and please please please don't take your health for granted. 

xx 

Savannah