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Hi there, I'm Tammy. I'm going to raise $23,000 for an awesome eye surgery by June; My birthday is June 15th, and I'm hoping to be able to see like normal people for my birthday.
I have what is called Stargardt's Disease. It eats away at the central vision, leaving giant blind spots. It started when I was 11 years old. It's gotten progressively worse, but there is now finally hope. I've been waiting for a breakthrough like this for more than two decades.
Life with this disease has been very challenging; I'm not able to drive (obviously, because I would be a menace on the road, lol). My pupils let in four times the light that they're supposed to so bright lights and being outside without sunglasses is not an option. When I look at people, they think I'm not looking at them because I'm trying to look around the big sploches in my vision. I don't recognize people very easily and they tend to think that I'm being rude. I try to position my eyes in a certain way that makes them think I'm looking directly at them, but then I can't see their face at all. I work as a massage therapist so that my vision isn't too much of a factor, but I have lost clients because they thought I was stuck up for not looking at them in the eye. Doing things outside at night is really difficult; I'm usually next to someone holding an arm so I don't run into things. When I walk in the daytime, my depth perception is really funky; the ground will appear deeper to me when there is a shadow on it. It's gotten so bad that I can't read books anymore because the letters are too small for me.
Your donation will be used to pay for the most promising treatment available to people with Stargardt's, like me. The Stem Cell Ophthalmology Treatment Study (SCOTS) is performed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and led by Steven Levy, MD (my new hero). He and his team will take stem cells that are gathered from my bone marrow and transplant them onto the diseased area of my eyes. Dr. Levy has dramatically improved the lives of over 200 people with low vision. I've become friends with one of his more recent patients who can't believe how marvelous the improvement of his vision was. He can drive now! I want to be able to drive.
With every bedtime story that I'm able to read to my daughter, each time I drop off my sons at a friend's house, each college class that I sit in and am able to see the board, I will be so grateful to all of you who helped me. I'm having trouble trying not to cry imagining how much of a wonderous difference this is going to make in my life.
Thank you all a million billion times!
Tammy
I have what is called Stargardt's Disease. It eats away at the central vision, leaving giant blind spots. It started when I was 11 years old. It's gotten progressively worse, but there is now finally hope. I've been waiting for a breakthrough like this for more than two decades.
Life with this disease has been very challenging; I'm not able to drive (obviously, because I would be a menace on the road, lol). My pupils let in four times the light that they're supposed to so bright lights and being outside without sunglasses is not an option. When I look at people, they think I'm not looking at them because I'm trying to look around the big sploches in my vision. I don't recognize people very easily and they tend to think that I'm being rude. I try to position my eyes in a certain way that makes them think I'm looking directly at them, but then I can't see their face at all. I work as a massage therapist so that my vision isn't too much of a factor, but I have lost clients because they thought I was stuck up for not looking at them in the eye. Doing things outside at night is really difficult; I'm usually next to someone holding an arm so I don't run into things. When I walk in the daytime, my depth perception is really funky; the ground will appear deeper to me when there is a shadow on it. It's gotten so bad that I can't read books anymore because the letters are too small for me.
Your donation will be used to pay for the most promising treatment available to people with Stargardt's, like me. The Stem Cell Ophthalmology Treatment Study (SCOTS) is performed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and led by Steven Levy, MD (my new hero). He and his team will take stem cells that are gathered from my bone marrow and transplant them onto the diseased area of my eyes. Dr. Levy has dramatically improved the lives of over 200 people with low vision. I've become friends with one of his more recent patients who can't believe how marvelous the improvement of his vision was. He can drive now! I want to be able to drive.
With every bedtime story that I'm able to read to my daughter, each time I drop off my sons at a friend's house, each college class that I sit in and am able to see the board, I will be so grateful to all of you who helped me. I'm having trouble trying not to cry imagining how much of a wonderous difference this is going to make in my life.
Thank you all a million billion times!
Tammy