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Lisa's urgent spinal stem cell treatment

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Lisa is in urgent need of pioneering surgeries, stem cells and rehabilitation in the USA.

We need  to raise money to initially take Lisa for regenerative stem cell treatment in Colorado at the wonderful Regenexx stem cell therapy centre. Lisa needs multiple stem cell treatment in both her spine and her neck to get her independence back after 14 years of chronic pain and disability after a surgical error ruined her life. 

In September 2007, Lisa’s life was put at risk following a surgical rupture to her spinal cord membranes during an L5/S1 discectomy procedure at a Cardiff hospital.  The injury led to an intensive loss of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and the development of a giant, tense lumbar pseudomeningocele (abnormal sac of CSF) that entrapped her spinal cord and nerve roots. 

A giant pseudomeningocele is considered to be a rare event following a CSF leak, and in 2018, there were only 28 reported cases in the neurosurgical literature (Enke et al).

Lisa underwent two major reconstructive repairs of her spinal membranes but her health continued to deteriorate without adequate medical explanation.  Post-surgery, Lisa faced discrimination, neglect and abandonment from both NHS and private consultants.  Senior UK neurosurgeons deliberately withheld medical information in an attempt to protect negligent colleagues and conceal accountability.  Lisa has not been perceived as a human being with genuine suffering since the surgical injury and her health subsequently deteriorated into multiple, rare neurological disorders.  

Lisa and her family were forced to raise tens of thousands of pounds and travel to both Europe and the USA in order to obtain a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan.  As a family, we have endured years of despair and anguish trying piece together the devastation that the surgical injury has caused.  Lisa has so far endured a 14 year journey of debilitating physical pain and deterioration without any support from the UK medical system. 

In April 2019, Lisa consulted with a specialist Neurosurgical Team in New York and was finally offered a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan.  Diagnoses include:

·    Adhesive Arachnoiditis, Cranio-Cervical Instability, Jugular Vein Stenosis, Dural Sinus Stenosis, Intracranial Hypertension , Dural Ectasia and a Secondary Tethered Spinal Cord 

The majority of the neurosurgical treatments and multidisciplinary care that Lisa requires is NOT available on the NHS.  Her physical deterioration over the years is a direct result of the surgical injury - so we should NOT be expected to raise £300,000 to surgically rectify a multi-complex illness that was caused by, and left to deteriorate, into rare neurological disorders by senior UK consultants. 

Lisa also currently has a campaign is to legally force the Welsh Government to pay for her surgical treatments.

But in the meantime to support Lisa out of the daily chronic pain she is in, we would like to take Lisa over to the USA for regenerative stem cell treatment in the USA this summer and need to raise £20,000 if you are willing to support us. 

Thank you for your generosity and support. Any amount or just good wishes means a lot to us. 

To share with your friends and networks, please go to:  https://www.gofundme.com/urgentsurgeries4lisa


#actionnotneglect - twitter and Facebook. If this story resonates with you too.  


                                       THANK YOU- Lisa, Nick and our recently deceased beautiful mum, Marion. 

Organizer

Nick Llewellyn
Organizer

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