Jourdain's Chiari Recovery Fund
Donation protected
Hi Everyone!
I have been suffering from chronic back pain for over 10 years and the doctors said about 4 years ago it was caused from Scoliosis. January 17th of this year I woke up one morning in extreme pain and was experiencing a horrific headache. This worried me as I do not usually get headaches. By that afternoon I was in tears and in the ER. They said it was a migraine. They treated me and released me a few hours later. I went home to get some sleep and when I woke up the pain was worse, to the point of being unbearable. That weekend alone I was seen in the ER 5 times. Every time they ran tests and told me everything was fine, it was just a Migraine.
The headaches continued, I would get them every couple of days with them lasting a few days. Eventually the headaches started being every single day with the pain becoming worse and worse. This entire time I was begging the doctors to do an MRI and telling them something was wrong and that I could feel my body giving out on me. The doctors refusing this whole time and continuing to say it was a migraine. I have no relief from the headaches now whatsoever. Nothing helps.
I was finally able to get my hands on my fathers medical records in May and I got the medical records to my primary care doctor right away. He was being treated in Oregon for the same issues as mine and he passed away in 2007 at a young age of 44. She sent me in for urgent MRI's of my brain and neck. They finally emailed me on my birthday, May 20th, with my results to the MRI's that were taken. The results read that I have a 9MM Herniation & a Type 1 Chiari Malfomation. To sum this up qucikly, as my Neurosurgeon put it "I have a size 8 brain and a size 6 skull". The back part of my brain has continued to grow down into the opening at the bottom of my skull. It is literally crushing my Spinal Cord and Brain Stem. ((Finally an answer!!))
Yesterday I met with my Neurosurgeon who is the first person since this all started to actually understand what I am going through. Even better, he is willing to try and help me. He wants to preform a surgery which is called a Chiari Decompression Surgery. He would like to preform this surgery ASAP as Chiari causes a lot of other serious medical conditions as it progresses. This surgery is preformed on the skull, top vertebrae in the neck, and the Dura surrounding the brain. To heal properly from this surgery it takes about 3 months. I will not be able to preform normal day to day functions like working, cleaning the house, caring for my children, lifting something even weighing one pound, sneezing, or even coughing.
This is where you come in and where I am for once asking for a little help. Actually more or less begging for this help. My job does not offer Short Term Disability and the State of CA Short Term Disability is just NOT enough to cover my monthly bills and to still be able to care for my children. I just cannot afford to take 2-3 months off of work to be able to fully recover from this surgery the way I need to. I do not have any other option here then to ask for some help in covering my bills and supporting my babies, while I am able to recover from this, and hoping to make a better life for me and my children. Since I was 16 years of age I have been the sole provider for my two children and I do not receive help from any source to care for my babies.
My health has taken a drastic turn for the worse starting at the beginning of this year. I am always full of energy and spending every waking moment at work or out and about making my babies happy. Ever since I woke up that day in January I am having that taken away from me and my children ever so slowly. Pain changes you, especially extreme pain. Everything that makes me is being taken away. Day after day I wake up in more pain and with my body slowly giving up on me. More pain creeps its way in everyday and my few bad days a month are turning into a few good days a month. I keep getting to a point where I think that this will be the most pain I can tolerate and some how I wake up the next day in more pain. There is SO much pressure in my head that I cannot lay down to sleep anymore. I stay awake night after night which in turn makes my headaches worse. The pain from my neck and back make it hard for me to move or function daily. Yet, I have to get up every morning and go to work and care for my children.
This surgery is not a cure to my condition, yet it is the only chance for at least some relief. Everything I have read on it says that this surgery only has a 50% success rate. There is also no saying how long this surgery will help me. But there is a 50% chance that I can wake up with my headaches gone. There is a 50% chance that I can wake up and having feeling back in the left side of my body & there is a 50% chance that I can wake up and in 3 months time have most of my life back. To not be in tears everyday by noon and in the ER every week.
I just need a little help to cover things while I heal. So that I can return to giving my little's the life they deserve.
:)
I have attached a little video that briefly explains what Chiari is and also briefly explains the surgery I will undergo. Also, attached is a chart that quickly shows the areas it starts taking over in your body and everyday life.
Thank you to each and every one of you that took the time to even read this.
I have been suffering from chronic back pain for over 10 years and the doctors said about 4 years ago it was caused from Scoliosis. January 17th of this year I woke up one morning in extreme pain and was experiencing a horrific headache. This worried me as I do not usually get headaches. By that afternoon I was in tears and in the ER. They said it was a migraine. They treated me and released me a few hours later. I went home to get some sleep and when I woke up the pain was worse, to the point of being unbearable. That weekend alone I was seen in the ER 5 times. Every time they ran tests and told me everything was fine, it was just a Migraine.
The headaches continued, I would get them every couple of days with them lasting a few days. Eventually the headaches started being every single day with the pain becoming worse and worse. This entire time I was begging the doctors to do an MRI and telling them something was wrong and that I could feel my body giving out on me. The doctors refusing this whole time and continuing to say it was a migraine. I have no relief from the headaches now whatsoever. Nothing helps.
I was finally able to get my hands on my fathers medical records in May and I got the medical records to my primary care doctor right away. He was being treated in Oregon for the same issues as mine and he passed away in 2007 at a young age of 44. She sent me in for urgent MRI's of my brain and neck. They finally emailed me on my birthday, May 20th, with my results to the MRI's that were taken. The results read that I have a 9MM Herniation & a Type 1 Chiari Malfomation. To sum this up qucikly, as my Neurosurgeon put it "I have a size 8 brain and a size 6 skull". The back part of my brain has continued to grow down into the opening at the bottom of my skull. It is literally crushing my Spinal Cord and Brain Stem. ((Finally an answer!!))
Yesterday I met with my Neurosurgeon who is the first person since this all started to actually understand what I am going through. Even better, he is willing to try and help me. He wants to preform a surgery which is called a Chiari Decompression Surgery. He would like to preform this surgery ASAP as Chiari causes a lot of other serious medical conditions as it progresses. This surgery is preformed on the skull, top vertebrae in the neck, and the Dura surrounding the brain. To heal properly from this surgery it takes about 3 months. I will not be able to preform normal day to day functions like working, cleaning the house, caring for my children, lifting something even weighing one pound, sneezing, or even coughing.
This is where you come in and where I am for once asking for a little help. Actually more or less begging for this help. My job does not offer Short Term Disability and the State of CA Short Term Disability is just NOT enough to cover my monthly bills and to still be able to care for my children. I just cannot afford to take 2-3 months off of work to be able to fully recover from this surgery the way I need to. I do not have any other option here then to ask for some help in covering my bills and supporting my babies, while I am able to recover from this, and hoping to make a better life for me and my children. Since I was 16 years of age I have been the sole provider for my two children and I do not receive help from any source to care for my babies.
My health has taken a drastic turn for the worse starting at the beginning of this year. I am always full of energy and spending every waking moment at work or out and about making my babies happy. Ever since I woke up that day in January I am having that taken away from me and my children ever so slowly. Pain changes you, especially extreme pain. Everything that makes me is being taken away. Day after day I wake up in more pain and with my body slowly giving up on me. More pain creeps its way in everyday and my few bad days a month are turning into a few good days a month. I keep getting to a point where I think that this will be the most pain I can tolerate and some how I wake up the next day in more pain. There is SO much pressure in my head that I cannot lay down to sleep anymore. I stay awake night after night which in turn makes my headaches worse. The pain from my neck and back make it hard for me to move or function daily. Yet, I have to get up every morning and go to work and care for my children.
This surgery is not a cure to my condition, yet it is the only chance for at least some relief. Everything I have read on it says that this surgery only has a 50% success rate. There is also no saying how long this surgery will help me. But there is a 50% chance that I can wake up with my headaches gone. There is a 50% chance that I can wake up and having feeling back in the left side of my body & there is a 50% chance that I can wake up and in 3 months time have most of my life back. To not be in tears everyday by noon and in the ER every week.
I just need a little help to cover things while I heal. So that I can return to giving my little's the life they deserve.
:)I have attached a little video that briefly explains what Chiari is and also briefly explains the surgery I will undergo. Also, attached is a chart that quickly shows the areas it starts taking over in your body and everyday life.
Thank you to each and every one of you that took the time to even read this.
Organizer
Jourdain Lise Woodward
Organizer
Sacramento, CA