19 And Going Blind

My name is Unique Cargile and in February 2016 I was diagnosed with a rare eye condition called Keratoconus that progressively causes me to go blind.During my senior year in 2015, I was a straight A student.  I was a dancer and loved art.  I volunteered at the historic Homestead library's Music Hall  at concerts and events.  I sang and acted in school productions and on the weekends, I would babysit.  I also did hair for family, friends, and sometimes for people in the neighborhood that couldn't pay for a salon.  I have a passion for braiding and i'm really good at it!

Six weeks into my seniorl year, I started having problems seeing the board.  Computer screens became blurrier with each passing week.  I became less and less able to complete assignments.  At that point, I had to go to the eye doctor.

so we went to Visionworks in October 2015, when they examined my eyes, they told me I would have to see a specialist.An  appointment at Children's Hospital was not available until February 2016.  

I saw an opthalmologist in December and she told me that I probably had keratoconus but I would have to wait on the appointment at the Children's Hospital to verify.  In February 2016, Children's Hospital confirmed the diagnosis.  After they explained what having this disease meant, I was devastated.  The walls of my corneas were thinning causing my eyes to deform and my vision to deteriorate.

There is no cure for keratoconus, only a treatment.  The treatment, as they told me, would require special contacts that cost $500 per eye and the installation procedure was $750.  New contacts would have be installed every five weeks.  If I go totally blind, there's a corneal transplant operation is optional but I have a better chance all leather is another laser surgery that's new to the medical world I would be eligible for but the equipment for it is not in the United States so I would have to go to Canada or Europe to get it done.

It was like getting hit twice.  Not only was the world around me slowly fading into blurs, but I needed to find almost $2,000 a month to try to retain as much of my sight as I could.

The money won't fix everything but it will buy me some time.  I can't get around quite like I used to.  Steps tend to blend into each other and I fall allot.  I still love to dance, cheer, babysit, and braid hair. The help from a donation would allow me to see enough to do some of the things I love and help out other people whenever I can.

Any help you can give will be appreciated.

Thank you and love you!

Unique