Eye Surgery to keep from going Blind
Hello! My name is Laura, I’m in my 30s with a wonderful family, and a beautiful little girl. Sadly, I am going blind. 
I have always had difficulties with my vision, from a young age I remember how blurry the world was. Around 10, I was prescribed bifocal glasses.
At 21, I was shocked with how bad my eyes had gotten when I went and got my eyes tested. I couldn’t make out even the largest letter. I was given a new prescription and oh my goodness the world I saw!
November 2019, my vision had gotten so bad that for me to see my computer screen, I had to be less than a foot away from it. Once again, I went to a new doctor at the Magruder eye Institute. I was given a new prescription and the doctor recommended me to get an eye test done that would look at my eye shape at their main facility.
The news, was not good.
I was diagnosed with Pellucid Marginal Degeneration and my progression, especially is my left eye, was severe and I’m going blind. *Pellucid marginal degeneration is in the family of Keratoconus.* A second opinion in July 2020 provided just Keratoconus. 
Let me give you a little background of what Keratoconus is. Keratoconus is a disorder that is a progressive thinning of the cornea and it happens to 1 in 2,000 people. Keratoconus arises when the middle of the cornea stands in gradually bulges outward, forming a rounded cone shape. This abnormal curvature changes the corneas reflective power, producing moderate to severe distortion (astigmatism) and blurriness of vision. Keratoconus may also cause swelling in the slight impairing scarring of the tissue.
To fix my eyes from getting worse I have to have a surgery that is called Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking (CXL). This cross linking is a fairly new procedure, and is not covered by insurance and.. it’s expensive. It is also important to note that this surgery will NOT fix my vision! It will only stop the progression of the disease. My eyesight will never be restored, but they can shave off some of the bulging from my cornea to try help repair some of my lost vision. I will have to continue to wear glasses and/or glass contacts.
if the CXL surgery is unsuccessful I will have to look into receiving a corneal transplant.
If I am able to raise the money in the next couple of weeks, I can get the surgery done and benefit from my short term disability, before I am laid off from my job on 07/22/2020.
I don’t want to stop seeing my daughter grow. I want to see her, and all of her milestones. I want to be able to see her walk across the stage at graduation, and see her get married to the love of her life.
I want to continue to see dogs, and my dog, and their happy faces and wagging tails. I want to see my husband every day. I want to continue playing video games and watching movies. I am so scared, and seeing my vision decline month-after-month is the most terrifying thing I have ever encountered in my life. Being able to see a certain detail one day, and no longer able to the next....
The doctor was not able to tell me how bad my progression is, but it is severe. The only thing he kept telling me was, “I’m not going to let you go blind“.. but to not go blind… I need to be able to pay for the surgery.
The Money raised will go to:
Cross-Linking surgery.
The surgery to repair some of the damage.
Medication for post-surgery.
Funds to help pay for bills while I recover.
A new prescription of lenses.
Any additional funds will go towards paying off my Emergency Surgery from my Ectopic Pregnancy in 2017. Funds will also help till pay bills after lay-off, if I am not set up prior.