Help Fund Alexia's Cornea Crosslinking Surgery

Hi! My name is Alexia Sidock, and I am 21 years old. I am a Junior at Wayne State University, where I'm studying Kinesiology with hopes to attend medical school to become a Pediatric Surgeon. On top of school, I also work at Target, am the Head Varsity Cheer Coach at Muskegon High School, and am an all-star cheerleader at Hit Force Athletics.

In 2018, I started experiencing problems with blurry vision. I brought it up to my eye doctor and he suspected it might be something more serious than he usually deals with. He referred me to a specialist in Grand Rapids where I was diagnosed with Keratoconus in both eyes. Keratoconus occurs from the thining/misshaping of the cornea and causes blurred vision that progressively worsens over time. There is no cure for Keratoconus. I continued seeing this specialist every three months as they monitored the Keratoconus to determine if it was progressive. After a year of monitoring, they informed me that Cornea Crosslinking would probably be my best bet. However, at my next three month follow-up, I was told the complete opposite- that Cornea Crosslinking is for extreme cases of Keratoconus and I was not to the point yet. After going back and forth with different specialists and Crosslinking Coordinators, I was referred to a specialist at Henry Ford in Detroit. Following her thorough examination, she immediately referred me to my current Cornea Specialist at Henry Ford- Westland.

After a few visits with my new cornea specialists, it has been determined that the only way to stop the progression of my Keratoconus is the Cornea Crosslinking procedure. My right eye seems to be progressing more quickly than my left, so they will do the procedure on my right eye first. In this procedure, they will scrape away the first layer of my cornea, then use a series of vitamin eye drops and UV light to create a new, thicker layer of my cornea. Although this procedure can cause me to lose another two lines of vision, it is necessary to prevent me from experiencing partial blindness; however, since it has only been FDA-approved for a few years, it is not yet covered by insurance. Because this procedure is quite expensive, I reached out to the drug rep responsible for distributing the eye drops required for crosslinking. As long as everything goes as planned, I will be recieving the drops free of cost. This will bring the cost of the procedure down from just over $6,000 to $2,625 per eye.

The next three months immediately following the procedure will be the hardest; it will be filled with blurred vision, contact bandages, a series of medicated eye drops, frequent back and forth trips from Muskegon to Detroit, etc. It has also been determined that after my eye is fully healed, I will need to purchase Scleral contact lens, which are $1,500 per eye, and will be needed for the rest of my life. After this three month process is complete, I will have to go through this all over again for my left eye.

This condition continues to complicate things in my life everyday. As it is, I'm not sure how this prodecure will affect my vision and if I will even be able to fulfill my aspirations of becoming a Pediatric Surgeon afterwards. I am asking for assistance with this because as a full-time college student, I cannot afford it on my own.

Thank you in advance for your support; any little bit helps!