Help Louise to see again

Life was going along normally for my niece Louise, a single parent of a 13 year old daughter in grade 8 and then in the summer of 2018, Louise started to have head and sinus pain. She went to her doctor a few times and was treated for allergies. In early 2019 she started having vision problems, then loss of smell and was so exhausted that she couldn’t get out of bed. During this time, we noticed that her personality seemed to be changing. She displayed emotions that we hadn’t seen before - short temper, not happy, seemed depressed.

Her ophthalmologist sent her for an MRI in May 2019 and it was done in November that year. She had a brain tumor. Grade 1 meningioma benign brain tumor. It is the most common and slow growing. Her surgeon said it was there for decades. It had grown to the size of a baseball and was located about 1 inch behind her nose and between her eyes. This tumor was surgically removed in Dec 2019 in a 10 hour brain surgery. They closed the incision with 72 staples.

Relieved that the tumor was benign and the surgery was behind her, Louise was hoping to get back to her previous self. But unfortunately the tumor had affected her eyesight. She is unable to read mail or see where to sign papers and unable to fill out paperwork at doctor appointments. Reading a sign on business doors or using a debit machine are a struggle. Her color vision makes everything faded. Going out to eat is usually a nice treat for people, but for Louise, it’s a struggle as she can’t read the restaurant menus. She can’t read labels, expiry dates or prices on food items or clothing tags she can’t see the size or price. She has been trying to buy new glasses because her old lenses are scratched. No business wants to fill her prescription because it’s over 2 years old and because of her contrast sensitivity, they don’t understand that she cannot get an accurate prescription. House numbers are even hard to see. She is unable to put on makeup. A big thing is that she is unable to work for the rest of her life, which is hard to accept. She loved her office job. But now she is unable to see a computer screen and keyboard, unable to read and write. She lost the detail vision, as well as most color vision. Unable to do the hobbies she used to: cross stitch, play piano, read, do puzzles, even watch tv and anything else that requires close up vision. But the most important reason she wants to see again is seeing her daughter’s face while she dances.

Louise is not the only one that has suffered because of this tumour. Her daughter said she was worried that her mom was going to die. It was extremely hard on her. But she was there for Louise through it all, as well as her parents. The doctor thinks her daughter is suffering from ptsd with what they all went through.

Louise received confirmation on Sept 26/22 that she is a candidate for the Fedorov Vision Restoration Clinic therapy in Berlin, Germany, after they reviewed all her medical reports from the ophthalmologist. This clinic was created to serve one purpose - to improve the eyesight of their patients. Their treatments help visually impaired people improve their ability to see the world around them. The clinic wanted her to come as early as end of Oct but she was unable to financially. This clinic is the only place in the world that offers this treatment.

It’s not a surgery. It’s a non invasive electric stimulation process over a 2 week period. There are 10 sessions, one per day for 10 days. Expected treatment benefits are increased contrast (less foggy vision), more clarity (increased visual acuity), reduced glare and enlargement of the field of vision, improved vision in dark conditions and faster adjustment time to changing illumination. Improvements are seen in 75%-80% of patients. The main goal of the medical team is to improve the patient’s vision and quality of life.

She would have to spend 2 weeks in Germany for this treatment. Her costs include airfare, lodging, food, medical therapy and other relevant necessities. This total is approximately $25,000. Please help us raise enough money to pay for her trip to the only place that can fix her eyesight.

No amount of money is too small, even $5 helps. If we reach our goal, we will definitely donate the extra to support others. Thank you.