Help Maya with her Craniotomy

In February of 2023 my best friend's right ear became infected, something that hadn’t happened since she was a child. She was prescribed multiple rounds of antibiotics by doctors and the infection only seemed to be getting worse.

Going into March and April there was visible leakage coming from her ear. Constantly dripping, constantly needing to be wiped away. She later learned that this was a combination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and infection accumulation in her mastoid leaking through a hole in her eardrum. She quickly lost most of her hearing. She could no longer hear music or even her husband speaking to her and we could no longer talk on the phone.

She was told that she would need a mastoidectomy, or a middle fossa craniotomy, to remove the infected bone behind her ear. For weeks, she mentally prepared for the eventuality of surgery. Except, it never came. Her ear stopped leaking after meeting with a specialist who gave her different ear drops. The surgery was called off.

But, later her ear once again started leaking. After many more rounds of antibiotics, She began getting worse and worse. She began feeling dizzy and faint quite often. Blood was coming out of her ear. Her husband Travis, a paramedic, took her to the emergency room where he had to beg them to take her seriously

She was then hospitalized for nearly a week on the strongest antibiotics they could give, a rotating door of Vancomycin, Cefepime, and Ciprofloxacin are the only ones she and her husband can remember. At one point, the antibiotics were so strong that vancomycin and saline infiltrated through her vein and formed a painful, swollen lump under her skin on the side of her left wrist. While in the care of the hospital staff a specialist never looked at her ear.

Feeling hopeless and desperate after nearly half a year of her brain leaking and losing her sense of hearing, my best friend wanted to die, and she was terrified. She confessed that she was having suicidal thoughts to her husband and was hospitalized. While she was there, nobody looked at her ear either. She leaked infection onto her pillows, she vomited daily and visibly lost weight in the span of 10 days.

After being discharged, she fainted twice. Once at PorchRokr, and once at a friend’s home due to an electrolyte imbalance caused by new psychiatric medicine interacting poorly with her leaking ear.

She returned to an otolaryngologist specialist, told her about how desperately she needed help, and she thankfully believed her. She diagnosed her with Tegmen Tympani Dehiscence (a thinning of the bone between the ear and brain) that was causing her CSF to leak out. In October of 2023, She underwent surgery with the intent to conduct a tympanomastoidectomy to remove the infected portion of bone, repair the hole in her skull, and repair the hole in her eardrum.

Except, that did not go as planned either. The surgeon couldn’t find the hole in her skull, and simply performed a tympanoplasty (eardrum repair) in the hopes that a conservative approach would help her issues. And it did, for a while. She was able to marry her husband in December 2023 in a lovely little home ceremony, with the hopes of starting their lives together strong.

Their hopes did not go far. In January of this year, her ear became infected and ruptured once more. As part of her new year’s resolution, she aimed to go to the gym on a regular schedule. Her surgeon/specialist believes that this caused her intracranial pressure to rise, and forced her eardrum to open once more. Only, this time the hole is larger, her symptoms are back, and that means she has to have surgery again on March 27th. This time, they will be performing the full tympanomastoidectomy as originally planned, and she will be out of work for at least 2 weeks.

Then, on Wednesday, February 21st, she had a bad run-in with a Spin Scooter that left her left foot and ankle shattered. After speaking with her orthopedic specialist and surgeon today, she officially needs surgery that will be Friday, March 1st. She has at least seven fractures in her left foot, and a Lisfranc Injury. The surgery will aim to fuse two of her metatarsals to another bone in her foot, adding plates and screws to stabilize the bones, and prevent the likelihood of future arthritis in her foot. She will be unable to walk or work for the next 6 weeks, and will be in rehabilitation for the next 3+ months.

Then, as if her family hadn’t experienced enough, her husband was in a severe car accident on Saturday, February 24th. He is luckily alive, safe, and receiving the care he needs, but as a result of this, may lose his job due to his long recovery and severity of the accident. His car was pretty badly damaged on the bumper and passenger sides, but thankfully was not worse. I am grateful that he’s alive and able to receive care, since he is the one thing my friend can never replace – but financially, they do not have the means to carry on for the next 3 months without any income, even with their savings.

They do not expect anyone to give, but anything would be appreciated while they try to regain their footing in life after these unfortunate events. All funds would go towards bills, groceries, and medical expenses during this time.