Jackie's Fight for Sight

As some of you know my good friend Jackie was diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes at the young age of 11. She has overcome obstacles with disease year after year.

In November of 2020, she woke up one morning with no vision in her left eye. After a visit to the retina doctor it was determined she had developed diabetic retinopathy in both of her eyes. At the time Jackie had been laid off due to the pandemic and couldn't get health insurance privately. The surgery had to get pushed back and in the meantime the blood had cleared out of her central line of vision. While she was not able to drive during this time she worked extremely hard to get hear real estate license. She got it and began work in March.

One day while sitting at her desk she lost vision in her other eye. After going to the doctor yet again it was determined that she would need laser treatments every two weeks and shots in her eyes which amounted to over $1500 dollars a treatment and $600 for the shots. Her family has helped her as much as they can at this point. Once again the blood cleared out of her central line of vision as the blood never goes away but gravity takes its course and sometimes clears it. After a few very successful months in real estate she decided to get health insurance and again on July 18th experienced a bleed that this time did not clear and her vision was lost in her right eye. It was determined that she would need surgery ( a vitrectomy) to clear the existing blood and scar tissue and do a large amount of laser while under anesthesia to try and contain the future bleeds.

On August 18th, after 3 hours under anesthesia due to the complexity of her case she had the vitrectomy. Due to an oil bubble being inserted into her eye to assist in healing the retina she would spend the next 8 days laying on her stomach with her head down. She was allowed 10 minutes a an hour to go to the bathroom or eat. She then developed eye pressure issues with symptoms of glaucoma. Medication and being cleared to sit up after 8 days helped fix those issues. It took about 3 weeks post surgery for her to return to work and slowly start driving again using her left eye. The oil bubble was scheduled to come out which would require another surgery and more hospital visits and medical bills and her vision to return to normal on November 18th. However, after a routine checkup recently it was determined her vision in her right eye may never return.

She is scheduled to have another vitrectomy where they will remove the existing oil bubble remove more scar tissue and insert a gas bubble and a scleral buckle which is hardware for the eye to hold the eye into place. The success rate for surgery is broad about 50%-90% but at any time she may loose vision completely as her left eye is not healthy and also has this disease. The surgery is extensive and will require many days of recovery and she will not be able to drive for a long while. As you know in real estate your job is commission based and while her team has been extremely supportive medical bills and bills have been piling up. We have some hope that maybe this surgery a second time will be successful but there's always the great possibility her other eye may do the same thing. Diabetes is very unpredictable and this would cause a huge life change if she were to loose her vision completely which is very possible.

Jackie is the most kind hearted person to all that know her and it's so important, to all that care for her that she has all means of support possible. This means coming together to help her during these times. I have set up a page for some financial assistance with surgery, medical bills, medication and whatever financial burdens seem to come along the way.

Jackie has helped me through some of the hardest times and I know she would give the shirt off her back for anyone. With no idea on recovery or returning to work this can be a fear for any of us. Thank you so much for your time and concern, lets get her set up for a healthy recovery.