LilliHop needs brain surgery.

Hello everyone! Today we are asking for help. I’m Airos, joined by DG, and we are very good friends of Lillian Hopper, you may know her as lillihop from her online persona. Many people know Lilli for being really prolific and community oriented for the game No Man's Sky, and running the civ Cafe 42 for the same game. Others know her for taking care of them in healthcare in the past, solving problems for them, and generally being there for anyone who may need a friend.

{Airos} I have personally experienced that love and willingness to help very recently after my wife and I were in a major car accident. Health problems led to a financial crisis and brought us to the brink of homelessness within a matter of months. We were not allowed to suffer alone though. Lilli cares so greatly for those in the community that she has become very good at noticing changes in people or their absence when it seems unusual. Within only a few days of reaching out to hear our story, Lilli had put together a fundraiser across the game’s community and started a campaign of flowers and well wishes that supported my wife and I physically and emotionally through one of the most stressful times in our lives.

As willing as she has always been to offer herself for others, she struggles to ask for the same help when it’s needed. Right now, it is definitely needed. Everything has gone wrong at once. She went from working at a hospital and walking everywhere, to leaking spinal fluid from her nose and eventually being told she needed brain surgery due to missing bones in her skull. Throughout she has been disabled without ability to work due to an ever worsening leak.

{DG} Recently I’ve noticed her diminishing health around the No Man’s Sky community as well as many of her personal friends and family. For months she’s been trying to maintain a positive vibe around her friends and community and many issues about her health have not been expressed because she didn’t want to give impressions of being victimized by her failing health and work related injuries. I finally mustered the courage to ask her truthfully what’s going on. In tears, she finally opened up to me and a short list of close friends about what she’s been going through and the road ahead of her with very serious upcoming surgery. This is what she told us…..

“A year and a half ago, i ran the front end of a hospital. A patient walked out in his pj’s and footie socks into extreme cold and 2 feet of snow so i was in that search party. He has gotten a ride so he was fine, but i found a curb hidden under the snow with a fall that injured my hip. Surgery was put off until permanent damage was set in, it wasn’t successful, and now we’re here. Worker’s comp in my state decided that permanent disability is only worth 9 payments of $242, off which there are only 2 of those left- then there’s nothing more. I do have an attorney, we are trying to get something going but this might be delayed because-

This past January I had severe Covid, was on oxygen etc. this left me with drainage we assumed was left over. It didn’t improve, we tried tons of meds. In May i caught it again, from my ride to physical therapy, even though i was vaccinated. The drainage got worse. Now we know what it is.

They think it’s genetics gave me paper thin bones there, and when i was sick, likely a violent sudden cough ruptured one- starting the leak in January. In May, when i got Covid again, they think is when the second rupture happened- this one is the dangerous one.

hole #1: (Jan) Ethmoid. Straight back, cribiform plate, semi easy fix and can be handled locally at the main hospital. This one isn't the problem no one wants to touch up here, though. That's:

Hole #2: (May) Sphenoid: The walls of this sinus adhere to the optic canal, dura mater, pituitary gland and cavernous sinus, which contain the internal carotid arteries, and the third, fourth, fifth and sixth cranial nerves. (Which is why it's now brain surgery.)

Where this leaves me: transportation to the place caring for me is across state. So there’s transportation, very basic living expenses which I’ve pared down down to over 1/2 of normal and can’t go further, copays, and meds- and of course thankfully i have insurance to help with surgery, thank the stars. So only now that I’m simply at a breaking point can i honestly say yes, i need help- and i can’t do this alone. All this came to head in the last month, all at once, and individually it’s enough already but all together at the same time? I just can’t. I’m trying but i really just can’t.”

Obviously no one ever wants to ask for financial help and Lilli is no different. She dislikes asking for it as she is always the one giving and not taking support. This time, Lillihop needs your help. The calculated expenses and medical fees for the surgery, preceding appointments, and transportation to the closest surgeon who is both skilled in and willing to attempt such a dangerous operation is just around $10,000 USD. As her close friends we ask, no, beg of you to please lend a hand in helping her get through this most difficult time. Every little bit counts and anything you can spare is gratefully appreciated. Her life is on the line with this very serious and complex brain surgery. Please help us give back some of the love Lilli has given to so many! 

DG and Airos