Help Save Maisie’s Life

Hi everyone, my name is Rebecca and I am fundraising on behalf of my partner Maisie.

Maisie is 25 years old from Twickenham and she is in urgent need of help. Maisie desperately needs life saving surgery on her head/neck but unfortunately this surgery is not preformed in the UK nor is the condition diagnosed in the uk due to lack of specialists who can identify the condition.

After exhausting bank loans and every other way of funding this surgery we have come to the conclusion that fundraising and asking people to share Maisie's story is our only hope.

Maisie's condition started back in 2021 when she started to feel well due to a neck injury at this time Maisie seen many doctors and ended up in A&E on more than one occasion, nothing was ever diagnosed by these doctors and since then Maisie's condition has slowly deteriorated and over time her condition has become a lot worse.

We have tried every option possible to get answers here in the UK, from private scans to neurology referrals but no one has ever been able to give Maisie any answers that was then we knew we had to take matters into our own hands and find the cause. After a lot of extensive research we came across a condition called Crainocervical Instability and once we compared the symptoms to Maisie's symptoms it was then that everything started to make sense. After learning about the lack of treatment/knowledge of the condition here in the UK we found a neurosurgeon in Spain who specialises in it and we got in contact from there Maisie underwent more scans and tests and after an evaluation from the neurosurgeon we were told that not only does Maisie have CCI/AAI but she would also need surgery to stop her condition from continuing to deteriorate.

Crainocervical Instability: Instability in the cervical spine that causes the skull to sit loosely on the spine.

Atlantoaxial Instability: Excessive movement between the first two vertebrae (C1-C2) which has now spread further down causing the ligaments to deteriorate under the head.

The Surgery: Surgical treatment of Craniocervical Instability usually consists of the posterior fusion of Occipital, Atlas (C1), and Axis (C2). The pedicle screws are usually placed In the Axis, though the screws can be placed in the isthmus if the patient’s anatomy requires it. The Atlas screws are generally placed in the lateral masses. In regard to the fixation of the cranium to above mentioned cervical vertebrae, it can be done mainly in two ways:

1) The screws are placed in the Occipital bone. This is the most frequent and widespread method.

2) The cranium screws are placed in the Occipital condyle.

In either method, the implanted screws are joined by lateral bars. These bars are what gives rigidity to the fusion system. In most cases, bone graft is used. The bone graft is usually allograft, originated from donor bone and artificial bone material.

The cost of the surgery that Maisie needs is £55,000 and will be preformed Teknon Hospital in Barcelona

Maisie's symptoms:

-Headaches

-Difficulty holding head up

-Dizziness & balance problems

-Memory problems & forgetfulness

-Muscle weakness

-Lack of energy

-Sensitivity to light & sound

-Complete numb neck & forehead

-Tinnitus

-Loss of appetite

-Poor blood circulation

-Brain Fog

-Cognitive impairment

-Inability to talk properly

-Cognitive Impairment

-bladder issues

-Vision issues

If Maisie does not undergo this surgery soon, then her condition will continue to deteriorate, the weight of her skull is crushing her spine as her skull is not sitting in the correct place. Maisie has now become bed bound at the age of 25, she spends her days lying down in bed in a neck brace, she has no quality of life and every day gets worse and worse.

We have a 1 year old daughter and Maisie wants nothing more than to watch her grow up and be able to have fun as a family and give our little girl the best childhood possible. If Maisie does not get this surgery then none of that will be possible and our daughter will end up losing her mummy.

Any donation will be greatly appreciated, as little as £1 will help Maisie be one step closer to getting her life back, and even if donating is not possible for you just sharing Maisie's story makes a big impact.

You can follow Maisie's Journey on Instagram & TikTok

Instagram: @maisiesmissiontolive

TikTok: @maisiesfightforlife

www.maisiesmissiontolive.co.uk

Thank You.