Let’s Help Fight Marcus’s Seizure Disorder
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My name is Terra. I am fundraising for my son Marcus. He is the most genuine and kind soul, always wanting to help others. He is an amazing big brother and son.
Marcus started having random seizures in college. In the last few years, the seizures have become progressively severe and life-threatening. Marcus has recurrent grand mal seizures, which means when the seizures occur, it's not just one episode. The seizures will proceed to happen every three hours or so in one day, which causes lots of brain, internal, and physical damage. When this happens, he is hospitalized. In addition, post-seizure recovery takes a very long time to recover from and has left Marcus at an age where he should be starting a future of his own. He's lost many opportunities to further his career and education.
Moreover, he's been discriminated against and terminated from jobs while he's been hospitalized due to his illness. In other words, he can't receive a disability because the disability has requirements, and one of them needs an actual diagnosis of epilepsy, which he does not have. Marcus also has to rely on other for his independence because he can't drive due to his seizures. His family is instead struggling to make ends meet after many hospitalizations and neurological visits. Marcus was diagnosed with a 12 mm pineal cytomas. Usually, these are not problematic for most people. Upon his neurosurgeon's study, they can cause severe symptoms and complications like migraines, cognitive issues, and, in rare cases, seizures. Unfortunately, they don't know the development of pineal cytomas.
We are incredibly grateful to know a well-known neurosurgeon nationwide will be taking his case. Dr. Patel has done a tremendous of research. He identified a novel constellation of symptoms that resolve upon excision of pineal cysts or cytomas. In his article cited in MUSC Health, he stated, "The pathology report revealed that the excised mass was not a cyst at all but rather a benign tumor known as a pineocytoma."
Dr. Patel already performed many surgeries in this matter. In most circumstances, neurosurgeons won't pursue this type of surgery to remove the cyst. In Dr. Patel's own words, he stated, "I'll be honest- no one understands the real pathophysiology, not even I. However, with experience now of over 200 patients with mostly similar symptoms to yours and the alleviation of them with the removal of the gland, I'm personally convinced that that is what you need."
We cannot express more gratitude for your help and support in donation. This surgery will give Marcus a chance to live an everyday life symptom-free and give his life back to fulfill his lifelong goals. His brain surgery is scheduled for the 6th of December. Marcus will need to travel to South Carolina and be there for a week and a half for this surgery. We are trying to shoot for two weeks, depending on what we can afford, in case of any complications. We are fundraising for travel expenses, lodging, missed work, and medical bills.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach us at [phone redacted]
Here are some sources for educational purposes:
https://muschealth.org/-/sm/health/health-professionals/progressnotes/2018-media/progressnotes-spring-2018.ashx
Organizer
Kaylee Teller
Organizer
Bountiful, UT