Support ER Nurse's Recovery After 9 brain Surgeries

Hello family and friends. As some of you know, I have been having many health issues over the past 7 months. I have suffered from migraines for most of my life and just figured I would deal with it the best I could. I went to work as an ER nurse every day and ignored the pain. But in March 2024, I was officially diagnosed with Chiari Malformation. On April 22, I went in for the first surgery, a cranial decompression. This was to release pressure in my head that was causing the migraines. Everything went as planned with the surgery, and I went home 2 days later, still feeling pressure and pain but believed it was going to take time to return to normal.

Unfortunately, a few days later, I was having horrible pain and pressure that would not stop no matter what I did or how much medicine I took. I was admitted back into the hospital to find out I had a CSF leak. This hospital stay lasted 6 weeks and included 2 more surgeries, one being an entailed LP drain and 2 other brain surgeries. I stayed for a week in the hospital after my surgeries. Recovery seemed to be going well, and I was sent home. I was starting to feel more like myself; the pressure never left, but it was manageable. So, I picked my life back up, finished school, and was headed back to work when, on June 28, the increased pressure had me back in the ER. I had Hydrocephalus and had to have my LP drain removed. For a week, I stayed in the hospital while they tried to stabilize without it, but it didn't work, so the neurosurgeon opted to do a VP shunt in my head. The next day, there was a complication with the new shunt, so they did a revision on it, and it seemed to help. I was released a week later.

Everything was going great. I had finished school and graduated with my Nurse Practitioner Degree. I was still having the pressure but felt it was part of the recovery, and I continued to push through. I went back for my follow-up MRI on September 10 and got the approval at that appointment that I could return to work on October 1. I was so excited!! The very next day, I received a call from my neurosurgeon telling me I had developed a Syrinx (fluid collection in your spinal cord that controls balance and coordination). I was told I could not return to work as planned and that I would have to have brain surgery #7 to make more room to release the pressure due to crowding. I had the surgery on October 21 and came out feeling better than I had in a while. I only stayed in the hospital for 2 days and thought I was recovering well until 2 days after being home, I started having the positional headaches again as soon as I stood up, and then the nausea came on. Still, I tried to ignore it and went trick-or-treating Thursday night (I rode in a car), but when I would get out and try to walk, I was bouncing off things, not realizing how bad my balance actually was until my family had to walk me back to the car and were very concerned. By Friday morning, I could not walk at all without assistance. We called my doctor, and he said to go back to the ER immediately, so back I went.

My original neurosurgeon was now at a loss of what to do next, so he brought in a cranial specialist. Within 24 hours of the new doctor coming in, I had all new CAT scans and MRI ran, and he was making a plan. We readjusted my shunt at this point, hoping it would drain more fluid and relieve the pressure, but 48 hours later, it was still not draining, and I was in extreme pain. I had lost complete balance and took a nasty fall while at the hospital, cutting and bruising my forehead. At this point, I had a 24-hour sitter monitoring my every move. The tests came back and found that I was collecting fluid in my lung, so I had to have a chest tube put in to drain my lung, but that still didn't alleviate the issues, so on November 12, I had another surgery done. The doctor moved the tube from my VP shunt from my chest into my stomach, hoping to stop any more drainage into my lung. As of November 18, I am still in the hospital but feeling better than I have in a long time. I am gaining mobility back in my legs and starting to eat more day by day. I am hopeful this did the job. I finally got to go home on 11/23, where I have been doing better each day but have to use a walker to get around and am still very unstable and weak but improving day by day.

I am starting the GoFundMe page to help with medical, household, and travel expenses. We have always been a 2-income household, and being out of work for almost a year has been a huge hardship. My husband CJ works out of town (South Carolina) and has been traveling back almost every weekend or other weekend to be with me through the surgeries. I have applied for long-term disability, but that could take quite a while to receive. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my journey. Any help, whether monetary, prayers, or positive vibes, would be greatly appreciated!