Our next story is about a woman who is suffering from a disorder called pituitary macroadenoma - which is a non-cancerous growth in the pituitary gland. It is not a cancerous growth but it is still as dangerous and comes along with a long list of symptoms which includes severe headaches, vision problems, vomiting and dizziness.
31 year old Nicolee Ramirez has been suffering from those symptoms for over 8 years and had just been recently diagnosed in 2011. Today she shared with us how her life has been affected by this disorder.
Nicolee Ramirez - Needs Assistance for Surgery
"For the past 8 years and 5 months, I have been suffering from pain all over my face, all the lines that connect to the eye, the ears, the throat, the nose - everywhere - even in the back of my head. Since a year now, the doctor found out that it was a tumor, a cyst, that has been growing in my head. It's swollen right now, and that's what is putting pressure on the lines that connect to those areas. Every day, I wake up in a lot of pain. The pain makes me angry and miserable most of the time because I am suffering with it for so long. From my little son was 2 years - he is now 8 years and 5 months - he's been saying, 'Mom, do you want me to get your pills? Do you want water?' From he could think for himself, he has been seeing me in pain. And sometimes, because I am so angry on the inside, I would take it out on him, who is innocent. It hurts me when I behave like that with my baby, just because of the anger and frustration that this tumor puts on my body. Every day, I just have a constant pain in my head that doesn't stop. Even if it eases me, it's only for a 10-15 minutes, and it starts right back up again. In my nose area, it feels like someone struck me there with a piece of 2 by 4. In the head and in the back of my neck, there is always a striking pain. Sometimes, I would feel a striking pain on one side of my head, and then it shifts to the other side. In the left side of my shoulder muscles, I feel a constant pain there, and it causes me to slouch because it hurts so much. It's getting to a point now that I am feeling this pain all the way in my bones. It makes them feel like they are old and broken most of the time. It makes me feel extra old. Sometime I am on the bus, and I can't handle my pain. I may be on the street, and people would pass by and ask me if I need help, and I would feel bad because they can't really help me. They would tell me to go to the hospital, but it doesn't make any sense because they'll just give me injections for pain. If my blood pressure is up, they'll try to help me to get it down because this thing sends my pressure up also. They'll then send me home. Sometimes it makes one side of my face swell up. One time, it made both of my eyes become swollen, as if someone had hit me there. It makes different parts of my body swell up."
If you would like to make a monetary donation towards helping Nicolee Ramirez in her quest to seek medical attention abroad, you can make your contribution to her Holy Redeemer Credit Union account number 000009847 or you can contact her at telephone number 207-8038.
