Four strokes, two heart attacks and a brain tumour
Clarendon woman determined to fight back; but needs help
Sandra Morgan suffered four strokes and two heart attacks between July 2016 and December 2018. She has had high blood pressure since she was a child, heart problems and a brain tumour.
The 45-year-old mother of five said that her “best chance” of leading a normal life rests on the possibility of doing a brain surgery overseas.
The Clarendon woman said that she has been told by her doctor that because of her heart problems she cannot be put to sleep to do any surgery.
“My doctor said that in Jamaica they don’t have the equipment to do the brain surgery without the patient being put to sleep,” she said.
Morgan, who has taught in early childhood institutions, now operates a stall at the gates of Hayes Primary School in southeast Clarendon and hardly makes enough to keep her comfortable, let alone afford the cost of doing the surgery overseas.
She said that she has secured a March 26 booking at the Larkin Community Hospital in South Miami in the United States of America. The procedure as well as attendant cost, such as airfare and accommodation, is in the region of US$30,000 (approximately J$4 million). The surgery is US$19,725 (approximately J$2,747,100).
“Right now, I only have $120,000, nothing else,” Morgan said. She said that she has been constantly spending her money
Persons willing to assist Sandra Morgan may contact her at 876-336-2055, or donate to her Scotiabank account, May Pen branch 848704.
doing diagnostic tests, leaving her out of pocket.
An aspiring nurse, Morgan said that she had to discontinue her studies at Middlesex International College in May Pen in 2018 after she got her last stroke.
She was at that time studying to become an allied nurse, with the intention of later upgrading to registered nurse.
One year earlier, she was diagnosed with meningioma or meningeal tumour, which refers to slow-growing tumour forming membranous layers surrounding the spinal cord and brain. The disease can cause seizures, dementia, speech impediment and may affect one’s vision.
Morgan’s left eye, behind which the tumour sits, is protruding.
“When I walk sometimes I just fall. I even block out on numerous occasions,” she said. “I am not able to hold a full-time job because of my situation.”
Morgan has high hopes that the surgery will return some normality to her life.