Fund mum’s surgery

Hello everyone!

We are Iuliana and Alina Sandra Silvi from Romania. We have set up this page for our dear mother, Mihaela Silvi, who was diagnosed with vagal schwannoma last year. We are appealing to your kind hearts to help us raise funds for her much needed surgery.

Case:

In 2015 Mihaela noticed that a swelling appeared on the left side of her neck and she went to see the doctor. The doctor suggested that she should do a MRI scan (Magnetic resonance imaging) and after doing this she was diagnosed with a rare tumour, vagal schwannoma. Vagal refers to the vagus nerve which is the 10th cranial nerve. This nerve is the only one that runs from the brain all the way down through the body. The vagus nerve controls the working order of all the organs of our bodies and how the skeletal muscles work. Also controls the heart, oesophagus and pulmonary functions.

We then found out that the only treatment for this tumour is surgical resection. As this is a very complicated and complex surgery, the state neurosurgeons that she consulted refused to do the surgery as they considered they do not have the necessary experience and equipment for this procedure. As we could not find a doctor prepared to do the surgery and we could not afford to send her to an overseas hospital, we decided to wait.

A year passed and now she started having pain on the left side of her neck, ear and head and she had to redo the MRI. The result of this second MRI shows that the tumour has grown and it started pressing on the jugular vein. The jugular vein is found in the neck and drains blood from the head, brain, face and neck and conveys it towards the heart.

Meanwhile, we managed to find a neurosurgeon from the Monza clinic, which is a private hospital in Bucharest. He knows the procedure well and has the necessary equipment for performing the surgery. The operation costs €7000 and unfortunately we cannot afford it, but with your help it will take place at the end of January 2017.

Even if this tumour is benign, it is really rare and aggressive and it can paralyze the tongue, vocal chords and neck, it can lead to asphyxiation or other negative outcomes if she does not receive the surgery as soon as possible.

Mihaela is a passionate middle school teacher, loving mother and wife. We love her very much and we cannot imagine life without her at least not now. It is way too soon for her to be ripped out of our lives.

I really hope that you can extend a generous hand in helping her. Any amount, no matter big or small, will not go to waste. Thank you in advance!

Best wishes,

Silvi Family