Need help with medical expenses

Hello dear donors and helpers. My name is Marvin and I suffer from an Atlantoaxial Instability (AAI) and I urgently need medical support which I don't get in Germany at the moment.

I try to be relatively brief in order not to go beyond the scope of the description, but also not to withhold the most important information.

A creeping process that began in 2015 and was accompanied by recurring back pain. After no causes could be found with the neurologist, I hoped the headaches would disappear by themselves again. The pain was treated with painkillers, which did not eliminate the cause of the pain. As far as it was possible, I followed my everyday life and was privately a very sport enthusiastic person.

But the intervals between the headaches became smaller and smaller until mid-2017, when more and more serious problems came along. In addition to the headaches, there was dizziness, drowsiness, neck pain at neck level, sharp and stabbing nerve pain radiating from the back of the head over the head, pressure on the neck or back of the head, shortness of breath, panic attacks, unilaterally tense jaw muscles, the feeling of no longer being able to carry the head, tinnitus, focusing problems with the eyes, flashes of lightning in the corner of the eye, numbness in the fingertips. The symptoms usually occur alternately. Most of the time I spend the day lying down, sitting and walking is often not possible for long. All in all a loss of quality of life in every respect. For me from now on began a doctors odyssey across Germany.

Several times I had to be hospitalized because of the terrifying symptoms. Several MRT and CT examinations as well as X-rays were made, on which only "slight" wear between the vertebral bodies at the cervical spine could be seen. Apart from that, there were no clear findings. Suspicious diagnoses were not confirmed.

Despite unexplained cause and unchanged symptoms I was sent home with painkillers, because nobody could do anything for me.

I knew internally that something was wrong with me and did not give up to find the cause of my suffering.

On my own I researched for further possibilities how to help me and came across the term "cervical spine instability".

The symptoms of cervical instability were similar to my symptoms. I read about a rather new method to visualize the upper cervical joints in a special MRT under load of the cervical spine. I had to wait a very long time for an appointment.

On the day of the examination the radiologist's discussion and diagnosis followed.

The radiologist is of the opinion that I suffer from rotational instability of the vertebral bodies C1/C2 and wear of the lower vertebral bodies.

A very frightening diagnosis, considering that structures and nerves responsible for vital functions in the body run through the cranio-cervical transition. Simply explained, it means that the vertebrae of the cervical spine can move unphysiologically far and can be narrowed e.g. nerves, spinal cord, blood vessels or in the upper cervical spine, the brain stem. This can result in severe neurological deficits or even life-threatening conditions. In any case, operations on the upper cervical spine are the highest discipline among experts.

After a very long search for help, I have now found a specialist who would be willing, after the remaining examinations and clear confirmation, to stabilize my cervical spine.

Should the radiologist's diagnosis be confirmed, I would be faced with astronomically high costs that I could never bear alone.

The operation would cost about 97.000€ including medical care and accommodation. About 5000€ could already be raised by own savings.

Possibly it will be financially possible to start this journey in the hope of a future after the stabilization operation.

Should the Atlantoaxial instability not be confirmed and another solution of my problem be found, my collected donations would go to people who can use the donations better.

First of all my heartfelt thanks to all supporters of this fundraising campaign!!