April 8 will be a date Silvia Lecca will never forget . That day she will be in Denver to undergo the surgery that could finally put an end to almost 25 years of uninterrupted pain. "I cannot describe my joy in knowing that there will be an end to my immense suffering. Thanks to you, the dream of a life without pain is coming true," she says with emotion.
Silvia, however, still needs everyone's help. The operation costs 34,300 euros, but with travel and living expenses the figure rises to 42 thousand euros. She has done everything to get here, but she can't do it alone. So, to cover the costs of the trip and the operation, she has launched a fundraiser "A life without pain" on GoFundMe : 7 thousand euros are still missing, the solidarity machine was immediately activated, now another small gesture can help her reach the goal and give her the chance to start living again.
She was only 23 when her life changed forever . During a dog training session in Cagliari, a fall damaged seven nerves. From that moment on, pain became her life companion. An excruciating, chronic, unbearable pain, caused by Arnold's neuralgia, a rare disease that affects the occipital nerves .
“At first I didn’t understand what was happening,” Silvia says. “I had constant headaches, shooting pains in the back of my neck. The drugs barely worked, then they stopped working.” For 13 years she wandered from one doctor to another, without a clear diagnosis. She left Sardinia to get closer to more specialized hospitals, she sold her house to pay for the treatments, she tried everything: drugs, experimental treatments, invasive interventions. Nothing worked.
Now, after an exhausting wait, there is finally some real hope . In Denver, a surgeon assured her that, once the device that will be implanted is turned on, the pain will disappear. "I will finally be able to stop taking drugs and go back to living."
The surgery was initially scheduled for February 11, then it was postponed. Every day is a huge burden, but Silvia does not give up. She is a strong woman, even if her resistance has been put to the test.
" I thought about euthanasia, I admit . When the pain never leaves you, when you have no way out, it's hard to go on. I just want to wake up one day without pain, live like everyone else, take care of myself and my little Chihuahua, the only animal I could afford to keep."
