Hawaiian woman who bleeds from eyes and tongue desperate for diagnosis
A Hawaiian woman who bleeds inexplicably from her eyes and tongue has left doctors baffled and unable to provide a diagnosis.
In 2008, Linnie Ikeda, of Waikele, was diagnosed with Gardner-Diamond Syndrome, a rare condition which causes random bruising and is associated with stress and anxiety.
Two years later, she started bleeding uncontrollably and without warning from her tongue and eyes - a condition doctors cannot explain.
"When it bleeds, it doesn't hurt. It's what leads up to the bleeding," the 24-year-old told Hawaii News Now .
"I'll feel pressure on my eyes, my eyes will be puffy and raw and that's when I know my eyes are going to bleed."
Linnie said the mystery condition causes her tongue to split down the middle and bleed, sometimes for days.
"I had 11 surgeries to cauterize the base of my tongue and to cut the blood vessels and I had 7 transfusions," she said.
But her condition grew worse and she started bleeding from the eyes, a spontaneous occurrence that usually happens overnight between 2 and 5am when she is asleep.
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Ikeda's mother, Lisa, said she would often go into her daughter's room and find her face and bed covered in blood.
"I've actually slept with her and I've gotten up every hour to check on her," she said. "It's always around that time that she has that bleeding.
"I'll usually wake her up and say, 'honey, let's go cleanup'. Or if it's not that much, I'll just wipe her up and she goes back to sleep.
"A lot of times, it's been bad, in her hair and everything so she'll go shower."
Linnie, who graduated in 2008, has seen 30 doctors but none have been able to explain her rare condition.
A teaching assistant, Linnie is desperate for answers and a potential treatment.
"I want to be normal," she said.
"What I'm looking for, is just that bit of hope," she added.
"You want to see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Weekend Sunrise news break – May 17
