'Save my wife’: Dad's emotional plea after wife has three strokes
A young Melbourne father has pleaded to help save his wife who is racing the clock to raise $100,000 for a potentially life-saving brain surgery, before she suffers a fourth stroke that could be fatal.
Twenty-eight-year-old Sherie Lucas, from Monbulk in the city's east, suffered a strong headache in January 2016, which later turned out to be the effects of her first stroke. This was the start of what she called a "rollercoaster" year and a half.
Her speech had begun slurring and she was struggling to walk and get ready for work, after feeling "not right" in recent days, and intense pressure at the back of her head.
Doctors told Mrs Lucas the stroke was caused by a rare brain cavernous hermangioma - a blood vessel malformation from a benign tumor.
Their daughter Harley Quinn was 10 months old at the time, and Mrs Lucas was struggling with being a new mother with the stroke symptoms, while managing the hairdressing business she owned with her husband.
“We had been told not to worry by the doctors, that Sherie's chances of having another stroke again where very slim,” Mr Lucas told on his GoFundMe page.
“In May 2016, Sherie tried to get back to work and finally felt like things may get back to normal.
“Pushing herself to the point of near exhaustion, she attempted to remain the caring mother, provider and wife I was lucky to have,” he told.
But her health deteriorated so significantly that the couple was forced to sell their business, and Mrs Lucas went on to find hairdressing work for someone else.
"It's not easy. A lot of the time I'm in agony. I'm so dizzy and nauseous, I can't walk properly, I can't see properly so I can't drive," she told 7 News Online.
"Most days I'm not good at all."
The young mother said she felt bad she wasn't well enough to be very active with her little girl, but enjoyed cuddling up to Harley on the couch.
"It's sad because for most of her life I've been unwell... she understands, she says 'Mummy sick'... It's sweet and sad at the same time."
Just when Mrs Lucas thought she was adjusting to her “new normal”, she suffered another stroke in August 2016, then a third in March this year. With each stroke, Mrs Lucas’ health deteriorated further.
She fell pregnant again last year, but sadly miscarried in October.
Her health taking a turn for the worse, Mrs Lucas was forced to give up her job in March this year. The family of three have since moved in with her mother because they could no longer afford to live in a home of their own with only Mr Lucas's wage as a local government park and land manager.
"It's been such a rollercoaster," Mrs Lucas told 7 News Online. "To have no home of our own that we can live in as a family."
Her neurosurgeons have been reluctant to operate because the cavernoma is in a dangerous area of the brain and surgery will risk Mrs Lucas from becoming disabled.
But if left untreated, a further bleed could impair her so badly she would become wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life or could even end her life, her husband says.
The couple has since met with Sydney neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo, who is known for performing surgeries on patients that have been told they were inoperable.
The controversial surgeon believes Mrs Lucas is a good candidate for surgery, but the family needs $100,000 to pay for the urgent operation.
She told 7 News Online that Dr Teo wanted to operate as soon as she was ready, because another stroke could come at any time.
The neurosurgeon expected her headaches and dizziness would subside following surgery, and Mrs Lucas hoped her vision would also improve.
“I want my wife to still be here to see our two-year-old daughter grow,” Mr Lucas wrote.
“I want to grow old with her, I want to have more children with her and be a real family again. I want to see Sherie happy, healthy and be her old self again.
“Although Sherie will be left with the deficits she already has, she will still be here to live her life with her family and friend's. Please help me save my wife,” he wrote.
Mr Lucas hoped the GoFundMe campaign will help “the love of my life alive” and give his daughter the chance to grow up knowing her mother.
The campaign has already raised almost $23,500 of its $100,000 goal, since it was posted a few days ago.
Visit the GoFundMe page to donate.
