Mom diagnosed with rare condition that could leave her blind

By James Connolly

A seamstress put her intense headaches down to eye strain from work - only to discover her brain is being squashed due to a rare condition which could leave her blind.

Grace Pammant, 35, says she initially dismissed the pain as a side effect of long days hunched over a microscope sewing tiny stitches.

But within months, the mom-of-five from Pudsey, West Yorks., was left curled up in agony, rushed to hospital and diagnosed with a condition that can lead to permanent sight loss.

She said: "I started having quite intense headaches, but I didn't think much of it.

"At the time, my work involved looking down a microscope and sewing tiny stiches all day, so I thought it was probably just some eye strain.

"But it didn't let up. It got worse and I was literally curled up in a ball on the sofa - I couldn't move."

Grace was diagnosed in May last year with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH).

The condition causes pressure to build up in the skull, triggering severe headaches and vision problems.

If untreated, the pressure can damage the optic nerves and lead to blindness.

Grace was also told she had Chiari malformation type 1, where part of the brain is pushed into the spine.

She said: "I went for a test and the optician told me that my optical nerves were swollen.

"They said I needed to get to hospital within an hour.

"I started panicking because I didn't know what it all meant."

Doctors ruled out a brain tumour before confirming dangerously high pressure in her skull.

Despite strong medication, Grace says her symptoms have worsened - and her vision has begun to deteriorate.

She said: "The medication itself is quite nasty and gives you all sorts of side effects.

"It doesn't always work either - and that has been the case for me.

"I was still having crazy headaches. Then, my vision started to go funny.

"That's the biggest risk - you can go blind."

The condition has forced Grace to give up the career she has done since childhood - leaving her devastated and fearing she may not be able to see her children grow up.

She said: "It's had a huge knock on my confidence because now I can't work.

"I was quite depressed because sewing is what I've done all my life. It's what I enjoy.

"But I can't see what I'm doing now."

She added: "I've been asking myself, how bad is this going to get? I've got five kids.

"I don't want it to stop me from seeing my children. It's devastating."

Grace is now mostly bed-bound and struggles with basic daily tasks.

She says she is often dizzy and unstable, and no longer feels safe leaving the house alone.

Grace said: "Now, I have reached a stone wall with the neurologists and doctors, because I'm on all the medication they can throw at me, but it's not working."

She is desperately trying to raise $20,000 for private surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain - something she fears she cannot wait years for on the NHS.

Grace said: "I'm out of work, so the cost seemed unattainable.

"I didn't want to ask for help, but I thought it was worth trying."

Her fundraiser can be found here.