To the Editor:
I would like to thank everyone who participated in my AVM Find a Cure Foundation Fundraiser on Nov. 20. AVMs are abnormal malformations or tangles of arteries and veins in the brain or spinal cord. Common symptoms and side effects of AVMs are swelling of the brain, congestive heart failure, and seizures. AVMs are the leading cause of hemorrhagic strokes in children and adolescents.
Not everyone is familiar with a cranial AVM in a child and the life threatening risks it comes with. The Hyman-Newman Institute of Neurology & Neurosurgery (INN) in New York City is now one of the foremost medical institutions specializing in the treatment of neurological disorders in adults and children. The knowledge gained is then applied in clinical practice at the INN at Roosevelt Hospital in the treatment of complex vascular anomalies, including AVMs, hemangiomas, stroke, and cerebral aneurysms.
I, as a patient of the INN and an AVM survivor, want to help the INN with research to help in finding the causes and cures of AVMs in children.
It is with the help of caring and generous people, such as you, that has helped a good cause be recognized. The money donated at the fundraiser has been sent to the INN at Roosevelt Hospital in New York for research.
Once again, I thank all of you for making this AVM Find a Cure Foundation Fundraiser a success, and I give special thanks to Barbara Vargas for helping me organize this event!
GRACE O’BRIEN
AVM Find a Cure Foundation
www.avmfindacure.com