"I had stents implanted in my brain when I lost vision in my right eye after a mystery illness"
- 11 months ago
A woman who had to have stents implanted in her brain due to a "mystery illness" permanently lost vision in her right eye - after the stents "choked out" her optic nerve.
Chandler Plante, 23, suffered a stroke in March 2021 and lost all vision in her right eye eight months later. While the vision loss wasn't caused by the stroke, it happened as a result of her treatment.
She hasn't received any official diagnosis for her ongoing health problems - which include frequent strokes, head and face inflammation.
Her doctors have speculated it could be down to an autoimmune condition - even a "really severe" version of long covid.
She's been through multiple rounds of radiation, courses of steroids and chemo drugs - and will need to take aspirin daily for the rest of her life to prevent the strokes from coming back.
In July 2021, Chandler had coronary stents implanted into her brain. Her arteries - which are typically meant to be 4mm wide, were measuring at just 0.5mm.
The procedure was meant to widen her arteries and prevent blood clots and inflammation.
But some of the stents dislodged and "choked out" her optic nerve. As a result, Chandler went blind in her right eye.
Chandler, a magazine editor, from Tuscan, Arizona, US, said: “It’s such an enigmatic illness and it refuses to go away - it’s given me a really deep trauma.
“I’ve had so many different types of treatment - and it’s taken three years to find medication that doesn’t ruin my physical and mental health.
“No one fully understands why this has happened to me.”
Before her health concerns started, Chandler rarely fell ill.
Her medical history was clear, and she described herself as a “normal 21-year-old”.
She came down with a mild case of Covid in December 2020 but recovered within a week.
For three months, she went back to her usual routine - but on March 29, 2021, Chandler began experiencing a numbness in her hands and forearms.
She went straight to the emergency room - but she claims her symptoms were initially dismissed as “anxiety.”
Chandler Plante, 23, suffered a stroke in March 2021 and lost all vision in her right eye eight months later. While the vision loss wasn't caused by the stroke, it happened as a result of her treatment.
She hasn't received any official diagnosis for her ongoing health problems - which include frequent strokes, head and face inflammation.
Her doctors have speculated it could be down to an autoimmune condition - even a "really severe" version of long covid.
She's been through multiple rounds of radiation, courses of steroids and chemo drugs - and will need to take aspirin daily for the rest of her life to prevent the strokes from coming back.
In July 2021, Chandler had coronary stents implanted into her brain. Her arteries - which are typically meant to be 4mm wide, were measuring at just 0.5mm.
The procedure was meant to widen her arteries and prevent blood clots and inflammation.
But some of the stents dislodged and "choked out" her optic nerve. As a result, Chandler went blind in her right eye.
Chandler, a magazine editor, from Tuscan, Arizona, US, said: “It’s such an enigmatic illness and it refuses to go away - it’s given me a really deep trauma.
“I’ve had so many different types of treatment - and it’s taken three years to find medication that doesn’t ruin my physical and mental health.
“No one fully understands why this has happened to me.”
Before her health concerns started, Chandler rarely fell ill.
Her medical history was clear, and she described herself as a “normal 21-year-old”.
She came down with a mild case of Covid in December 2020 but recovered within a week.
For three months, she went back to her usual routine - but on March 29, 2021, Chandler began experiencing a numbness in her hands and forearms.
She went straight to the emergency room - but she claims her symptoms were initially dismissed as “anxiety.”