MONTEGO BAY, St James — A malicious acid attack has seen a Kingston woman, Stacy-Ann Brown, undergoing countless surgeries to save her life.

Now, eight years later, the 47-year-old woman is once again heading under the knife to remove a large pancreatic pseudocyst she has developed from damage caused by medication, but she needs your help to do so.

“I was diagnosed at the end of January. I got ill while at work and my boss advised me to go do testing. The results came back indicating that I have a huge lump in my stomach,” Brown told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

Upon instructions from her doctor, Brown went ahead and did further testing to ascertain the nature of this foreign object in her body.

“When I did the ultrasound, it showed that I was having a pancreatic pseudocyst, but then further testing, a CT scan, showed that the cyst is protruding from behind the liver. So, it pushed away all the organs and protruded to the front of the stomach,” the woman shared.

The size of the pseudocyst, its volume equating to two litres, coupled with the potential hazard it poses to her obviously failing health has forced Brown to seek surgical expertise from professionals operating out of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). She was then given an operation date for March 28 and a bill for $400,000. However, she told the Sunday Observer that she cannot find the money.

Brown, an employee of Eleni’s Bakery in St Andrew, is asking for the assistance of good Samaritans to help in financing the removal of this deadly pseudocyst.

“This surgery would mean a whole lot because then I wouldn’t have to walk around worrying that I don’t want to be bounced [by anybody] when I am taking the bus. I am always praying that something doesn’t hit me and the cyst bursts in my stomach. If the cyst bursts, then it can cause further damage to organs and contaminate my stomach,” said Brown.

The woman told the Sunday Observer that she is no stranger to life’s ups and downs. In 2014, after ending a tumultuous relationship with a long-term partner, she was the victim of an acid attack.

“About 95 per cent of my body was burned. I spent a year in the hospital — damaged. It’s like waking up one day and your whole life has changed. So, I have been dealing with all that and I figured that at some point in time the different medications affected me. As far as the doctors are concerned, I picked up an infection, so my body is pushing it out in that manner,” the woman shared.

Her attacker left her for dead, but the woman refused to give up on herself.

“I was supposed to be a dead woman, but God favoured me. I must have been doing good at some point in my life. I kind of humour myself to say that I have become a computer because there are a lot of ‘cut and paste’ on me. But I am healed,” she said while chuckling.

Though she tries to see the positive in her experience, her life’s new journey hasn’t been easy physically nor emotionally as she has had to pick up the broken pieces.

“The experience has been devastating, don’t ask me how I do it or how I cope because I don’t think it is really me. The interesting part is that it happened, and I have always lived my life to say life gives you good, but you must know how to walk through the rough roads as well,” Brown shared.

She added, “If you can embrace the rough roads like you embrace the good paths, then you will get there at some point. The good thing is that I have learned to deal with negativity by looking at the positive side of life.”

“This thing practically wiped my life out, but I’ve always been who I am. I do not let society determine the person I am. You can take away my face, you can scar my body, but I am going on. Burn isn’t just about the outer scars, it’s the emotional and spiritual impact, it tears away every part of you,” she continued.

Brown told the Sunday Observer that heading back into the working world wasn’t the easiest thing for her, emotionally. But, as an attempt to remove herself from a toxic situation, she continued to embrace the journey.

“I didn’t know what I could do anymore. I lost so much memory of so many things. I didn’t know who I was anymore, I didn’t know anything. So, I’m questioning myself to see what I do next because I was seeing society for what society is, I am no longer the pretty face and the concept of what society figures I should look like,” she explained.

She stated, “People look at me as if I am alien, but I embraced all of that and I stepped out. I took on the challenge, and though it has been a rough road, it has also taught me a lot.”

With this pancreatic pseudocyst reflecting another roadblock in the woman’s journey through life, Brown is looking forward to days where her health is restored.

Anyone wishing to help can reach out to Brown at Eleni’s Bakery 876-544-2731 or 876-279-7907.