Support Keith's Journey to Overcome CRPS Pain

Hello everyone,

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Keith Grzelak. I’m 42 years old, I live with my wife and 11 year old son in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and I have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).

Four years ago I was working in property management, teaching Tai Chi, and selling custom made longbows. Then, on December 9, 2020 I had what should have been a straightforward orthopedic foot surgery, but things went terribly wrong, leaving me with an open wound on my foot that took four months and three skin graft procedures to heal and also left me with CRPS in my right foot. CRPS is widely considered the most painful chronic medical condition known and is commonly referred to as “The Suicide Disease.” It ranks higher on the Mcgill University pain scale than terminal cancer or unplanned childbirth. They compare it to having a finger amputated without anesthesia.

After the original four surgeries, an additional five surgeries, four years of pain medication, ketamine infusions, and nerve stimulators, my condition has only gotten worse, left me disabled, in constant pain, and dealing regular suicidal ideation. (My son is what keeps me going.) It has spread to my other foot and is moving up my legs. I am spending more time in a wheelchair and a mobility scooter. My right foot is in the end stages of the disease now, which includes rigid tightening of all the flexor tendons and muscles, swollen and stiff joints in the foot and ankle, and constant, intractable nerve pain. My foot has become a useless limb. Unfortunately, amputation as a treatment is only successful in about 40% of CRPS patients who try it. The ones who are not successful experience CRPS in the stump making it impossible to use prosthetic or phantom pains that are supposed to be far worse than what amputees who haven’t had CRPS experience. Not to mention that it may be too late for a below the knee amputation because of the spread. Despite these odds, a little over a week ago, I had decided I had reached that point. I decided that if there was any chance, I could experience the joy of playing outside with my son again, walking through the woods, or just being able to walk anywhere with a prosthetic, I had to take that chance, because living this way is not sustainable.

At the insistence of a friend, before I proceeded with this, I saw one of the leading CRPS doctors in the country, “Dr Jay Joshi ” of National Pain Centers . Dr Joshi feels there is great potential in Exosome Therapy for me. It’s a type of regenerative medicine that he sees cure some people’s CRPS and greatly reduce the symptoms of others. After doing some of my own research, I found out that for some patients this has made all the difference in the world. However, insurance does not cover the Exosome cells needed for the treatments. (I know, big surprise, right.) And the exosomes will cost $1,000 for injections in the foot and $3,000 for the I.V. (full body) treatments each. And I will likely need many treatments over a period of time. If amputation was a sure way to deal with this, then I would do it, but it’s not. So, I need a lot of help. I have to give this treatment the best chance it has by raising the money for as many treatments as I can.

This is my last attempt at easing or curing this disease before I request an amputation. Even if this treatment does not cure it, and I had an amputation, it could greatly increase the chance of a successful amputation and being able to use a prosthetic. Please donate anything you can. Please share with anyone and everyone and ask them for help. I need your help. My family needs your help.

My Deepest Thanks,

Keith Grzelak