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Kim's RSD/CRPS treatment fund

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I DREAM OF MOMENTS I CAN SHARE WITH MY SON AND HUSBAND WITH NO PAIN! PLEASE HELP MY DREAMS BECOME MY REALITY!

As most of you know, I suffer from a rare neurological inflammatory disease called RSD.
RSD stands for Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (also called Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome). It was triggered by a routine knee surgery. I have had this disease for 5 years. In that time I've undergone multiple pain blocks, physical therapy, taken dozens of nerve pain pills a day, and I even had a spinal cord stimulator installed in my back. All these have offered zero to an occasional 50% pain reduction. RSD has spread from my knee, to my ankle and calf, to my hip, and continues to spread in the lower half of my body. It's an awful disease! The nerves in my body misfire pain signals. The constant firing of these pain signals causes a beyond intense burning sensation. It causes my skin to be constantly swollen, hyper sensitive, and appear waxy. The physical temperature of my skin is actually a few degrees warmer on the affected side. My skin can be so sensitive that wearing longer pants or even the breeze from a ceiling fan in the middle of the night can overstimulate the nerves and send my pain levels through the roof. On the clinical McGill pain scale, an unprepared mother giving birth with no drugs or other pain management methods will experience about a "37" level of pain, having a digit amputated is a 41, RSD pain is 42. It is noted as the highest known level of pain existing today.
Please understand this is not like a headache that comes on and leaves. This is CONSTANT BURNING PAIN FOR 5 YEARS. Sorry to be so graphic, but to give you a glimpse into my pain, imagine an exhaust pipe from a car, heated up and driven through the side of your knee with a sledge hammer. That is an accurate description of this relentless disease's pain! There is no cure for the disease, only new and upcoming treatments.
There is a new treatment, that could not only change life for Jeremy and myself, but most importantly, the life of Joseph, our two year old son. He hasn't experienced life as a two year old yet and it breaks our hearts. I never know what level my pain might be at on any given day, so little friends birthday parties, park outings, going to the zoo or a carnival all hinges on how Mom feels each day. I push and push myself so that I can ensure he can have these experiences, but I know in the long run this will just prolong or intensify my pain which means he might have to miss out on other important things coming up. I just want to be the mom my son deserves!
This treatment is new and is not covered by insurance. It is called Calmare Scrambler Therapy and hopefully reduces my pain so I am able to function as the mom and wife I know I am capable of being! It is done only a few places in the country, one of them being in Phoenix, AZ, where my sister lives. She will be covering all my food and I will be able to stay with her, but the treatment is $2000 and is administered over the course of 10 days. My plane ticket would be nearly $500 and a rental car would likely cost close to $500 as well so that I might drive myself to treatment each day since my sister works far from where the treatment facility is located.
If you find it in your heart to either sponsor a whole day of treatment or even can spare $5 to help us out, my husband, son, and myself would appreciate the blessing immensely! God bless!
If you would like to read more about the disease itself and/or educate others on my behalf, here is a good link to start with from the NIH: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/reflex_sympathetic_dystrophy/detail_reflex_sympathetic_dystrophy.htm

Organizer

Kim Baumgartner
Organizer
Fort Wayne, IN

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