Support Rishi's Battle of Chronic Nerve Pain, Trig Neuralgia

To friends, family, and kind-hearted strangers,

I’m reaching out to you with a heavy heart and a deep sense of urgency, as my brother’s health is hanging in the balance. He is facing the aftermath of Kenalog poisoning, a condition that has changed his life in ways none of us could have imagined. What started as a hopeful treatment for pain relief spiraled into a nightmare, leaving him battling a host of debilitating symptoms that are taking away his strength and taken a toll on his body and mind.

For those unfamiliar, Kenalog is a corticosteroid (a.k.a. Cortisone Shot) used to treat various conditions, but in rare cases, it can cause severe, long-lasting side effects. Unfortunately, my brother has become one of those rare cases, and the consequences have been heartbreaking. He now suffers from eye blurriness & intense eye pressure, burning mouth syndrome (tongue & upper palate burning), traveling neuropathy or traveling nerve damage, constant fight or flight anxiety, and other symptoms that have made day-to-day life an overwhelming struggle. He can barely get out of bed most days, and watching him suffer like this has been unbearable for all of us who love him.

Here are some reviews of others' experiences on Kenalog-40

Here is a list of all of Rishi's long term damage / side effects that he's facing

Why did he take the Kenalog? The main reason is because he has been dealing with trigeminal neuralgia, commonly nicknamed as “suicide disease,” for over 18 years. Trigeminal Neuralgia is a chronic, incurable pain condition that causes unpredictable and severe facial pain. His experience with nerve damage, or trigeminal neuralgia, has been a randomized, unpredictable experience of electric shocks on his face, sharp throbbing, burning/pain sensation any time these areas are stimulated: lips, chin, sideburn, and tongue. Eating, brushing teeth, smiling, sucking out of a straw, touching are all things that cause this pain to worsen. He lives with this pain 97% of his waking life, with only a few intermittent, non-replicable days of alleviation. His days are hard to predict. Most of his time, he is laying around with his face throbbing in pain.

More details & a video of his scan here: https://facialnerveinjury.wordpress.com/ (this website was written back in 2014)

Here is a timeline of events:

Age 12 - 4 bicuspid teeth extracted for orthodontics overbite (the extractions were unwarranted), caused airway issues, breathing problems, etc.

Age 19 - Rishi was advised a ramus bone graft surgery in the jaw (later discovered to be poor medical advice). The oral surgeon removed a piece of bone from Rishi’s jaw and cut into his nerve during the operation. Rishi awoke from the operation with Trigeminal Neuralgia - a severe nerve pain & pressure pain that never went away.

Age 20-23 - Rishi goes through college.

Age 23 - Rishi graduates and goes home to live there for a year or two in order to start going to doctors to see how it can be fixed. After 20 doctor visits, they did not find a solution that could work.

Age 25 - Rishi starts entering into the world of raw food, juicing in order to try to heal naturally.

Age 26 - Rishi goes to Taiwan to try to heal through a Qi Gong Healing master. After 2 months, he suggests surgery to heal instead.

Age 28 - Rishi enters a surgery in UCLA Kaiser. They found the scarred nerve and attempted to repair it while under the knife. Unfortunately, this did not help.

Age 32 - Rishi moves to Florida to be with a natural healing community.

Age 34 - Rishi does a Stem Cell treatment, resulting in 4 consistent months of pain-free for the first and only time in 18 years.

Age 37 - Stem cells are expensive and not covered by insurance, so Rishi attempts a Kenalog 40 cortisone shot in the jaw to heal the nerve pain. Unfortunately, this resulted in toxic Kenalog poisoning, starting a whole new onset of symptoms and is where he is today.

These symptoms include:

Eye Blurriness & Other Vision Issues, Burning Mouth Syndrome (Tongue & Upper Palate Burning), Constant Fight or Flight (feeling as if you’re high all the time but can’t come off of it).

My brother has always been the rock and joy of our family—a loving, caring, and selfless man who has gone out of his way to help others in need. He’s the kind of person who would give you the shirt off his back without a second thought. Despite being in a lot of pain, he put in the effort to show up to my wedding and give us his incredible energy and effort. But now, when my brother speaks, something seems wrong. When he smiles, there isn’t a smile behind his eyes. Now he’s the one who needs help, and it’s incredibly hard for him to ask. As proud as he is, the truth is, the medical bills are piling up faster than we ever anticipated. The costs of doctor visits, tests, treatments, medications, and therapies are staggering. His health insurance has covered some of the expenses, but it doesn’t even come close to what is needed for his long-term care and recovery.

Kenalog poisoning isn’t widely recognized, and navigating the medical system to find specialists who truly understand this condition has been a massive challenge. The financial strain on our family has been immense, and without help, I’m scared that my brother won’t be able to get the care he desperately needs to have a chance at recovery.

That’s why I’m here, reaching out to the kindness and compassion of others. We’re looking to raise $39,000 to help cover his ongoing medical expenses, including specialist visits, physical therapy, medications, scrambler therapy, and stem cell treatments. Every dollar counts, and even the smallest donation will make a huge difference in his life. I already have contributed a large amount of my personal money to medical treatments to help him. If you can’t contribute financially, sharing this campaign with your friends, family, and social media networks will help immensely. We aren’t looking for a permanent handout, but help to heal and get back on his feet.

WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?

1. Directly to helping with medical treatments until the Kenalog poisoning symptoms go away (2-5 years is a typical timeframe).

2. Get him his first stem cell nerve treatment so he can alleviate the pain and work a career that allows him to afford stem cells twice a year.

I know times are tough for everyone, and asking for help is never easy. But seeing my brother in so much pain, knowing there’s more we could do if we just had the resources, is something I can’t bear to stand by and watch. He deserves a chance to heal, to get back on his feet, and to reclaim the life that this condition has stolen from him.

Please, if you can, consider helping my brother fight this battle. Your support, whether through a donation or by spreading the word, means more than I can ever express. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your kindness, your generosity, and your love. Together, I believe we can help him get through this. And even if you can’t give anything - a supportive call to him alone will go a long way.

With deep gratitude,

Monish