Lester's medical fund
Donation protected
My name is Amie Anderson. Lester is my fun, hardworking, loving husband and father to our three amazing kids! Gavin, Presley ,and Leia.
March 26th (the day before Easter) Lester called me and said "I crashed my bike and I messed up my leg" See, my husband and son are avid dirt bike riders. Being it was his left leg he said he could drive home. From home we went to Urgent Care who then sent us to the ER due to the severity of his injury. After x-rays and CT scans they could see he had many fractures in his foot, ankle, and knee as well as a torn ACL. The fractures in his foot were so bad we had to see a foot specialist and then a knee specialist for those injurys. The two Dr's worked together and decided to wait on surgery for the knee because with a broken weight bearing bone in the foot he couldnt do physical therapy for about 12 weeks anyway.
Lester had a new cast every two weeks to keep an eye on the foot and do new x-rays. He also wore a knee wrap and brace to keep it stable. The bones after 12 weeks were healed acording to x-rays and CT's but Les knew something wasn't right. He had broken bones before and this felt different.
It was Les' foot Dr. who diagnosed him with CRPS. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. The cause is unknown and is a new diagnosis within the last ten years or so. It is a nerve disorder affecting his sympathetic nerve system. He is in severe pain all the time but worsens at night. It causes drastic temperature changes in his leg, swelling, spasms, and extreme sensitivity (nothing can touch it). On the McGill pain scale CRPS is right there with amputation of a finger, or natural child birth. He feels this pain all the time. It never goes away.
Treatments for this vary from person to person. What works for one might not work for the next. So far Les has been working with a pain specialist in this area. They have tried many things so far. They did epidural injections to numb the nerves to the leg once a week (but that only relieved the pain for about a month). He has been to numerous physical therapy appointments, electro pulse therapy, meditation, mirror box therapy, and the number one is opioids along with antidepressants and anti-inflammatories.
The medications that he is on are working only to a point. He still can't put weight on his foot and has to use crutches to get around. He recently had surgery to implant a spinal cord stimulator in his back. It sends other impulses through the leg to knumb the pain enough to hopefully be able to put weight on his leg and start physical therapy again.
Due to the amount of pain pills and medications they have Lester taking he has not been able to work since the accident. His work was amazing keeping him on as long as they did and let him know they have a spot for him when he can return. I am a server, crew chief at IHOP. I am a great server and love my job! I have been able to work doubles and being open 24/7 a lot of them are overnights so I can work while the kids and everyone are sleeping. I have barely been able to pay our bills with the help of family and will continue to do whatever needed to keep everyone happy and healthy as can be. The trouble for me is that now our medical bills are pilling up and holidays are coming. The reason for doing this is... someone gave me a huge push! If you know me or my husband we are not ones to ask for help. I am a huge advocate in paying it forward and that is exactly what will happen when we get back on our feet.
We are optomistic that within the next year or two he will be on the road to recovery. One more surgery to go and then on to more physical therapy.... thanks for listening and your support!! -The Andersons
March 26th (the day before Easter) Lester called me and said "I crashed my bike and I messed up my leg" See, my husband and son are avid dirt bike riders. Being it was his left leg he said he could drive home. From home we went to Urgent Care who then sent us to the ER due to the severity of his injury. After x-rays and CT scans they could see he had many fractures in his foot, ankle, and knee as well as a torn ACL. The fractures in his foot were so bad we had to see a foot specialist and then a knee specialist for those injurys. The two Dr's worked together and decided to wait on surgery for the knee because with a broken weight bearing bone in the foot he couldnt do physical therapy for about 12 weeks anyway.
Lester had a new cast every two weeks to keep an eye on the foot and do new x-rays. He also wore a knee wrap and brace to keep it stable. The bones after 12 weeks were healed acording to x-rays and CT's but Les knew something wasn't right. He had broken bones before and this felt different.
It was Les' foot Dr. who diagnosed him with CRPS. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. The cause is unknown and is a new diagnosis within the last ten years or so. It is a nerve disorder affecting his sympathetic nerve system. He is in severe pain all the time but worsens at night. It causes drastic temperature changes in his leg, swelling, spasms, and extreme sensitivity (nothing can touch it). On the McGill pain scale CRPS is right there with amputation of a finger, or natural child birth. He feels this pain all the time. It never goes away.
Treatments for this vary from person to person. What works for one might not work for the next. So far Les has been working with a pain specialist in this area. They have tried many things so far. They did epidural injections to numb the nerves to the leg once a week (but that only relieved the pain for about a month). He has been to numerous physical therapy appointments, electro pulse therapy, meditation, mirror box therapy, and the number one is opioids along with antidepressants and anti-inflammatories.
The medications that he is on are working only to a point. He still can't put weight on his foot and has to use crutches to get around. He recently had surgery to implant a spinal cord stimulator in his back. It sends other impulses through the leg to knumb the pain enough to hopefully be able to put weight on his leg and start physical therapy again.
Due to the amount of pain pills and medications they have Lester taking he has not been able to work since the accident. His work was amazing keeping him on as long as they did and let him know they have a spot for him when he can return. I am a server, crew chief at IHOP. I am a great server and love my job! I have been able to work doubles and being open 24/7 a lot of them are overnights so I can work while the kids and everyone are sleeping. I have barely been able to pay our bills with the help of family and will continue to do whatever needed to keep everyone happy and healthy as can be. The trouble for me is that now our medical bills are pilling up and holidays are coming. The reason for doing this is... someone gave me a huge push! If you know me or my husband we are not ones to ask for help. I am a huge advocate in paying it forward and that is exactly what will happen when we get back on our feet.
We are optomistic that within the next year or two he will be on the road to recovery. One more surgery to go and then on to more physical therapy.... thanks for listening and your support!! -The Andersons
Organizer
Amie Anderson
Organizer
San Tan Valley, AZ