Never in a million years did I think that I would have to remind my daughter to
breathe in order for her to get through the endless days and nights of
agonizing pain. Tabitha's ordeal began when she was 11 years old and dislocated
her left knee while playing softball. Her knee continued to dislocate over
the next 3 years and she had 3 surgeries to try to correct it. The pain
continued and no one knew why. We thought that once her knee was working right
that the pain would go away, but instead it increased and spread throughout both
legs. She spent more time using crutches, canes, arm crutches, walkers, and
a wheelchair than she did walking. For the past few years she has been unable to
put any weight on her legs and confined to a wheelchair.
RSD has invaded Tabitha's body, stealing her life away bit by bit. She has bravely tried so many things to get any amount of relief, including spinal nerve blocks, acupuncture, ultrasounds, chiropractic care, electronic stimulation, and too many medications to count. Most of her young adolescent life was spent in physical therapy, including an inpatient RSD program that lasted almost 6 months combining strenuous physical, occupational, aquatic, and music therapies for 8 hours everyday. She has had to relearn how to walk more times than we can remember.
The pain quickly took over her entire body and she now throws up for weeks at a time, causing dehydration, and has seizures when the pain increases past her tolerance point. The nerves in her face and throat are affected by the RSD, which causes difficulty seeing, eating, swallowing, and speaking. She feels like she is being stabbed when anything, even something as soft as a blanket, touches her. This extreme skin sensitivity is one of the symptoms called allodynia. The RSD has also temporarily paralyzed her left side in the past and caused periods of short term blindness.
RSD has invaded Tabitha's body, stealing her life away bit by bit. She has bravely tried so many things to get any amount of relief, including spinal nerve blocks, acupuncture, ultrasounds, chiropractic care, electronic stimulation, and too many medications to count. Most of her young adolescent life was spent in physical therapy, including an inpatient RSD program that lasted almost 6 months combining strenuous physical, occupational, aquatic, and music therapies for 8 hours everyday. She has had to relearn how to walk more times than we can remember.
The pain quickly took over her entire body and she now throws up for weeks at a time, causing dehydration, and has seizures when the pain increases past her tolerance point. The nerves in her face and throat are affected by the RSD, which causes difficulty seeing, eating, swallowing, and speaking. She feels like she is being stabbed when anything, even something as soft as a blanket, touches her. This extreme skin sensitivity is one of the symptoms called allodynia. The RSD has also temporarily paralyzed her left side in the past and caused periods of short term blindness.
Tabitha loves animals and she is now unable to care for her pets, even spending time with them is hard for her. She can only sit up for short periods of time limiting what she can do. Her muscles spasms cause her to shake severely making it impossible to do things like drawing. Tabitha is a wonderful artist, she loves to make clothes and jewelry, but soon after she starts her hands begin to hurt so badly that they twist inward and she is unable to use them. This is heartbreaking for her.
Once her pain is gone, Tabitha hopes to walk and do all of the things she has been missing out on.
