Send Gracie to Dallas for CRPS treatment

 Read about CRPS here:    
 www.rsdhope.org 
Read about the treatment facility here:
www.interxtherapy.com

Gracie's foot when having an acute attack...


Gracie using one of the many treatments she's used...


My little cousin, Gracie,(11) is battling a terrible chronic pain disorder called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (aka RSD). This illness is not well known & the medical field doesn't understand it very well either. Although it isn't life threatening, it can be completely debilitating. Gracie was originally diagnosed when she was 9 years old & now at 11, she is in the middle of her third flare up. Since 2012, she has had more months with pain than without. She has missed numberous days of school because the pain is overwhelming & prevents her from walking. She frequently requires crutches & even a wheelchair to get around. She has not been able to play the game she loves hardly at all since then either. Maybe a total of 20 games in 3 years. For a girl who played year round before being stricken with CRPS, it has been devastating to her. We all fear she may never be able to play competitively again.

Gracie's CRPS first surfaced in her right foot & has now spread all the way to her hip. Some of the symptoms include; burning pain, swelling, coloring becomes dark red-purple, skin becomes shiny, her leg becomes very cold & movement of even her toes causes excruciating pain. Perhaps the most perplexing part is the fact that even wearing clothes is excruciating. For 10 weeks last summer she was unable to walk, wear a sock or cover her foot with a sheet. Experts say this disease is more painful than natural childbirth or even amputation without sedation.

Here's why we are asking for help from you...

We need help raising money to take her for a treatment out of state. Her parents & her Doctor all feel this may be the best shot she has of going into remission, & gaining her life back. Through countless hours of researching treatment options,they found a fairly new treatment machine that has been used to successfully treat CRPS/RSD. However, it will be very expensive. There are very few facilities using it & even fewer therapists considered to be "experts". The top therapists are in Dallas, TX at "interX Therapy Clinic." We not only need to get her to Dallas, but it's a 2-3 week program. If it works, we will need to purchase a home unit so we can continue treatment here at home. They have also warned us that since she has had it so long & because it is spreading, she will likely need to return for a second round of treatment.

We estimate the cost of the first round, including the machine to be approximately $7000. The second trip will be less since we will not have the expense of the machine. In all, over $11k for the two treatments. Not a ton, but yet still a lot considering all we have already paid out for failed treatments.

We are hoping to not only raise money for her treatment, but to also bring awareness to the disease. There are thousands suffering from something few have ever heard of. Majority of those suffering are woman & young girls.