Kelli's Medical Fund
Donation protected
Hi Everyone,
I have created this page to aid in travel and medical expenses to see a spinal specialist in New York City.
Matt and I feel that this is the best option at a chance to find out what is causing me to still experience the pain that I am going through. This pain, this constant in my life, causes me to be unable to work, to be unable to do something as simple as take a walk whenever I want, or wash dishes, honestly, to once again do the simple things in life that I took for granted.
Driving? I haven't been able to do so in three years. Cooking and baking? Most pots and pans are simply too heavy for me to hold and will slip out of my hands if I try. After dropping dinner more than once, I rarely get to get into the kitchen and create. It is beyond discouraging for me and creates more and more work for Matt. This hurts my heart the most.
I cannot walk very far in general, honestly, my life is rather sedentary. My usual day involves getting out of bed (usually with the help of Matt), walking to get a cup of coffee from our kitchen and then having Matt help me get set up in my recliner. From there I will walk, when I have enough leg strength, to get up from the recliner and come and sit at the computer. Friends, we live in a one-bedroom apartment that is 750sqft. None of these seats are far from each other and yet, I struggle to move the few feet required. I am completely numb all across my lower back and down the back of both thighs and have been since my initial injury three and a half years ago.
I want to enjoy a full life with Matt and hopefully, finally, find the relief that we have fervently been seeking.
Please read below to understand more of why my life, our life, is so drastically different from the full life we desire.
I have been dealing with a severe back injury since October of 2012. It has been a constant battle since then to try and find relief. Matt and I feel as if our lives have been placed on hold and each time we've been presented with the promise of "the next thing" helping to repair my back it hasn't worked. Three years later, we are once again back at square one.
I have multiple back issues that have yet to be fixed. I have four herniated discs, as well as 2 discs that have ruptured into the spinal canal - the L5 and S1. In fact, these ruptured discs (consisting of a thick gel like substance), almost meet in the middle of my spinal canal, due to the L5 disc "gel" being forced downward while the S1 "gel" is being forced upward. This rupture has caused severe nerve damage. Unfortunately, this nerve damage has been exacerbated and I have been told that one nerve bundle is permanently damaged.
So far, these are diagnoses, treatments and surgeries I have had:
*I have 4 herniated discs that still have not been addressed other than to tell me that they are there.
*I have been diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease.
*I have had 3 steroid injections into the disc by my Pain Management doctor with no relief.
*I have been on pain medications since 2012.
*I have had 3 back surgeries to try and correct the Ruptured Discs at L5/S1 - even going as far as having a disc fusion with no relief.
*Due to the back surgeries, I have scar tissue that sits on a nerve bundle causing it to misfire and another nerve bundle that is deemed "dead" by a Neurologist.
*I have tried physical therapy and massages - no help.
*At this point my neurosurgeon said that he has done all he could to fix my back and that I needed to work on a solution with my pain management doctor.
*I was given the following options: (1) I could live the rest of my life with this pain or (2) live with the tingling from an internal Spinal Cord Stimulator that would replace the pain.
*After consulting with my pain management doctor, I had the surgery to insert the Spinal Cord Stimulator, which involved having the stimulator itself inserted onto the T-Spine with the leads connecting to the damaged nerve bundle and a "pocket" for the battery created at the hip. Ten days after the surgery, I began to run a fever and experience severe pain and swelling at both surgical sites. I ended up having to go to the emergency room due to my symptoms and was hospitalized for a week with an infection. I was sent home from the hospital with a Picc Line (an internal IV that's placed through the artery in my bicep and travels to the heart) and was on IV antibiotics for eight weeks and oral antibiotics for one.
*During this medical treatment, it was determined that the spinal cord stimulator should be removed so that I could fully recover from the infection. It was removed and I am still in the process of recovering from the infection and continue to have fever on and off, but nothing "high enough" to be re-admitted to the hospital, thankfully!
*Due to the failure of the Spinal Cord Stimulator, I am currently left being told the only option I have is to live with the debilitating pain.
It is our belief that seeing this Spine Specialist is my best chance to finally get my back issues resolved. We hope that having him examine me with a new perspective will offer new diagnoses and treatments that will finally correct the multiple back issues that I face.
We have to move forward in the hope and anticipation of complete and total recovery. Although we know that this will be financially and mentally exhaustive to seek help 6 states away, after three years of unsuccessful treatment, we have sought this Doctor out through sound advice and counsel.
We appreciate any and all donations you can make toward helping this become a reality. My appointment with him is March 8. We would love to have additional funds before we leave for NYC. We have planned to be there the entire week in case he can do some sort of procedure while we're both there. If he cannot do a procedure at that time, I will more than likely stay in New York and Matt will come back to work in Texas. As you can imagine, this is going to be a very expensive venture, but one we must proceed with. We know that through God's grace and any help you can provide, we will more confidently be able to move forward in this endeavor.
Thank you. The words are simple, but the meaning is so deep. Thank you.
Kelli and Matt Redfearn
I have created this page to aid in travel and medical expenses to see a spinal specialist in New York City.
Matt and I feel that this is the best option at a chance to find out what is causing me to still experience the pain that I am going through. This pain, this constant in my life, causes me to be unable to work, to be unable to do something as simple as take a walk whenever I want, or wash dishes, honestly, to once again do the simple things in life that I took for granted.
Driving? I haven't been able to do so in three years. Cooking and baking? Most pots and pans are simply too heavy for me to hold and will slip out of my hands if I try. After dropping dinner more than once, I rarely get to get into the kitchen and create. It is beyond discouraging for me and creates more and more work for Matt. This hurts my heart the most.
I cannot walk very far in general, honestly, my life is rather sedentary. My usual day involves getting out of bed (usually with the help of Matt), walking to get a cup of coffee from our kitchen and then having Matt help me get set up in my recliner. From there I will walk, when I have enough leg strength, to get up from the recliner and come and sit at the computer. Friends, we live in a one-bedroom apartment that is 750sqft. None of these seats are far from each other and yet, I struggle to move the few feet required. I am completely numb all across my lower back and down the back of both thighs and have been since my initial injury three and a half years ago.
I want to enjoy a full life with Matt and hopefully, finally, find the relief that we have fervently been seeking.
Please read below to understand more of why my life, our life, is so drastically different from the full life we desire.
I have been dealing with a severe back injury since October of 2012. It has been a constant battle since then to try and find relief. Matt and I feel as if our lives have been placed on hold and each time we've been presented with the promise of "the next thing" helping to repair my back it hasn't worked. Three years later, we are once again back at square one.
I have multiple back issues that have yet to be fixed. I have four herniated discs, as well as 2 discs that have ruptured into the spinal canal - the L5 and S1. In fact, these ruptured discs (consisting of a thick gel like substance), almost meet in the middle of my spinal canal, due to the L5 disc "gel" being forced downward while the S1 "gel" is being forced upward. This rupture has caused severe nerve damage. Unfortunately, this nerve damage has been exacerbated and I have been told that one nerve bundle is permanently damaged.
So far, these are diagnoses, treatments and surgeries I have had:
*I have 4 herniated discs that still have not been addressed other than to tell me that they are there.
*I have been diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease.
*I have had 3 steroid injections into the disc by my Pain Management doctor with no relief.
*I have been on pain medications since 2012.
*I have had 3 back surgeries to try and correct the Ruptured Discs at L5/S1 - even going as far as having a disc fusion with no relief.
*Due to the back surgeries, I have scar tissue that sits on a nerve bundle causing it to misfire and another nerve bundle that is deemed "dead" by a Neurologist.
*I have tried physical therapy and massages - no help.
*At this point my neurosurgeon said that he has done all he could to fix my back and that I needed to work on a solution with my pain management doctor.
*I was given the following options: (1) I could live the rest of my life with this pain or (2) live with the tingling from an internal Spinal Cord Stimulator that would replace the pain.
*After consulting with my pain management doctor, I had the surgery to insert the Spinal Cord Stimulator, which involved having the stimulator itself inserted onto the T-Spine with the leads connecting to the damaged nerve bundle and a "pocket" for the battery created at the hip. Ten days after the surgery, I began to run a fever and experience severe pain and swelling at both surgical sites. I ended up having to go to the emergency room due to my symptoms and was hospitalized for a week with an infection. I was sent home from the hospital with a Picc Line (an internal IV that's placed through the artery in my bicep and travels to the heart) and was on IV antibiotics for eight weeks and oral antibiotics for one.
*During this medical treatment, it was determined that the spinal cord stimulator should be removed so that I could fully recover from the infection. It was removed and I am still in the process of recovering from the infection and continue to have fever on and off, but nothing "high enough" to be re-admitted to the hospital, thankfully!
*Due to the failure of the Spinal Cord Stimulator, I am currently left being told the only option I have is to live with the debilitating pain.
It is our belief that seeing this Spine Specialist is my best chance to finally get my back issues resolved. We hope that having him examine me with a new perspective will offer new diagnoses and treatments that will finally correct the multiple back issues that I face.
We have to move forward in the hope and anticipation of complete and total recovery. Although we know that this will be financially and mentally exhaustive to seek help 6 states away, after three years of unsuccessful treatment, we have sought this Doctor out through sound advice and counsel.
We appreciate any and all donations you can make toward helping this become a reality. My appointment with him is March 8. We would love to have additional funds before we leave for NYC. We have planned to be there the entire week in case he can do some sort of procedure while we're both there. If he cannot do a procedure at that time, I will more than likely stay in New York and Matt will come back to work in Texas. As you can imagine, this is going to be a very expensive venture, but one we must proceed with. We know that through God's grace and any help you can provide, we will more confidently be able to move forward in this endeavor.
Thank you. The words are simple, but the meaning is so deep. Thank you.
Kelli and Matt Redfearn
Organizer
Kelli Newman Redfearn
Organizer
Garland, TX
