Help a Teacher get the Treatment she needs
Spende geschützt
Lindsay is as genuine as they come and would take a bullet for any one of us reading this. Ironically, while helping our society through the education of the next generation she sustained this life altering injury.
Lindsay’s Story:
7 years ago I was injured by a student while teaching Physical Education.
I had to have surgery to repair my injured thumb. My hand was in excruciating pain after the surgery and my doctor feared I was developing a nervous system condition. After fighting with Workers Compensation (BWC) for 6 months to get the correct tests to figure out what was wrong, my doctor’s fears were correct. I had developed a neurological disease called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). I have been undergoing treatment to cure this condition for the last 6 years, while constantly battling BWC to continue the treatments. Unfortunately it seems they may have finally won, and they will no longer be covering my treatment. So now I must continue this journey on my own, with the help of friends and loved ones. In order to do this I need all the support you can give so I can continue treating myself and prove to the world I will beat this CRPS, and I will run marathons again!
What it is like for Her Family to Watch Her Suffer:
“There is no better friend than a sister. And there is no better sister than you”. -Frozen
Lindsay is my confidante, play-mate, surrogate mom, and most importantly my big sister. I am so truly blessed to have her in my life. She is my biggest cheerleader, and we always played the same sports; swimming, soccer, softball, you name it we played it. Except basketball for me, I was awful at basketball, not for her lack of trying to teach me though. I wanted to be just like her. As Lindsay grew up she stayed active. She started running marathons, and triathlons. She volunteered at Young Life camps on ropes courses, setting up bon-fires and capture the flag fields. She studied to be a Physical Education teacher in college, it was clear she was destined to never be in a cubicle. Then 7 years ago the worst happened. She was diagnosed with CRPS, and BWC was delaying every decision, costing her valuable time and treatment.
I watched my sister go from one of the most active people I knew to being confined to a wheelchair with only the use of her left arm. First her right arm went, starting just in her hand then moving up to just above her elbow. This arm was now off-limits, if you touched it she was in excruciating pain. Then it started showing up in her feet, again moving up her legs to eventually go all the way above both knees. At first she could walk slowly with a cane, and then eventually that became too painful. She was now stuck in a wheelchair waiting for BWC to approve treatments and let her try to heal herself. It’s hard to express how heart-breaking it is to watch someone you love so deeply have their life altered so drastically and not be able to do anything about it. All you can do is let her call you at 12:30am to cry or scream or let out whatever emotion, to just be the best agent of comfort you can, while her world shifts and flips around her. The worst part is I can’t even hug her properly, I can only give her a side hug on the left side of her body, so that I don’t touch any part of her that is affected by the CRPS. Can you imagine having your entire lifestyle taken away from you, moving to a state where you have no family or friends, to undergo medical treatment every day while living in a hotel. Your nursing aids are being covered by BWC so it may not be the most prestigious company around, and you are treated with lack-luster care. Banged into walls causing sores that turn into infections, being left on a bus while smoke piles up inside from a tire catching on fire because the driver has COPD and “can’t help you”. And so many more awful things…and you can’t even be hugged. My heart breaks for her every day.
However through all of this Lindsay has remained strong in her faith in God. She has made positives from negatives, and continues to be a fountain of laughs. For instance she is now ambidextrous, and paints and draws amazing freelance pieces, she’s even sold 1 or 2. She has always remembered family birthdays, and other special days and makes sure to reach out to people to show them her love. She has bonded with a couple of her nurses aids and enjoyed marathoning TV shows with them, and teaching them some of the finer aspects and rules of Football (a true Midwest girl). And so Lindsay is my hero, a role model, and amazes me everyday. Now with this GoFund Me campaign I, and my family, can finally help her, we can show her hope, and we can be the strength she needs to finally kick CRPS’s butt!
We can’t do this alone though. We need your help, your love, your prayers, and especially your support in whatever way you can to help Lindsay continue her treatments. I love my big sister, and if you knew her you would too.
“Lord help the Mister, who comes between me and my sister” – White Christmas
-Chelsea Skalski
Why Lindsay's Friends Told Her to Set up this Page:
Lindsay is one of the most encouraging, faithful friends I have ever met and even in the midst of excruciating disease and suffering, and needing to complete medical treatment away from home, she cares deeply for every friend God has ever brought into her life. She prays for these friends from afar and looks for specific ways she can encourage them- art, humor, you name it.
Seeing a triathlete become wheelchair bound, experience skin infections so brutal that they had to be surgically removed, and require 24 hour a day care because her body has shut down so severely has been excruciating to watch- and that’s not even mentioning the pain itself which Lindsay describes below.
I have seen prayers for miracles answered by the way the Scrambler treatment finally, finally changed her trajectory and started to solve the pain that seemed hopeless. However, her BWC is refusing to continue treatment right now at the juncture where it is needed most. I have been astounded by Lindsay’s resilience and perseverance in this journey. She has done her part and then some to do everything requested by her worker’s compensation company and make major life sacrifices (moving out of state and away from family, living in temporary housing, even being mistreated by aides sometimes because that’s all the BWC would provide.) To be told by the BWC it’s hopeless to get better so she should just give up on trying, and to endure torturous pain for months because of BWC bureaucratic delays to try to get out of paying for something...what a horrible way to add insult to injury.
I have often prayed “show us how to help her in this journey” and I believe this is our chance to step up and not need to be helpless anymore - there’s a very specific way we can help at such a time as this where her progress will be dramatically impacted based on whether or not there’s a delay in continuing treatment, and it's time for us to join together to make a meaningful impact!
-Jill Rainwater
What is CRPS:
Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, aka CRPS. It is a very painful and debilitating disease. Basically my brain and nerves are not on the same wavelength. My nerves are telling my brain I am injured even though I am not. So my brain tries to fix a problem that isn’t there so my body is attacking itself. My right arm and both legs are affected. I constantly feel like I have a boa constrictor that has been dipped in broken glass, nails and knives wrapped around my affected areas and it keeps squeezing tighter and tighter. At the same time I’m either being hung over a bonfire pit or stuck in a freezer and there is nothing I can do to get rid of the pain. If I get touched or bumped I’m in excruciating pain. There are truly no words to describe the intensity of this pain.
Why MC-5A Scrambler Device?
I have tried every other medical treatment that is known to treat CRPS and none of them have helped. Some of them have made it worse. I have tried many types of physical therapy several times, had multiple ganglion stellate blocks, bilateral sympathetic nerve blocks, inter-stellate ganglion catheter with ropivaccaine drip, a spinal cord stimulator trial and a plethora of every medication you can imagine to try to treat this. I have been treated by many doctors and facilities on the cutting edge of treatment through out the world. Most of them scratch their heads and say things like, “Hmm that should have worked but she isn’t responding” or “I tried everything I know how to do. I don’t know what else I can do for you.”
The MC-5A scrambler device is used for chronic pain. It has no side effects like all the other injections and treatments I have already tried. The device trains your nerves and brain to communicate properly again. It replaces the bad pain signal my body is stuck in by electrically sending a “good pain” signal to the nerves so they learn to send the correct signal to my brain again. It is done by placing electrical pads on dermatome areas on the body. The device sends up to 5milliamps of electrical current through the body using it’s electrical algorithm to reset the central and peripheral nervous system.
When I started to use the MC-5A scrambler device in Rhode Island it was the first time in this pain journey that I made progress. The level of pain I feel goes down when I was hooked to the device. I was so happy I found something that was finally working. I have stage 3 CRPS and the worst case that my doctors have ever scene. While my progress has been slow I continue to make progress. In the last two months my body is at a tipping point and has been progressing faster and relief is lasting longer. This device and treatment is the only way to get rid of my pain and reclaim my life. Here is a link to explain the machine better. Yes, it does say typically a person is "healed" in two-three weeks, however due to the extreme nature of my condition, I am not typical and need the treatment much longer. As I said I continue to make progress.
MC-5A TECHNOLOGY
Why BWC is Denying Treatment:
My current doctors believe the MC-5A scrambler device is working the best it has and is the answer to my condition. They do not want me to stop treatment but that is not up to me. Since my condition came about because I was injured at work BWC is the one controlling my treatment options. They agree that I have gotten better with the device but not quick enough. The treatment is expensive and they do not want to continue paying for it. They want me to try another program that combines physical therapy and psychology together to try and take back control of my pain. I have already tried physical therapy multiple times without something to help manage the pain and all it does is make my CRPS worse. I am also currently participating in psychology programs. BWC wants to find a program that will be cheaper. They also want a quick fix. This condition is complicated and every doctor will tell you there are no quick fixes and when you find something that works for the patient then they should continue doing it.
Every step of the way BWC has denied helping me. It took 9 months before I could have surgery. It took 6 months to get diagnosed with CRPS. It took another 5 months before I could start getting any type of treatment for CRPS. Every time I ask for a new treatment it gets denied. I have to appeal it with my lawyer. I have had multiple exams put together by BWC where their doctors have said I was making it all up in my head in an attempt to not fund treatment, (See attached pictures to show how there is no way I am making this up). I have had to have at least a dozen hearings with BWC judges where I’ve had to prove myself time and time again. They have fought me the entire way. It is widely known that the sooner you can get treatment the better chance you have to quickly get better. Due to the many delays by BWC my condition continued to get worse. If they would have agreed in the beginning I may not be in this position today. This is why I need to continue with the treatment that has been giving me improvement, and not allow their latest delay to prevent me from crossing the tipping point my doctors believe I’m finally at. My pain levels in one foot, for example, are decreasing for the first time ever since the original injury.
Why GoFundMe:
It will cost a total of $55,000 for Lindsay to finish this final stage of treatment on the MC-5A scrambler device. While that seems like an astronomical amount, in the grand scheme of things it’s very small compared to the cost of chronic care if she concludes treatment before it’s complete. While BWC continues their delay and scare tactics, we as friends and family have the opportunity to step forward and cover as much of this as we can so that she can continue making progress. Her doctors believe delaying it or canceling it could be catastrophic and cause a 180 in her trajectory, which is finally heading forward and growing in speed of improvement. Let’s deliver hope, care and the golden rule to Lindsay in the way of practical help. We have the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ to a sister in need and I believe every dollar given is going to send a message that she is not in this alone (and won’t be in debt for the rest of her life by deciding to finish her needed treatment now while it will still actually work- she shouldn’t have to carry that burden and debt alone). Can you please give what you are able, and share Lindsay’s story with those you know who will agree that, as fellow human beings, we need to help each through trauma and tragedy and offer hope for a future? I for one can’t wait to see how Lindsay will use the second lease on life she’ll be given when she finishes treatment and has the energy to help others in the way she desires to again. The world is a better place with her in it!
Lindsay Before CRPS:
The Progression of CRPS on her body:
Lindsay’s Story:
7 years ago I was injured by a student while teaching Physical Education.
I had to have surgery to repair my injured thumb. My hand was in excruciating pain after the surgery and my doctor feared I was developing a nervous system condition. After fighting with Workers Compensation (BWC) for 6 months to get the correct tests to figure out what was wrong, my doctor’s fears were correct. I had developed a neurological disease called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). I have been undergoing treatment to cure this condition for the last 6 years, while constantly battling BWC to continue the treatments. Unfortunately it seems they may have finally won, and they will no longer be covering my treatment. So now I must continue this journey on my own, with the help of friends and loved ones. In order to do this I need all the support you can give so I can continue treating myself and prove to the world I will beat this CRPS, and I will run marathons again!
What it is like for Her Family to Watch Her Suffer:
“There is no better friend than a sister. And there is no better sister than you”. -Frozen
Lindsay is my confidante, play-mate, surrogate mom, and most importantly my big sister. I am so truly blessed to have her in my life. She is my biggest cheerleader, and we always played the same sports; swimming, soccer, softball, you name it we played it. Except basketball for me, I was awful at basketball, not for her lack of trying to teach me though. I wanted to be just like her. As Lindsay grew up she stayed active. She started running marathons, and triathlons. She volunteered at Young Life camps on ropes courses, setting up bon-fires and capture the flag fields. She studied to be a Physical Education teacher in college, it was clear she was destined to never be in a cubicle. Then 7 years ago the worst happened. She was diagnosed with CRPS, and BWC was delaying every decision, costing her valuable time and treatment.
I watched my sister go from one of the most active people I knew to being confined to a wheelchair with only the use of her left arm. First her right arm went, starting just in her hand then moving up to just above her elbow. This arm was now off-limits, if you touched it she was in excruciating pain. Then it started showing up in her feet, again moving up her legs to eventually go all the way above both knees. At first she could walk slowly with a cane, and then eventually that became too painful. She was now stuck in a wheelchair waiting for BWC to approve treatments and let her try to heal herself. It’s hard to express how heart-breaking it is to watch someone you love so deeply have their life altered so drastically and not be able to do anything about it. All you can do is let her call you at 12:30am to cry or scream or let out whatever emotion, to just be the best agent of comfort you can, while her world shifts and flips around her. The worst part is I can’t even hug her properly, I can only give her a side hug on the left side of her body, so that I don’t touch any part of her that is affected by the CRPS. Can you imagine having your entire lifestyle taken away from you, moving to a state where you have no family or friends, to undergo medical treatment every day while living in a hotel. Your nursing aids are being covered by BWC so it may not be the most prestigious company around, and you are treated with lack-luster care. Banged into walls causing sores that turn into infections, being left on a bus while smoke piles up inside from a tire catching on fire because the driver has COPD and “can’t help you”. And so many more awful things…and you can’t even be hugged. My heart breaks for her every day.
However through all of this Lindsay has remained strong in her faith in God. She has made positives from negatives, and continues to be a fountain of laughs. For instance she is now ambidextrous, and paints and draws amazing freelance pieces, she’s even sold 1 or 2. She has always remembered family birthdays, and other special days and makes sure to reach out to people to show them her love. She has bonded with a couple of her nurses aids and enjoyed marathoning TV shows with them, and teaching them some of the finer aspects and rules of Football (a true Midwest girl). And so Lindsay is my hero, a role model, and amazes me everyday. Now with this GoFund Me campaign I, and my family, can finally help her, we can show her hope, and we can be the strength she needs to finally kick CRPS’s butt!
We can’t do this alone though. We need your help, your love, your prayers, and especially your support in whatever way you can to help Lindsay continue her treatments. I love my big sister, and if you knew her you would too.
“Lord help the Mister, who comes between me and my sister” – White Christmas
-Chelsea Skalski
Why Lindsay's Friends Told Her to Set up this Page:
Lindsay is one of the most encouraging, faithful friends I have ever met and even in the midst of excruciating disease and suffering, and needing to complete medical treatment away from home, she cares deeply for every friend God has ever brought into her life. She prays for these friends from afar and looks for specific ways she can encourage them- art, humor, you name it.
Seeing a triathlete become wheelchair bound, experience skin infections so brutal that they had to be surgically removed, and require 24 hour a day care because her body has shut down so severely has been excruciating to watch- and that’s not even mentioning the pain itself which Lindsay describes below.
I have seen prayers for miracles answered by the way the Scrambler treatment finally, finally changed her trajectory and started to solve the pain that seemed hopeless. However, her BWC is refusing to continue treatment right now at the juncture where it is needed most. I have been astounded by Lindsay’s resilience and perseverance in this journey. She has done her part and then some to do everything requested by her worker’s compensation company and make major life sacrifices (moving out of state and away from family, living in temporary housing, even being mistreated by aides sometimes because that’s all the BWC would provide.) To be told by the BWC it’s hopeless to get better so she should just give up on trying, and to endure torturous pain for months because of BWC bureaucratic delays to try to get out of paying for something...what a horrible way to add insult to injury.
I have often prayed “show us how to help her in this journey” and I believe this is our chance to step up and not need to be helpless anymore - there’s a very specific way we can help at such a time as this where her progress will be dramatically impacted based on whether or not there’s a delay in continuing treatment, and it's time for us to join together to make a meaningful impact!
-Jill Rainwater
What is CRPS:
Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, aka CRPS. It is a very painful and debilitating disease. Basically my brain and nerves are not on the same wavelength. My nerves are telling my brain I am injured even though I am not. So my brain tries to fix a problem that isn’t there so my body is attacking itself. My right arm and both legs are affected. I constantly feel like I have a boa constrictor that has been dipped in broken glass, nails and knives wrapped around my affected areas and it keeps squeezing tighter and tighter. At the same time I’m either being hung over a bonfire pit or stuck in a freezer and there is nothing I can do to get rid of the pain. If I get touched or bumped I’m in excruciating pain. There are truly no words to describe the intensity of this pain.
Why MC-5A Scrambler Device?
I have tried every other medical treatment that is known to treat CRPS and none of them have helped. Some of them have made it worse. I have tried many types of physical therapy several times, had multiple ganglion stellate blocks, bilateral sympathetic nerve blocks, inter-stellate ganglion catheter with ropivaccaine drip, a spinal cord stimulator trial and a plethora of every medication you can imagine to try to treat this. I have been treated by many doctors and facilities on the cutting edge of treatment through out the world. Most of them scratch their heads and say things like, “Hmm that should have worked but she isn’t responding” or “I tried everything I know how to do. I don’t know what else I can do for you.”
The MC-5A scrambler device is used for chronic pain. It has no side effects like all the other injections and treatments I have already tried. The device trains your nerves and brain to communicate properly again. It replaces the bad pain signal my body is stuck in by electrically sending a “good pain” signal to the nerves so they learn to send the correct signal to my brain again. It is done by placing electrical pads on dermatome areas on the body. The device sends up to 5milliamps of electrical current through the body using it’s electrical algorithm to reset the central and peripheral nervous system.
When I started to use the MC-5A scrambler device in Rhode Island it was the first time in this pain journey that I made progress. The level of pain I feel goes down when I was hooked to the device. I was so happy I found something that was finally working. I have stage 3 CRPS and the worst case that my doctors have ever scene. While my progress has been slow I continue to make progress. In the last two months my body is at a tipping point and has been progressing faster and relief is lasting longer. This device and treatment is the only way to get rid of my pain and reclaim my life. Here is a link to explain the machine better. Yes, it does say typically a person is "healed" in two-three weeks, however due to the extreme nature of my condition, I am not typical and need the treatment much longer. As I said I continue to make progress.
MC-5A TECHNOLOGY
Why BWC is Denying Treatment:
My current doctors believe the MC-5A scrambler device is working the best it has and is the answer to my condition. They do not want me to stop treatment but that is not up to me. Since my condition came about because I was injured at work BWC is the one controlling my treatment options. They agree that I have gotten better with the device but not quick enough. The treatment is expensive and they do not want to continue paying for it. They want me to try another program that combines physical therapy and psychology together to try and take back control of my pain. I have already tried physical therapy multiple times without something to help manage the pain and all it does is make my CRPS worse. I am also currently participating in psychology programs. BWC wants to find a program that will be cheaper. They also want a quick fix. This condition is complicated and every doctor will tell you there are no quick fixes and when you find something that works for the patient then they should continue doing it.
Every step of the way BWC has denied helping me. It took 9 months before I could have surgery. It took 6 months to get diagnosed with CRPS. It took another 5 months before I could start getting any type of treatment for CRPS. Every time I ask for a new treatment it gets denied. I have to appeal it with my lawyer. I have had multiple exams put together by BWC where their doctors have said I was making it all up in my head in an attempt to not fund treatment, (See attached pictures to show how there is no way I am making this up). I have had to have at least a dozen hearings with BWC judges where I’ve had to prove myself time and time again. They have fought me the entire way. It is widely known that the sooner you can get treatment the better chance you have to quickly get better. Due to the many delays by BWC my condition continued to get worse. If they would have agreed in the beginning I may not be in this position today. This is why I need to continue with the treatment that has been giving me improvement, and not allow their latest delay to prevent me from crossing the tipping point my doctors believe I’m finally at. My pain levels in one foot, for example, are decreasing for the first time ever since the original injury.
Why GoFundMe:
It will cost a total of $55,000 for Lindsay to finish this final stage of treatment on the MC-5A scrambler device. While that seems like an astronomical amount, in the grand scheme of things it’s very small compared to the cost of chronic care if she concludes treatment before it’s complete. While BWC continues their delay and scare tactics, we as friends and family have the opportunity to step forward and cover as much of this as we can so that she can continue making progress. Her doctors believe delaying it or canceling it could be catastrophic and cause a 180 in her trajectory, which is finally heading forward and growing in speed of improvement. Let’s deliver hope, care and the golden rule to Lindsay in the way of practical help. We have the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ to a sister in need and I believe every dollar given is going to send a message that she is not in this alone (and won’t be in debt for the rest of her life by deciding to finish her needed treatment now while it will still actually work- she shouldn’t have to carry that burden and debt alone). Can you please give what you are able, and share Lindsay’s story with those you know who will agree that, as fellow human beings, we need to help each through trauma and tragedy and offer hope for a future? I for one can’t wait to see how Lindsay will use the second lease on life she’ll be given when she finishes treatment and has the energy to help others in the way she desires to again. The world is a better place with her in it!
Lindsay Before CRPS:
The Progression of CRPS on her body:
Organisator
Lindsay Skalski
Organisator
Cincinnati, OH