New Beginning Without Chronic Pain

Betsie is our nearly 25-year-old daughter who has been in constant pain for most of her life.  She has Hypermobile Ehler Danlos Syndrome (EDS-A connective tissue disorder.)  EDS is incurable and originates in the DNA.  It effects the way her body makes collagen, which is the glue which holds her body together.  Her joints pop out of place all the time causing constant chronic pain.  When she walks her toes may pop out of place. Just moving in any way something can pop out of place in her body from her shoulders to her spine to her feet.  Her joints in her fingers move from just using them.  Simply writing can be an excruciating task for her.  At times her rib cage falls out of place and presses into her lungs making it difficult to breath.  Her skin also tears very easily and doesn’t heal properly.  Unfortunately, over time her pain and symptoms have progressively gotten worse.  Some days her pain is so great she is unable to function and has to stay in bed all day or has to use a cane or wheelchair to move from place to place since her pain is so great and she can’t get her joints to pop back into place.  Also, one of many side effects of her EDS is she rarely gets much sleep, especially REM sleep.  Plus, at times she is unable to hold her food down.  EDS also causes her to have other issues such as POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) which affects her heart, and Gastritis which affects what her stomach can handle.  If that is not enough, Betsie has ongoing pain from Endometriosis and has had about six different surgeries so far to try to help it.   For her EDS alone, Betsie sees a Pain Management Doctor regularly, a Rheumatologist, GI, Cardiologist, Chiropractor, and a Physical Therapist to try to keep her EDS at a manageable level.

I am not trying to communicate all of this for people to feel sorry for her, she does not want that, but for an understanding of ALL of Betsie’s challenges.  She takes medication daily, and I help her rub ointments and oils into her body several times a day to help her deal with her pain.  Toward the end of last year her Pain Doctor recommended a Ketamine Infusion Treatment.  It just became available in the Dallas area last year.  (www.kalypsowellness.com)  After her first Ketamine treatment Betsie was overcome with joy.  (See picture!) She had never been in this small amount of pain her entire life.  She cried about the possibility of maybe being able to lead a normal life at some point in her future with continued treatments.  The morning of her first treatment she was in such horrible pain Rob had to pick her up off the bed and carry her to a wheelchair to get her to the car to transport her her her infusion.  The Ketamine results for Betsie have been miraculous!  The bad part is, insurance does not pay for these treatments.  (I don’t understand why because it is used effectively used for pain with people needing anesthesia having surgery and for post-surgery pain PLUS pain treatments for other health issues.  We are hopeful in the next few years insurance will cover it.)

If any of our family or friends would be able to join us to bless Betsie and help her get a year’s worth of Ketamin treatments, we all would be truly thankful!  We have started a Go Fund Me account for her.  We are prayerful through these treatments Betsie can get a fresh start and a new beginning on her life.  The cost per treatment is $575.  An average of two treatments per month for a year is $13,800.  An average of one per month is $6,900.  (She began her treatments with one per week.) Anything you are able to contribute would be a blessing for her.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us any questions and message us.  

 
Thanks so much in advance!