Support Kevin's CAP Treatment for TSW Recovery

Hi everyone! My name is Kevin and I am born and raised from Brooklyn, New York City. I recently moved to Thailand in April of 2024 to receive Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) treatment for my Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) condition

What is CAP? Cold atmospheric plasma is a treatment primarily used for chronic wounds and skin healing. It works by dispersing plasma (ionized gas) onto the skin which increases the skin cell proliferation rate and reduces inflammation, while treating bacterial and fungal infections

What is TSW? TSW refers to a myriad of symptoms developed and experienced due to big pharma’s standard treatment protocol of eczema, corticosteroids. I have been taking steroid medication since I was approximately 5 years old, causing a significant amount of skin thinning and resulting in damage to integral body functions

Symptoms typically include but are not limited to erythema / red skin syndrome, edema / swelling of body parts, thermoregulation issues, burning sensations, non stop oozing bleeding and flaking, insomnia, muscle contractions and spasms, zingers (electrocuting sensation), hair loss, hardened skin development, increased susceptibility to infections, weight fluctuations, hormone irregularities, inability to wear clothes, being bed ridden for months, physical pain and nerve pain

These symptoms impact physical health and mental health, driving sufferers into deep depression, drowning them in feelings of self worthlessness, loss of identity, and suicidal thoughts

Despite the severe side effects of these medications, many doctors are largely unaware of TSW or deny its existence altogether, and will even insist on continuing to prescribe more steroids to those already victims of TSW, all while simultaneously gaslighting patients into believing that their suffering is a figment of their imagination. Because the medical and pharmaceutical industries deny the existence of TSW, there is little to no research being conducted to further understand this condition, and therefore no effort towards finding a cure or treatment solution for the suffering

Many of us with TSW feel unseen and unheard as we are rejected by the medical system and the world when we are at our most vulnerable; suffering and desperate for any form of relief. We were betrayed by the very industry and professionals entrusted to protect our health and wellbeing. TSW rips away your health, career, friendships, relationships & love life, your hopes, dreams, and desire to remain living. Many will suffer endlessly with symptoms for years on end with no improvement. Some eventually lose their hope of healing entirely, and many have chosen to end their own lives over continuing to live on with TSW. Most of, if not all TSW sufferers have at one point strongly considered and determined this to be the only viable option

I have been taking topical steroid medication since I was approximately 5 years old and began my TSW healing journey approximately 3 years ago. I was totally unaware of the significant amount of compounding damage these topical steroids were inflicting on my body and of how detrimental a shift TSW would bring to my health and life

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Here are examples of how I was specifically impacted during my first year:

Isolation: For the first 7 months I couldn’t set one foot outside my house because my skin was too tight to walk down the stairs (I live on the second floor). When I was finally able to resume leaving my house, I experienced dizziness for weeks as I wasn’t used to seeing further than a few feet without a wall or object

Motor Ability: Moving any limbs and turning my neck required extensive willpower and mental fortitude to withstand the pain. I largely refused to sit due to the pain (skin stretches when you sit or lay down) and lost feeling in my legs and feet, developing numbness and swelling. Even doing everyday tasks such as brushing my teeth or eating was met with immense amounts of struggle as my movement was restricted

Physical Pain: because my skin was broken and raw, I couldn’t wear clothes without additional pain and spent most of my time without wearing anything. I felt like a raisin with thousands of cuts. Anything touching my skin triggered debilitating amounts of nerve and physical pain, sending sharp, knife-like stabbing sensations throughout my body that felt like it would never end. Even wind from opening the door would sting me because of the open wounds and cuts. Just being alive brought physical pain

Oozing, Bleeding & Flaking: I oozed, bled, and flaked skin nonstop as my wounds refused to close. The ooze and blood prevented me from sitting or laying down due to the sticky discomfort. I shed enough skin daily to cover my entire room and my parents would have to help me sweep daily. It smelled horribly rancid

Hygiene: I was also unable to shower during this period as water contact onto open flesh felt like acid. I was stuck at home with horrible hygiene for months, forced to leave the ooze, blood and flakes running rampant on my body. I couldn’t bend my legs or sit without excruciating pain; and could only use the bathroom standing up. Everyday I looked like, smelt like, and felt like garbage

Thermoregulation Struggle: I never understood or even pondered the importance of thermoregulation in life. With a compromised skin barrier, my body couldn’t regulate temperature and I was left feeling extremely hot and cold simultaneously. I felt like I was coexisting on Antartica and the Sun; my body refused to decide on one extreme. During NYC winters, even through the snowstorms, I had my window open because I decided shivering was the lesser of two evils. Aside from the open wounds and physical & nerve pain, thermoregulation played a vital role in my insomnia

Insomnia: Because of my open wounds, laying horizontal for sleep proved difficult as the open flesh, blood and ooze would act as an adhesive, sticking to my bedsheet and mattress. I had to choose between laying down for sleep and ripping my body off the mattress when waking up, or standing hunched over my bed as a form of “sleep.” I often opted for the latter option. Many instances throughout the night and day, I would lose consciousness and collapse onto the floor due to pure exhaustion from severe lack of sleep. However, even after collapsing, I wouldn’t remain knocked out because the physical & nerve pain would wake me right back up. I averaged between 2-3 hours of accumulated sleep per day

Nerve Pain: The majority of nerve pain for me was passive. It can manifest in an abundance of forms with more than one occupying the body at once. The most prominent form I can only describe as feeling radioactive, and that my body was in a constant state of wanting to violently explode. Nerve pain never turned off for me, and I would be uncontrollably shaking and spazzing throughout the day. It would often cripple me to my hands and knees, having to resort to crawling as my transportation method for the kitchen or bathroom

Zingers: Zingers are one of the more specific, “active” forms of nerve pain; felt as shooting electric sensations throughout the body, as if being electrocuted or struck by lightning. The duration varies each occurrence, usually a few seconds or minutes. Given the extensive amount of steroid abuse on my body, mine would last several minutes (10+). My first zinger experience was about thirty minutes, and when the episode completed, I immediately messaged my friend believing I met God through a divine encounter

Appearance & Physique: All the symptoms contributed to drastic changes to my appearance such as hyperpigmentation (loss / change of skin color resulting in me looking red gray purple), slouching, scarring, and severe face + eye swelling. The most prominent physical change was my body losing 50+ pounds. Fitness was significant in my life and losing all my body mass in addition to having every aspect of my life ripped away contributed to loss of confidence, and identity

Socializing: Because of the isolation and symptoms (both physical and non physical) I struggled immensely in social settings, especially when conversing with people. I had to relearn social cues, talking, and thinking (hindered from insomnia and pain), resulting in me feeling awkward and insecure constantly. I developed social anxiety as a result

After the first year I have experienced improvement. However, these symptoms have continued to come and go at varying degrees over the past years since I began my TSW. Some months the symptoms relax a bit and I can start to introduce normalcy back into my life. Other months the symptoms return near full. Although the body may look close to “normal” the skin and body are still incredibly sensitive, and beneath the surface I am still struggling to endure the symptoms. Luckily, I have found a treatment that works extremely well for TSW, called CAP treatment, which works by increasing your skin's natural healing rate, rebuilding the skin’s original thickness over time. Total treatment time may take months, years, or entire lives, requiring sufferers to relocate until the condition becomes more stable. CAP has been my last hope for getting my health back and will hopefully allow me to salvage any degree of my previous life. I would love to resume hiking, among many other passions as I avidly did prior to TSW

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Here is how TSW has impacted me financially:

TSW has severely interfered with my finances. I’ve spent roughly $40,000 prior to April 2024 to treat my TSW and correlated issues. After discovering CAP treatment in Thailand, I decided to take my savings and leave my home behind for a chance at healing. I’ve been out of work since April 2024, and I am uncertain of when I will be able to return until my health improves. Despite receiving multiple job offers in the past few years, I’ve had to turn everything down in order to prioritize my health, causing me to miss out on promising career opportunities and harming my ability to provide for myself and save for future expenses. Despite all this, I was still adamant against publicly requesting help, as I hate asking for help and wanted to continue handling this journey personally and financially by myself

However, the final catalyst is me being a victim of a robbery in August. My Thailand unit was recently swept of a substantial amount of cash and valuables. I live in a condo with 24/7 zoned security, face scans to enter elevator lobby, additional face scans required in each elevator to press any button, including first floor, door open, door close. In addition, residents are only able to enter the floor they occupy. There are cameras monitoring every floor and hallway. The only people who would have access to my room would be building staff such as juristic office, or my landlord. I have filed a report with local police and this is the furthest extent I’m willing to publicly comment on the situation, as I am afraid of being punished for drawing conclusions outright

Depending on how the next few weeks or months transpire, I may have to return to America earlier than intended due to Thailand Immigration's increased propensity for denying foreigners entry (foreigners are legally required to participate in visa runs, where they periodically exit and return to the country). I was apprehended and interrogated during my last visa run and I am uncertain on the likelihood of another successful visa run. It is still possible for me to receive similar treatment and care in a few select American states (more expensive and not available back home at NYC), which would mean I would be required to upend and relocate my life in search for a new home once again, just to pursue my health and healing. Given my prolonged usage of steroid medication and extensive damage inflicted on my body, I will need maintenance treatments for the foreseeable future

Because of everything that has transpired, I have finally decided to ask for your financial assistance as I recover from TSW and make it through this incredibly uncertain time

Funds accrued from this GoFundMe will be put towards medical treatment & procedures, transportation costs, mandatory visa runs if allowed to remain in Thailand, and possibly purchasing a CAP machine (approximately $30,000 USD)

If you are in a position to donate, I thank you profusely from the bottom of my heart. Any amount helps and would be appreciated enormously. If you are unable to donate, I am grateful you took the time to listen to my story and also wish you well! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks for reading and best wishes!