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My name is Patricia Lynch and I would like to start this off by thanking all of the Dr's, nurses, and family and friends who have tried to help me through this almost unbearable ordeal of what has become my life in the last nine years. I also would like to thank you, Dr Kirkpatrick and Dr Cantu for even considering me for the research program with the Ketamine coma in Monterrey, Mexico.
Throughout my life I had always been active with either playing different sports,
In March of 2001 the Dr gave me an injection of Cortisone in my shoulder. When I woke up the next morning, my entire right arm, hand and chest were hot to touch & swollen. The Dr said I had developed a cellulitis. A couple of days later when I woke up in the morning my entire right arm was purple. When I saw the Dr a couple of days later, he told me that I had RSD but not to worry cause it would be gone within 6 months. He also told me to see an Anesthesiologist for some nerve blocks. I had several series of Stellate Ganglion Nerve blocks but the relief did not last long at all.
In April of 2002, the Anesthesiologist told me that a cervical spinal cord stimulator would give me better relief of my pain so I had that implanted. It gave me better & longer periods of relief of my pain than the nerve blocks had for a while but eventually I was again receiving nerve blocks along with the stimulation. I continued to work a full-time job as well as a part-time one in the hopes of it taking the pain off of my mind. It seemed to work for a while until I started to have the same burning, stabbing pain along with the purple discoloration of my skin in both of my legs sometime in 2003. I had several tests done with no answer, but once again I was diagnosed with RSD in my legs based on the same symptoms I was having as I had had in early 2001. I had several series of nerve blocks and epidurals with no lasting relief, so once again I had a lumbar spinal cord stimulator implanted in January 2004 in the hopes of some relief.
In the later part of 2005, I began having extreme pain in my lower back and the lumbar spinal cord stimulator seemed to make that pain worse when it was on. I had started receiving epidurals and nerve blocks quite frequently at that point. In September 2006 the pain at this point was unbearable and I had to realize that I was not able to work as a nurse anymore. I applied for Social Security Disability and was awaiting an answer. I also began seeing a Neurologist named Dr Gulevski at Dr Schwartzman's office in Philadelphia. I started with the 6 month course of outpatient ketamine infusions with good relief but that relief didn't last long. I then started receiving booster infusions of Ketamine every so often. In April 2007 I had a mylogram done that showed herniated disks in 2 different areas of my back. I now knew the reason why the lumbar spinal cord stimulator made the pain worse in my back when it was on. In the middle of 2007, Dr Gulevski left the practice and my care was transferred to Dr Schwartzman. I began having burning pain and skin discoloration in my entire left arm and difficulty swallowing, migraines, difficulty taking deep breathes, difficulty remembering things, etc. Dr Schwartzman told me that I now had total body RSD.
In 2008, Dr Schwartzman told me that I was going to be placed on the waiting list for the Ketamine coma because the out-patient Ketamine was no longer going to help me. I had a week of out-patient Ketamine to see if it could hopefully calm the RSD down in February, 2009. In September 2009 Dr Schwartzman referred me to Dr Kirkpatrick & went to see him in October 2009. Dr Kirkpatrick did his own exam and agreed with Dr Schwartzman that I would benefit from the Ketamine coma research in Monterrey, Mexico.
I am so looking forward to hopefully some kind of permanent relief from this never-ending pain related to this RSD so I can get back to my normal life with my husband and 2 children. My entire family and even my friends have been through so much because of this disease and I appreciate so much everything they have done to help me. I will never be able to thank all of you enough but I can try. Patrcia Lynch Pennsylvania USA November 18, 2009
Pre-coma Evaluation ~ 12 minutes ~ 340K
6 Week Post-coma Evaluation ~ 16 minutes ~ 340K
8-Month Post-coma 6-minutes 340K
POST-COMA PAIN THRESHOLDS ... Learn More
POST 3-DAY OUTPATIENT KETAMINE TREATMENT PAIN THRESHOLDS January 8, 2010
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walking for exercise or just playing around with my kid until the end of 2000, beginning of 2001. In December 2000 I was cleaning my downstairs bathroom & when I leaned in to clean the inside of the sliding glass doors I fell in the tub and injured my right shoulder. When I went to see the Orthopedic Dr I was told to do Physical Therapy. I started Physical Therapy but the entire time my pain seemed to increase not decrease.