Just as he prepared to graduate from college, Justin started losing weight. He began regurgitating his meals, vomiting most of whatever he ate. His face sunk, his cheekbones protruded. His skin wrapped around his body until he started looking as if he were in an internment camp. Doctors didn’t have answers. When Justin reached the point that he couldn’t hold down any food, they inserted a J-tube—a feeding tube—in him so that food could bypass his stomach. Only, it wasn’t his stomach that was the problem. It was the parasite they hadn’t tested for—the one dwelling in his intestine right where the tube was inserted. When Justin awoke from surgery, he awoke to something even more unbearable. Something hellish. The operation had triggered a pain that spread through his entire body until it incapacitated him. At the age of 26, Justin no longer had the strength to walk—not even to the bathroom. Since 2007, he has lain in a hospital bed in the middle of his parents’ living room, his arms at his sides, his head always facing the same direction. In order to subdue the pain that incapacitates him, Justin takes a daily mixture of heavy pain medication, including narcotics. He has built up such a tolerance to the drugs that the amount he takes on a daily basis would kill anybody else. It took many years until Justin and his family found a doctor who offered an accurate diagnosis. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. CRPS. Only, the doctor didn’t call it that. He called it Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. RSD. Back then, the condition was so misunderstood that it had developed two different names. CRPS/RSD happens when an injury—as minor as a broken finger or as major as surgery—triggers a pain so severe that it is, according to the McGill Pain Index, worse than unprepared childbirth and worse than amputation. The pain typically remains in the region of the injury—usually involving a limb—but in Justin’s case, it spread through his entire body. The pain he has bravely battled for 17 years has been excruciating and constant. With no end. And no cure. But now—finally—Justin is looking forward to getting the rest of his life back through a new form of treatment offered at the Spero Clinic in Fayetteville, Arkansas. This specialized clinic has developed successful treatment for cases of CRPS, freeing its victims from a life of debilitating pain. But the total cost of the treatment—the air ambulance, the medical visits, the lodging—is expensive. Justin and his family need your support! Our goal is to raise enough to allow Justin to complete the treatment he needs at the Spero Clinic, which could last more than six months. Every week of treatment costs $2,000. We are partnering with the Burning Limb Foundation—a 501(c)(3)—as our fundraising platform. 100% of your donation will go directly to Justin’s treatment costs and expenses. All donations are tax-deductible. Your support will help Justin finally get to the other side of this nightmare. And on the other side, he will get to be the one thing that he’s missed being for the past 17 years: Himself. Checks can be made out to:
The Burning Limb Foundation
15652 Wyoming Drive
Frisco, TX 75035
