My life-savers :)
This is the short version of the report that aired in the middle of the afternoon. However, during the nightly news, a nearly 6 minute segment was aired, with additional commentary from newscaster Gregorio Martinez. What he said, and the way he explained my case, really touched my heart and I wish I had a copy of the transcript to share with you.
Basically, what he said that this was a very special report because it was a "feel good" story-- one of happiness, inspiration and hope... and that it was nice to report good news for a change, in the middle of a lot of bad and horrible things that are currently being reported on the news in Monterrey everyday.
He said that this report shows the recovery of a young girl, who thanks to the love, support and prayers of so many in Monterrey and around the world, survived the unimaginable and now has new hope and a new life.
This is the first report on RSD to ever air on Mexican TV and I know from the feedback we have been getting that it has already helped a lot of people to learn about this poorly understood and often misdiagnosed disease.
Well, here is the report... Enjoy!
“TREATMENT IN
MEXICO”- A young woman gets her life back after her nervous system is affected
by a rare disease after a tick bite.
It’s an incredible story—a young woman’s life was completely
changed for years after a tick bite caused her to have serious health problems.
She left the United States
after doctors there said there was nothing more they could do. But here in Monterrey ,
she found a new hope for life thanks to treatment from local doctors.
Main report:
The bite of a tick completely changed Jessica’s life.
Only five years ago she was a healthy young girl, completely
different than what she became.
She became extremely ill and was expected to die.
She was confined to a bed, she couldn’t even tolerate the
touch of her clothing on her skin, any lights, sounds and all contact caused
her to have intolerable pain.
The pain provoked painful skin lesions all over her body.
All of this is the consequence of a disease called
“Distrofia Simpatica Refleja” or R-S-D, as it is called in the United
States .
Doctors believe that the tick bite caused her nervous system
to malfunction, causing her brain to interpret all stimulus as extremely
painful.
Dr. Fernando Cantu: “Therefore, the pain signal enters into
the nervous system in a normal way… However, in these patients, there is an amplification in the way their nervous systems interprets pain.…sensations that a typical person experiences as completely
normal—provokes extreme pain in these patients. It’s very painful.”
In the United States, Jessica and her mother visited hundreds
of doctors. Some recommended amputating her arm, others said that she
was going to die.
Sarah Stevens/Mom: Doctors told me, “We don’t know what your
daughter has…So, I took her to see another doctor.. and then many others. Finally, we found out that she had an illness called Lyme.
Lyme disease is an infection you get from the bite of a tick.”
“But at that time, she was doing very badly. Her immune
system was very low and she couldn’t fight the infection. Because of that, she
developed another illness, called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.”
As a last hope for this young girl, doctors in the United
States said that Jessica would need to
travel to Monterrey Mexico
There she would become part of a protocol, studying the use
of Ketamine, a very powerful and potent anesthetic drug, using very high doses to induce the patient into
a coma.
Dr. Fernando Cantu: “It functions similarly to shutting
down, and re-starting a computer. You shut down the pain receptors, with the
hope that when the treatment is finished, there will be a normal communication
restored between the receptors, and no longer a painful stimulus.”
Now, Jessica’s life is completely different!
Her pain is gone and she can do so many different things.
The hope is that she will one day soon be able to walk again.
Jessica “The Ketamine has been a miracle for me. My lesions
are gone, I can move my legs and I can eat everything!”
Jessica: “I have a new life.”
Vicente Valdez (reporter): “Here at Hospital San Jose, her doctors
are practicing this type of treatment and it is practically the only place in
the world offering the ketamine protocol. This treatment can really offer a new
quality of life to patients who are suffering with this rare disease.
When Jessica is completely recovered she wants to return to Monterrey
to work with the doctors who saved her life and help other patients who have
this disease recover.
--Vicente Valdez, Televisa Monterrey.
At the end of the segment, news reporter Gregorio Martinez came back on and said that for anyone interested in learning more about RSD and helping us with our mission of raising awareness of this disease should go and visit: www.sertefiel.com
Serte Fiel is a new RSD Foundation in Mexico
started by my dear friend Estefy and her incredible parents Jaime and Alma, with the intention to raise awareness and funding for research. Estefy is an amazing 19 year old who has been battling a severe case of RSD for a while now.
Estefy has become a "hermanita", little sister, to me and I thank God that we met and became so close, even though I wish the circumstances were different....
Estefy is currently (ironically) in my old hospital room (aka the"miracle room") She is very strong, but if you could all please keep her in your prayers too, I would appreciate it!
Estefy has become a "hermanita", little sister, to me and I thank God that we met and became so close, even though I wish the circumstances were different....
Me visiting Estefy in my old hospital room
Estefy is currently (ironically) in my old hospital room (aka the"miracle room") She is very strong, but if you could all please keep her in your prayers too, I would appreciate it!
I am also very thankful to my amazing friends, the Marroquin Family- Luis, Susana, Susy, Paulina and Marifer, for sharing my story with Gregorio Martinez and making this interview with Televisa a reality!
They are very special people that we came to know and bond with in Monterrey and I consider them a part of my own family... They even recently came to visit me here in Naples! :)
There are a lot of things I would change about the past rough years, but probably the one and ONLY thing that I would never change are the amazing people who came into my life through these circumstances... They're such a blessing!!!
The amazing Marroquin "kids"
They are very special people that we came to know and bond with in Monterrey and I consider them a part of my own family... They even recently came to visit me here in Naples! :)
With the Marroquin girls down on "The Pier" in Naples!
There are a lot of things I would change about the past rough years, but probably the one and ONLY thing that I would never change are the amazing people who came into my life through these circumstances... They're such a blessing!!!
Dios te bendiga!
Jessica
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