Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Meeting the First Lady!!!!!!!!!!!

**Please check out the FOX4 news report that aired last night!! Reporter Patrick Nolan did a fantastic job and I am really happy with the result! I can't believe tonight I will be meeting Michelle Obama!






I have REALLY amazing news to share!!

I received an amazing phone call yesterday!! The area code on my phone read “D.C USA” and on the other end of the line was a woman named Mabel, calling to invite me as an honorary guest to a special fundraising dinner, this Friday night, at a fancy hotel here in Naples--- to meet President Obama's wife-- Mrs. Michelle Obama!! 

I was so shocked and excited that I didn’t even know what to say.

We talked for a little while about RSD and my story, and Mabel said to me “I see your treatment took place in Monterrey, Mexico?” I said, “Yes. At Hospital San Jose Tec”—she proceeded to tell me that she was BORN in Monterrey—and at Hospital San Jose!!?!

Coincidence?! Definitely not!

I strongly believe God makes these types of connections for us and I am certain that He orchestrated this meeting! I am beyond grateful to have this chance to meet Michelle Obama and to have the opportunity to share with her my story, raise awareness, and hopefully help push toward my goal of insurance coverage and approval for using the ketamine treatments-- and coma-- here in the United States, so that so many who are suffering with this horrible illness can benefit too. I feel like my life was saved so that I can be the voice for many.

I will definitely update everyone and post some pictures as soon as possible!!

I am so excited!!!


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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Airdate for channel 4 interview & Happy 21st Katherine!

Hi everyone!

As I mentioned, a few weeks ago Patrick Nolan, from FOX4 came to interview me about my journey, my treatment and my amazing recovery.

I just found out that it will be airing next Thursday (April 26th) at 10pm! So for everyone who is local in the Cape Coral/Ft.Myers/Naples area- please tune in and watch it! I hope it will raise a lot of awareness!

I believe they have a 'live feed' on their website as well-
http://www.fox4now.com/

I will definitely post a link to it here as soon as I have one!


Yesterday was a big day here in the Stevens’ household...

On April 17th, 21 years ago, my life changed dramatically—Katherine was born and I became a big sister! Though I have no actual recollection of that day, it was—hands down—one of the best days of my life.

Don't I just look SO happy?! :)

From the minute Katherine entered the world she has been a strong force in my life. Even though we annoyed each other and fought (a lot!), I know God knew just the type of sister I would need to help me through the hard times ahead….I never would have made it through the past few years without her humor and constant smile!

I feel extremely blessed to get to celebrate her special day and have her first 'legal' drink alongside her! Today and every day, I am so proud to call her my “little” sister.


HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY KATHERINE!!



God bless!

Jessica


*Also, FOX/WSVN Miami’s “Jessica’s Journey” report is now on YouTube. I can’t believe my other one, “Counting on a Coma” has nearly 100,000 views!!*





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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Exciting news!!!!! & Happy Easter!!!

Hola!

I am sorry for the lack of updates on here! I’ve been very busy! I seriously don’t know where the times goes.

I feel like my new life at home is running at around 90mph!! My life in Mexico ran at about 10mph (sometimes much slower) … I think I am probably comfortable at around 40…so it’s been a HUGE change and adjustment for me (and my mom), everyday, just getting used to the craziness and chaos of home life.

However, it is a wonderful chaos and I am blessed to be able to keep up with everyone and all of the excitement that I am experiencing over every new thing I get to do!!

Like going out for ice cream!! Going shopping for the first time in 6 years!!

Going to the beach!!Watching the sunset!!

Another successful fundraiser was held in my honor at the Marco Lutheran Church by our wonderful friends, Nancy and Joe! It was a lot of fun to get to see and thank some of the people who made my recovery possible in person!

As I re-adjust to American life, Mexico is still very much a part of me (after all, I am Mexican after the many blood transfusions I had there ;) In everything I do and every moment of joy I experience I always carry Dr. Cantu and my Mexican family in my heart… I am reminded of them everyday, in various ways!

I even made the local paper!!

“Miracle in Mexico?”… Yes. Absolutely!

The response to my FOX TV “Jessica’s Journey” interview has been overwhelming and incredible!

*Watch it here: http://www.wsvn.com/features/articles/specialreport/MI94660/jessica-s-journey/ *

I’ve gotten so many emails and messages from others who are suffering, or have a family member who is, from organizations and foundations wanting me to speak at conferences, and even from doctors who are treating this disease in various ways, asking about my experiences.

Definitely, the most exciting email I received was from the producers at Good Morning America, saying that they had watched my story and were interested in doing an interview on GMA!!

We later spoke by phone and were told that they thought the story was too big for GMA, and that there were several producers who wanted to pursue a larger 1 hour primetime ‘medical mystery’ special!!

….On national TV!!!

This is something I never could have imagined doing, but something that I am very excited about because I know what a terrific opportunity this is to raise awareness of RSD , while sharing my story of hope, faith and miracles.

This is SO much more than just “my” story…. Some of the strongest and most amazing people I have met through this journey are my fellow warriors who are suffering in tremendous pain… this is their story too!

My prayer to God before going to Mexico was that if I made it through this treatment and recovered, I would use my experience to help others….

God was so faithful to his end of that deal, and it is my turn to hold up to my end by being the voice for us all! If through these interviews, I can do that, it will be an honor and great privilege.

It is my mission now to first and foremost raise awareness of RSD and to bring awareness both publicly and in the medical community of the use of ketamine in its treatment.

I will let everyone know where this leads once I have more details!

Also, yesterday I filmed a TV interview with Patrick Nolan from FOX Channel 4 (Cape Coral/Ft.Myers/Naples), it will be airing in a few weeks! I will keep everyone updated and post a link to it once it airs!

As long as God continues to open the doors for me to tell my story, I will continue to tell it.

Above all, this is the story of a mighty God who heals, restores and saves! I think now, especially at Easter, it is so important to take time to remember the huge sacrifice that was made for us all. He loves us more than we can even imagine and He always has a plan, as hard as it is to see at the time.

This Easter is my first one spent at home, with my family, healthy and not in a hospital in SIX YEARS! I plan to celebrate the day by doing what I love most--- LIVING!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful and very blessed and happy Easter!! Thanks for checking in!


In God’s amazing love,

Jessica


PS- Molly wishes everyone a very Happy Easter too!


Jesus had no servants, yet they called him Master…

He had no degrees, yet they called him Teacher…

He had no medicine, yet they called him Healer…

He had no army, yet kings feared Him…

He won no military battles, yet conquered the world…

He committed no crime, yet they crucified him…

He was buried in a tomb, yet he LIVES today!!


HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

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Friday, March 16, 2012

FOX News TV Interview!!

Hi everyone!!

A few weeks ago medical reporter Angela Caraway from WSVN Fox News in Miami came to my home and filmed an update on my life-saving treatment in Mexico and my amazing recovery!! It is an update to the original "Counting on a Coma" report that was done before I left to undergo the Ketamine Coma.

"Jessica's Journey" aired last night in Miami, and will be airing locally this week (Florida) and hopefully nationally, very soon!

As you can imagine, it was incredibly hard to tell a 2.5 year story in only a 4 minute news segment, but they did a wonderful job editing, and I am very happy with the result!

I truly hope it will increase awareness of RSD, and to anyone else suffering with this...There is HOPE!

Here is the link:


Let me know what you think :)


God bless!

Love, Jessica







"...For NOTHING is impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)


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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

My amazing journey continues- My video update with Dr. K!

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share this positive update with you all!

This past week we drove up to Tampa to see Dr. Kirkpatrick, who is the director of the RSD/CRPS Treatment Center & Research Institute. He is the doctor who originally evaluated me back in July 2009 before going to Mexico.

At that time, I was 21 years old and I was near death. I had skin lesions covering my entire body, I was being fed thru a feeding tube, I could not sit up or move my legs. RSD/CRPS had invaded every part of my body and I was in horrendous burning pain, all of the time,

I had no hope, and we had been told by many doctors that there was no treatment that could save me.

Dr. Kirkpatrick restored our hope that day by telling us that he was going to send me to Monterrey Mexico to be a part of the Ketamine coma study. My very last hope for survival.

2 weeks later I went to Monterrey, where due to many twists and turns, I stayed for 2.5 years.

Needless to say, Dr. Kirkpatrick was very shocked to see me now! He didn’t even recognize me! – without any sunglasses, or headphones, sitting up, without lesions or feeding tubes… and about 30 pounds heavier! He was very happy!

Dr. K's 'ladies' (Karen, Mary & Sanela) were also very excited and happy to see me doing so well!

My mom presented Dr. K with his very own “Ketamine bear”, a tradition she began in Mexico, making them for all the other coma patients we met in the hospital!

He loved it!

It’s just a small way of showing our appreciation for the chance that he gave me by sending me to Monterrey to be treated by the incredible Dr. Cantu, whose dedication to my recovery made this a reality!

Through my illness, I have been blessed to experience so many miracles, of various types—but among them all, being led to Dr. Cantu "Dr. Green Shirt" ranks most highly on that list!

He is my hero, my angel and my ‘mexican godfather’. :)

(Be sure to see my special message to Dr. Green Shirt at the end of my 'part 2' video! :)

Dr. Kirkpatrick, thank you for your continued dedication to research for RSD/CRPS and for being a doctor who is willing to treat ‘out of the box’ patients, like myself… even if it means using ‘experimental’ treatments, outside of the country, to restore our hope and give us a future.

The treatment and care that I received with Dr. Cantu in Mexico saved my life, and I am so thankful to every doctor who cared for me and kept me alive long enough so that I could have the chance to be a part of this research study, which for me, was life-saving!


As part of the Ketamine Coma research study, Dr. Kirkpatrick puts together videos of each patient, to provide education about RSD/CRPS and to show the progression of the disease before and after the coma study.

These are my videos. Part 1 is from July 2009, before going to Mexico. Part 2 is from last week!


VIDEOS

View Jessica's Remarkable Recovery in 2-Part Video

Part 1- Pre-Coma Evaluation

http://www.rsdfoundation.org/en/jessica1.htm

Part 2- Clinical Outcome

http://www.rsdfoundation.org/en/jessica2.htm


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE." ~Jeremiah 29:11~

I am forever thankful to everyone who has been a part of my hope for the future!


MUCHAS GRACIAS!! Que Dios te bendiga siempre!!

In God's love,

Jessica


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Jessica's Journey to Getting Her Life Back
By Sarah Gina (Jessica's Mom)


As we begin this journey toward renewed health we would like to express our sincere heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick and all the work he has done and continues to do in order to bring patients like my daughter Jessica back to a more meaningful life and restored from this devastating illness. Also, special thanks to Dr. Fernando Cantu and his team of doctors in Mexico for taking on a difficult case like my daughters, Words cannot express the renewed sense of hope that we have that one day, our Jessica, can regain her life that has been taken away from her – God Bless you all!

Jessica’s Story

Once an A+ student who loved school, was involved in many extracurricular activities, played varsity tennis, lacrosse and gymnastics and enjoyed spending time with her family and friends, our daughter Jessica has spent the last 3 years incapacitated, paralyzed, unable to sit or walk and eat. She spends her days confined to a hospital bed, wearing sunglasses and noise-canceling headphones, due to severe light and sound sensitivity.

Jessica and her sisters, 2 mos. before becoming ill

The pain she feels is indescribable and all attempted treatments have not even come close to relieving her suffering.

She has seen many doctors, undergone numerous painful tests and procedures, has been prescribed various medications, and has been hospitalized frequently including being intubated and on a ventilator. She is severely debilitated and currently is only 92 pounds. This is certainly no life for a 21 year old young woman!

Jessica is suffering from neurologic Lyme disease and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a severely debilitating and painful neuromuscular disorder. She suffers daily with constant sharp, stabbing, tingling and burning pain; throughout her body; severe headaches; paralysis; intense muscle spasms; gastroparesis; seizures; twisting of her limbs (dystonia); sensitivity to any touch (allodynia); extreme sensitivity to lights and sounds; excessive sweating; swelling; fevers; softening of bones; decreased hair growth; redness and discoloration of the limbs; and painful skin ulcers. The pain is constant and unrelenting, but despite her suffering, her faith in God remains and she still has hope for her future.

Jessica's painful skin lesions

Jessica's journey began in 1999, when she was only 11 years old. She became very ill with Mono and was bed bound for 3 months. She subsequently developed RSD (stage 1) of the lower right leg. She received early intervention and returned to playing sports and enjoying her life.

Jessica, age 15, at summer camp

Four years later, in 2003, while away at a sleep-away camp, she developed a rash behind her right knee, coincidentally in the same leg that previously had RSD!

At the time, the camps nurse & doctor told her that it was “duck rash” – a rash from swimming in the lake with duck feces. However, Jessica was able to obtain photos from camp from another camper which shows the classic “bulls-eye” rash from Lyme disease! It wasn’t until much later and only after developing symptoms and becoming very ill, was the diagnosis of Lyme disease and Babesiosis (another tick-borne infection) made.

Most people (and doctors!) have no idea how serious Lyme disease can become and no clue how to properly diagnose it. Unfortunately, if she would have been promptly diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease, the RSD would not have been triggered and she would not be suffering.

July 2003, Jessica's Lyme disease rash

If it wasn’t for her doctor, Dr. Liegner, and his expertise with complex cases of Lyme, and his determination to try any means in getting her well, by getting a “team” of doctors on her case, we wouldn’t be here today, still fighting. We owe him a deep sense of gratitude for all he does for Jessica!

During these past three years and with the pain becoming more intense and unbearable she has been seeing Dr. Finkelstein for pain management. He has even made house calls to spare her the pain of coming by ambulance to his office. Jessica has been treated with multiple pain medications, at the highest possible doses, as well as an implanted dilaudid pain pump, which delivers potent medication straight into her spine. Many doctors have told us that with the amount of medications Jessica was taking would be enough to “kill a horse”—yet they had little to no effect on her. If it wasn’t for Dr. Finkelstein trying to alleviate her constant, severe, unrelenting pain, I don’t know how she would have managed. He is very special to us as well.

Recently Jessica was transported by air ambulance to Tampa, Florida to see Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, a world renowned RSD expert. Dr. Kirkpatrick told us that Jessica is one of the most debilitated patients he has ever seen.

Jessica getting into the air-ambulance to go see Dr. Kirkpatrick

Upon his testing and because Jessica's condition is so severe, Dr. Kirkpatrick is recommending the only treatment available that can possibly help relieve her suffering, and afford her some semblance of a “normal” life - the Ketamine Coma Procedure - a clinical trial that is being conducted in Monterrey, Mexico.

During this procedure Jessica will be put into a coma , with the hope that her nerves, brain and spinal cord will “reset” -so that her nervous system sends the correct signals to her brain.

Yes, this is a radical, scary treatment, however, for Jessica, "scary" is thinking that she could spend the rest of her life in this condition, unable to walk, eat, or take care of herself. Since all reasonable treatments have failed to help her, we feel we must try everything possible to help Jessica regain her life.

We understand that due to Jessica’s fragile condition, there is a high risk associated with this procedure. We are also aware that other patients with severe RSD like Jessica's have had success.

Jessica’s goal is to one day become a doctor. Our hope is that with this study she can have that chance. As her Mom, I know that she will be a great doctor because when a patient presents in her office and says “Doctor, I am in pain and words cannot express how bad it is” – my daughter –Dr. Jessica– will be able to say - :I know how you feel, I’ve been there too. So, take a seat and let me tell you a story”….

We are so thankful and feel so blessed to have been led to Dr. Kirkpatrick.

God is good and with his help guiding Dr. Cantu and Dr. Kirkpatrick, our hope is for Jessica to be able to return to us whole again and pain-free!