{"id":5423,"date":"2013-07-30T19:48:49","date_gmt":"2013-07-30T23:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/?p=5423"},"modified":"2013-07-30T20:01:09","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T00:01:09","slug":"super-shero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/super-shero.html","title":{"rendered":"Super-s\/hero"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/107\/2013\/07\/Terri-Levine.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5432\" alt=\"Terri-Levine\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/107\/2013\/07\/Terri-Levine.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Last week I met a courageous woman named Terri Levine. She doesn&#8217;t jump out of perfectly good airplanes or leap tall buildings in a single bound, but she is somewhat of a super-s\/hero in my book. Every day, she faces the kind of pain that I\u00a0shudder to even contemplate and yet, she keeps on keepin&#8217; on in her work as a conscious entrepreneur and business coach. She was a speaker at a marketing conference I had attended and not only was I was deeply moved by her passion, her creative business savvy and\u00a0impeccable integrity, but also devotion to\u00a0a cause that is both personal and universal for her.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is RSD?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), is a chronic pain, neurological syndrome. \u00a0RSD is a malfunction of the central nervous systems, which causes pain and additional symptoms. RSD effects millions of people in the United States. \u00a0This is not a new disease. RSD has been documented all the way back to the Civil War. \u00a0If not treated aggressively and correctly RSD spreads rapidly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>When and how\u00a0were you diagnosed?<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>I was diagnosed when I tore my achilles tendon about 6 years ago. \u00a0Even though my leg was set in a full cast I was screaming 6 hours a day with pain and went to over 13 doctors until I found a doctor who diagnosed me.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>What keeps you going in the face of the horrific pain you experience?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I can either have a pity party or I can do good work in the world. I prefer to do good work. \u00a0Focusing on others takes the focus off me and allows me to make a difference in the world.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>What is the Terri Levine Foundation For Children with RSD?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span>I developed this foundation because I\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">hate to think of the pain that a child suffers from each day with this disease. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">Imagine pain so severe the breeze of someone walking by causing excruciating pain so intense it\u2019s as if someone just lit you on fire, the vibration of a vacuum cleaner shooting through you like knives, or muscle spasms so strong your body shakes uncontrollably. Imagine not being able to roll yourself over or sit up without help, not being able to swallow, waking up blind, or trying not to breathe because it causes too much pain. Being stuck in bed, feeling so isolated and alone, while life passes by and everyone you once knew moving with it, leaving you behind.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">Ketamine infusions (the only thing that takes away some of the pain) are $500 each day and to start you need to have 10 of them back to back. Insurance won&#8217;t cover this because it is an &#8220;experimental&#8221; drug. \u00a0So I developed the foundation to raise funds to help children with RSD get the medical care they need.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">All funds raised by The Terri Levine Foundation for Children with RSD go directly to helping these children.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Besides the obvious physical implications of having the condition, what emotional toll does it take on those with the diagnosis?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">RSD may have profound psychological effects on patients and their families. Many with RSD suffer from depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">The psychological impact of chronic pain from \u00a0RSD\/CRPS\u00a0<\/span>and the impact on coping can be serious.\u00a0Chronic pain is often associated with\u00a0 <span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">depression and anxiety. This can include not enjoying the usual pleasures of life, crying spells, a\u00a0l<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">ack of drive or a-motivation, decreased ability to cope with even minor stressors and\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">frustrations, irritability, a diminished sexual drive, social withdrawal from others, and a loss of\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">self-esteem. Intrusive rumination or tendency to worry and think about sad or distressing things\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">or problems without resolution can become problematic. In addition, with the development of a\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">chronic health problem, one can become increasingly preoccupied with health concerns and pay t<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">oo much attention to some minor complaint that previously would have been ignored, but now\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: times new roman, serif\">may be seen as indicating something potentially serious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #333333;font-family: times new roman, serif;font-size: medium\"><strong>RSD pain is ranked 45 on the McGill pain index, which means it is rated as the most painful chronic pain disease that exists. It is above cancer(non-terminal), and both medicated and non-medicated labor\/delivery.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #333333;font-family: times new roman, serif\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #333333;font-family: times new roman, serif\">RSD\/CRPS is often called the &#8220;Suicide Disease,&#8221; because it causes so much pain that the patients are in greater risk of taking their own life.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>In addition to mainstream medical intervention, are there integrative modalities that\u00a0can\u00a0be\u00a0helpful?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Two major approaches to the medical treatment of early RSD exist: sympathetic blockade and anti-inflammatory therapy. Although these are not mutually exclusive, the order of usage is generally specialty-dependent, with anesthesiologists\/surgeons starting with the former and internists\/rheumatologists starting with the latter.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>* Anti-inflammatory medications (corticosteroids, calcitonin)<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>* Although nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may provide some symptomatic pain relief in patients with RSD, they are not effective in altering the skin changes or natural history of the process and thus play only a supportive role.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>* Spinal cord stimulation: typically works 3 months or less<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>* Ketamine infusions: works to temporarily alleviate some pain in some patients but does not stop the disease process<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>How can people get involved?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Help a child today by making a donation at: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.terrilevinefoundationforchildrenwithrsd.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.TerriLevineFoundationforChildrenwithRSD.org<\/a>\u00a0 and\/or host a speaking event\/fundraiser<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<strong>Is there anything else you would like folks to know?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Because currently\u00a0<b>there is no cure for RSD<\/b>, the goals of treatment include: 1) controlling and minimizing pain to the greatest extent possible; 2) restoring function to the RSD-affected limb; 3) preventing progression of the disease process to the late stage; and 4) improving the patient&#8217;s quality of life and psychological functioning.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong><em>And we want to help\u00a0children\u00a0have the greatest joy in life as possible.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I met a courageous woman named Terri Levine. She doesn&#8217;t jump out of perfectly good airplanes or leap tall buildings in a single bound, but she is somewhat of a super-s\/hero in my book. Every day, she faces the kind of pain that I\u00a0shudder to even contemplate and yet, she keeps on keepin&#8217;&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,53,70,19,94,22,4,7,38,18,29],"tags":[3296,3294,3295,3290],"class_list":["post-5423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attracting-what-you-desire","category-charity","category-community","category-empowerment","category-family","category-healing","category-inspiration","category-re-creating-your-life","category-transformation","category-wellness","category-women","tag-mcgill-pain-index","tag-reflex-sympathetic-dystrophy","tag-rsd","tag-terri-levine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Super-s\/hero - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/07\/super-shero.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Super-s\/hero - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week I met a courageous woman named Terri Levine. She doesn&#8217;t jump out of perfectly good airplanes or leap tall buildings in a single bound, but she is somewhat of a super-s\/hero in my book. 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