Hi, my name is Krystin Martin and I have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome otherwise known as CRPS, that however, is not who I am. Let me tell you a little about myself. I am 32 years old and I live in Southwest MO. My most proud accomplishment is my two wonderful children a girl, Kamdin who is 13 and my son Lakeland who is 9.I’ve known since I was young that I wanted to be a registered nurse after I myself had a serious illness when I was only 13.That started what is now the biggest battle of my life.
I have been given the nickname, “Grace” my entire life as I always seemed to have more than my fair share of accidents, missteps and unfortunate events such as:
Second surgery after routine tonsillectomy to stop a bleed in my throat
Sinus infection that ended up with an infection that ate through the dura covering of my brain resulting in brain surgery
Bacterial Meningitis in the Brain
Broken pelvis after falling off my horse in water
Unexplained injuries to body parts that took forever to heal
Seizures that started around age 18
Connective tissue issues during pregnancy that caused pre term labor with both children
Emergency hysterectomy when Lakeland was only a few weeks old as some of my uterine blood vessels couldn’t be stopped and I was close to losing too much blood
Atrial fibrillation which is an irregular heartbeat started soon after
April 30th 2018 while taking care of a patient I was attacked and suffered a traumatic brain injury that allowed the loaded gun known as my body to begin to discharge and rapid fire.
Since that time my physical and mental life have been like a game of “Whack-A-Mole”During the next several months and years more and more trauma including a crush injury to my leg happened. I had to re learn to walk, swallow, control my bathroom needs due to neurogenic bladder not to mention although I could swallow again I couldn’t keep anything down.I am 5’7” and got down to about 105lb.I ended up with a feeding tube and ultimately had a gastric electrical pacemaker installed in my stomach due to the severe gastroparesis.This summer I was electrocuted while trying to move an industrial fan and that has spiraled my health to my breaking point.It was thought that I might have had a stroke and or had a blood clot in my leg but couldn’t get the MRI because the gastric pacemaker couldn’t be turned off because the hospital doesn’t have the right device or know how to use it.Many Dr’s and other medical professionals later and no rationale as to why things are like they are my orthopedic doctor diagnosed me with CRPS.My medical brain started to research as the light bulb not only went off, it exploded. I was also diagnosed with structural and vascular ehlers danlos syndrome as well as hypothyroidism, leaky gut, and active chronic either Epstein Barr virus or long covid as well as hypoglycemia and malabsorption.
Traditional medical practitioners and medicine continue to fail me and they all just basically raise their hand and waive the white flags as there is little understanding of CRPS and traditional methods are only band aids, not solutions. I find myself desperate beyond anything you could imagine and have hit rock bottom. I am a woman of faith and I’ve prayed to God for answers and help as I have so much I want to live for….that is when my research took me to the Spero Clinic in Fayetteville AR. They have been treating patients of CRPS from all 50 states and over 34 countries. Although there is no current cure for CRPS, over 80% of the patients they see do go into remission and regain their functional and productive lives. Sadly, most insurance doesn’t cover the cost of these treatments. The amount of treatment needed to get to the finish line is different for everyone, but the average timeline is about 14 weeks and a cost of$50,000 to $60,000.My ask is that if you feel lead to help me along my journey as it is my goal to be able to start treatment in November of this year please do consider a donation that is tax deductible through the Burning Limb Foundation.100% of what is donated goes to the cost of my therapies and treatments. I want so badly to love life again, be free of this unimaginable pain I live with daily, hourly, constantly. I want to be an involved mother again and Nurse to help others. I want to remember what it is like to LIVE without pain. If you would like to learn more about what it is like to live with CRPS please click on the link below to read what a day in the life is like for someone with CRPS as told by the disease itself:
Hi, my name is CRPS
Our goal is to raise $60k to allow Krystin to complete approximately 16-20 weeks of treatment at the Spero clinic. We need your help to get there. We are partnering with the Burning Limb Foundation (a 501c3 nonprofit) as our fundraising platform, 100% of the proceeds of your donation will benefit Krystin and are used to pay for treatment costs while she is there. All donations are tax deductible.
***We have been pledged by someone anonymous to match each donation dollar-for-dollar!!!!!!***
Most recent update: November 12
Just wanted to post an update. I had surgery this past Monday and had to stay overnight in the ICU bc of some bleeding. I had a feeding tube placed as well during the removal of my gastric stimulator and I have since thrown it up. See GI tomorrow for the way forward.