I am happy to hear of your daughter's recovery. I am in the process of organizing a fund raiser for my fincee Joe, who has been living with RSD/CRPS for over 4 years now. Joe was a vibrant guy, carefree and well at times a little too fun loving :) On September 29, 2005 his life as he knew it came to an end. The local police dept brought in a DUI into the ER that he had worked in for 7 years. The suspect was able to get the officer's service revolver and subsequently shot not only that officer , another officer who was also there and Joe. Joe tried to keep the suspect from fleeing, but he was injured and not able to keep a good grip on the suspect, the suspect then went to one of the fallen officer's shooting him in the head twice, fatally injurying him. Joe is no longer able to work, he had two jobs, he was an active volunteer with the local rescue sqaud that his step father founded, all taken away in less than 5 seconds. Joe has "failed" all of the other treatments for RSD/CRPS and was hoping to have the Ketamine Infusions, but Medicare, his only insurance denied the treatments, so he suffers, still. It is heartbreaking, and to be honest, I have not always been the greatest support, NO ONE knows this pain unless you have suffered it, I recently was diagnosed with RSD/CRPS, although I do not feel mine is as bad as Joe's, I can tell you it sure is aweful!!! So, with al of this being said, I am glad that someone has benefited from the Ketamine, although your daughter had the Ketamine Coma. I am holding out hope that somehow, I can make this fundraiser work. Joe does not know anything about this, I do not want to get his hopes up, in case I fail, he does not need anymore disappointment. I wish your daughter future success and continued relief. Thank you for reading my post. Leslie

Brooks family, looking over your site, and relizing how much pain Tracy was in was a real eye opener to me. I was diagnosed with CRPS when I was only 11. I was very lucky in the way that I only lived with the pain for a few months before being diagnosed. it took about 2 years for me to fully recover that attack. I am 15 now, and have been pain free for a little over 2 years. the doctor says im in remission but it will come back. seeing what tracy went through, I feel gratefull for my "short" experience. i hope everything is well, and everyone is healthy. god bless. ~Alexis

Dear Brooks Family Foundation, Recently we came across your site and would like to spotlight you in our next newsletter. However, for us to do this we would need to have you provide the following details: 1. Site Name: 2. Main topic, or if multiple conditions state multiple conditions: 3. Forum owner: 4. Start date: 5. Reason for starting the site: 6. Your goals for the future, with regards to the site and/or any future fundraisers you have planned: Upon receipt of the above information we will format it for our newsletter. We will be more than happy to allow you to review the content prior to placing it in the newsletter. Thank you, Christine, USARSD.org

Just reading Gayle's notes causes me anxiety and tears - happiness for Tracy's healing and sadness for my predicament. Nine years of RSD after too many neurosurgeries to tell you about. I had the outpatient treatment of Ketamine w/Dr. Schwartzman, but since I was on narcotics, doctor said treatment would not be as effective. Moved to Georgia and am maxed out on pain meds. Trying to get to pain rehab center in Florida to get on as little meds as possible but still be able to function. I'd love to try Germany, but cost is prohibitive. Are there any funds out there that help people with RSD? God Bless all with RSD - they need a special measure of Grace to cope with this punishing disease.

BROKE MY TIBA AND FIBRA. HAD SURGERRY DONE IN SEPT 2006. RIGHT AFTER THAT I STARTED HAVEING EXTREME PAIN AND OTHER PROBLEMS WITH MY LEG. AFTER TWO PLUS YEARS A DOCTOR WITH A SMALL OFFICE INFORM ME THAT I HAD RSD. I HAVE SEEN ALMOST 15 DIFFERENT DOCTORS WITH NONE OF THEM TELLING ME WHAT THIS PROBLEM IS. ANY SUGGEST FROM ANYBODY WOULD HELP.