RSD Treatment in NJ

Yesterday after church we drove to New Jersey. There is an RSD specialist who does a treatment called Calmare. There are 10 doctors in the United States that do this treatment and it was recently FDA cleared for RSD patients. 

We will be here 13 days and so we got a hotel fairly close to the treatment. The hotel was about a third of the price of other hotels in the area and so we were surprised when it turned out to be fairly nice. Plus there is free parking, free wi-fi and free breakfast with waffles. Yum!

We brought our own pillows, blankets, a hamper, hangers and a TON of other stuff and set up the hotel room last night. 

Today is my first treatment. I will be there for about 2 hours. I am trying not to get my hopes up too high honestly but a lot of people say they feel better after the first treatment. 

I will update this post later today and let you know how it went. 

UPDATE:

Five pads were attached to my lower back and another five were attached to my foot. The wires from those 10 were attached to a special Scrambler Machine. The doctor wanted to get on both sides of my pain in my knee. After speaking with the doctor about my condition and verifying I have RSD, I was given my first treatment. Each treatment is 40-60 minutes and I will be going M-F for this week and next. 

While hooked up to the machine, it sent electrical shocks through my leg. I had feeling in places that there was no pad which was amazing to me. There were about 20 different currents/shocks and all 20 felt different. The machine would cycle through them. Some were intense and short, others were dull and long. None were painful. 

While being hooked up to the machine, my pain was covered by these shocks. The doctor was really good. Within two tries of rearranging the pads he found the exact spot of my most intense pain. I have felt that pain for over two years. 

After being hooked to the machine I felt wonderful. I had a level 8 or 9 when I went in (I didn't take my pain meds this morning) and was at a 2 or 3 afterward. The doctor said that wouldn't last and the pain would be back and not to be discouraged. He was right of course. 

Usually someone responds to the treatment on a more long-term basis by treatment 5-7 which means I may start to feel some lasting relief by the weekend. 

There is a slight possibility of my insurance reimbursing us for this treatment which would be wonderful. The office manager spoke to us about that as well. 

Everyone was extremely nice. We found out my doctor loves Oreos and so we plan on stopped before the treatment tomorrow and picking some up. 

Thank you for your prayers.