Connecticut Girl Fights Rare Neurologic...( WINDSOR LOCKS Conn. Oct. 19 /- Th...),Health

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The pain Mary Remotti feels when her body is touched by the even the softest bed sheet or as she lies motionless on her bed washes over her like the heat of an intense fire. Her eyes water as she endures a constant burning, tingling pain, which she cannot escape.

Remotti is an 18-year-old Connecticut girl who has spent the last two years of her life confined to her bed suffering from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). The disease is severely debilitating, and Remotti has experienced some of the disease's worst symptoms including paralysis, intense muscle spasms, swelling and discoloration of her limbs, and chronic sharp burning pain.

Just before the debilitating symptoms of RSD began to plague Remotti in 2005, she was actively involved in the Fire Department Explorers, taking care of horses, and attending a vocational agricultural high school. She was looking forward to getting her driver's license, attending college and becoming a Certified Firefighter I. Then in September of 2005, she woke one morning unable to move her right leg and was in severe pain. A short time later she lost the ability to move her left leg. Since then, she has been unable to walk and recently lost use of her arms. She has been hospitalized frequently, prescribed more than 100 medications, and subjected to a multitude of invasive treatments, yet nothing has helped her condition.

In August 2007, Remotti was rushed to the hospital for "seizure-like activity" and was admitted to the intensive care unit at Hartford Hospital for two weeks. It was determined that she was experiencing severe convulsions or spasms associated with RSD. Once in stable condition, Remotti was discharged and flown to Florida to receive consultation from Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, a leading international RSD researcher.

Kirkpatrick determined the only course of treatment available to treat RSD as
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