Mina Runkel

Hello! My name is Mina, and here is my story.

At the age of 9, I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, which is known as the world’s most painful incurable condition. CRPS is also known as “The Suicide Disease” in the United States. Many children and adults who suffer from this horrific condition simply cannot bear the pain and isolation (which I completely understand). In the United States, about 1.2 out of 100,000 children are diagnosed yearly (up to 26% in adults).

For me, it all started when I fell off a camping chair and scratched my left ankle. Right away, I felt the worst pain imaginable. I couldn’t walk; anything that touched my foot would cause horrific pain. I couldn’t have a sheet touch my foot when I slept and could no longer run barefoot in the grass with my dog and brother. The worst pain was the horrific burning I felt 24/7. I was a competitive gymnast at the time, so I was taught determination and discipline at a young age. I knew I wouldn’t let this stop me from living my life and doing the things I once loved. Thankfully, my mom was able to get connections with doctors and physical therapists to try and get me into remission. After 5 long months on crutches, horrific pain, and learning how to walk again, the pain became manageable. On the pain scale, it was a 3 on bad days, but it was manageable. A few years later, my family moved from Michigan to Arkansas.

After a couple of years of living in Arkansas, my CRPS got worse after ankle surgery. Shortly after this, my family discovered the Spero Clinic, the only clinic in the world that claimed success with treating CRPS without using very addicting and heavy side-effect drugs. The best part of this was that this clinic was only 45 minutes away, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Right away, we got on the waitlist, and in June 2021, I began very intensive, full-time treatment. I did school online while I was in treatment so I could still graduate on time. The treatment was hard; in order to get into remission, you have to rewire the nervous system, which means you can’t mask the pain with meds. You have to retrain your brain by going through the pain. All of this was excruciatingly hard, and I got a lot worse before I got better, but it worked. For the first time in 7 years, I was pain-free. I was finally free. Right away, I started living my life to the fullest. I loved being able to go to school without feeling horrible. I joined a track team and learned I loved running. I found out I love ceramics, reading, rock climbing, and much more. I was able to lay in the grass and run barefoot in my yard. I loved simply being.

I graduated high school and got into an amazing college. One thing I learned from CRPS is that I have a passion for neurology and plan to help others by going into neuropathology.

Unfortunately, I need to put my dreams on hold, though. My CRPS is back.

After I moved to college, it has come back “full body” (the pain is everywhere). On top of that, I was diagnosed with POTS (COVID-induced), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which is really not fun. For a while, it was manageable, and I was able to work during the summer, and it didn’t affect my day-to-day life too much. But that has changed. On top of being in horrific full-body CRPS pain, I’m passing out almost daily. Somehow, I am still managing my classes and am determined to finish this semester. Finding humor and seeing the beauty of the little things in life has helped keep me afloat. But honestly, life for me has become miserable. I struggle to make it through a day without feeling fatigue, horrible nausea, headaches, pain flares, and much more. I often hate to admit it, but I am struggling in every way possible. But thankfully, I’m stubborn.

This is where GoFundMe comes in. The family funds have been depleted, and the pressure is immense. The Spero Clinic and the science-based, life-changing medical treatment they provide is not covered by insurance. My first go at treatment absorbed me and my brother’s college funds. My mom was able to put me through 5 weeks of treatment this past winter break and is putting my brother and me through college. She is doing so much for us. Now that I am an adult, I want to be a part of the solution for my healthcare.

This next treatment will be all-consuming, and it will keep me from working my full-time job that I love so much this summer. I begin in May and pray to be finished in September so I can return to college and go back to living a normal life. The cost will be at least $40,000 for 14 weeks of full-time treatment. Any extra money I will use for an ARP machine to help keep me in remission (those cost $20,000). Any donations will help. I thank you all for the prayers and donations.

Love, Mina