In the town of Nassau, New York, a beautiful, blonde, spirited woman named Fallon Mirsky lays in her bed praying for a miracle. She prays for dissolution to the daily exhausting routine her family endures without question and a cure for her debilitating disease to end her suffering. Every day, after consuming nearly 50 pills, including Methadone, Morphine, Dilaudid, Nucynta and many others, Fallon Mirsky, the girl looking for a miracle, prepares for another day of pain, treatments, and hope.
Fallon suffers from several painful and life altering conditions?including Autonomic Dysfunction, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Gastroparesis, and a brain tumor, all of which began after a routine reconstructive surgery on her foot. Autonomic Dysfunction is a disruption in the nervous system that can cause heart, lung, and other organ issues.
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, (RSD), is a condition that causes severe burning pain, swelling, and tenderness of extremities. Gastroparesis is described as a condition where your stomach cannot empty itself of food in a normal fashion. This disease, by itself, can cause diabetes, extreme weight loss, nausea, and vomiting. Individually these diseases can be treated down to a sustainable level, however, the combination of the three, coupled with a brain tumor, leaves treatment options at a minimal and costs through the roof.
Fallon tells me:
“The mental affects aren’t much better. People kill themselves because of the pain. My disease is known as ?The SUICIDE DISEASE!??The suicide rate for people with this disease is 900% higher than for any other group of people. Even though this disease is rare, many people who are diagnosed with it end up killing themselves because of the pain. When a doctor diagnoses someone with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, it’s like saying, here are the pills, take them all at once and chase them down with a bottle of vodka to get the all pain and suffering over with right away.?
Each day that Fallon is able to triumph is met with a day that seems worse than the last. She suffers from an inability to eat, dropping her weight to 60 pounds or less, depending on the day. Raging headaches and skin so tender that it feels as if her whole body has been lit on fire not only limits her activity but hazes her senses and causes her brain to mix messages, resulting in speech and thought problems. Fallon?describes the pain she copes with on a daily basis to me,saying;
?The pain I feel is indescribable, as I suffer all the time? 24 hours a day 7 days a week; I never get relief.?All attempted treatments have not even come close to relieving any of my suffering…..I am severely debilitated and currently weigh only in the 60s. This is certainly no life for a 31-year-old young woman!?Yet, despite all that I am going through, I am still continuing to push onward, hoping for a day that I will be able to be pain free and able to resume my dreams of becoming “that” doctor that I have dreamt about.”
Fallon and her family speak out as much as they can, however, Fallon’s father must work a full time job to support the family while still attending almost every appointment Fallon goes to. They do receive disability for Fallon, but her check barely covers one doctor’s appointment. Fallon is on Medicaid, but due to the specialization needed in her case, many of the procedures are either out of state or just not covered by Medicaid at all. Fallon’s father carries her to and from each appointment, a gesture that warms her heart every time. Fallon fondly talks about her father, saying;
“Thank goodness I have my dad because he is my ?hero.??He will carry me out of the place where I have the comas, carry me into the?car,?and then carry me into the house once we get home.?He really is the best.?The doctor always jokes around with him and says, ?what happens when I get heavier???My dad said, ?He will always be able to carry me.? I don’t know what I would do without him!”
There is currently no cure for Fallon’s barrage of diseases, however, treatments assist in keeping the horrific symptoms at a level to where she can somewhat function. Treatments that Fallon is currently needing include ketamine infusions that are performed in a medically induced coma, hyperbaric oxygen, doctors? visits that include extensive travel, multivisceral transplants, and expensive medications. There are also treatment options that could possibly put these diseases into remission, however, they are offered only outside of the United States and at an extreme cost.
To support Fallon’s journey, donations can be made through www.gofundme.com/FallonMirsky as well as personal contacts through Fallon’s Blog. Fallon needs assistance more than ever, as her condition worsens each day, she prays for a miracle and smiles through adversity.
Edited by Kyla B
