Family appeals for help for Bella

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Bella, a young girl from Melbourne, is facing a challenging battle against complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) after a seemingly innocuous foot infection quickly escalated into a debilitating condition. Bella’s journey from initial symptoms to diagnosis has been a harrowing experience for her and her family.

Her plight was the focus of a segment of Channel Nine’s A Current Affair on Monday night.

It began when Bella developed blisters on her feet from wearing thongs during a family trip to Fiji. What started as a small open wound soon turned into a red and infected area, with a tracking mark extending halfway up her calf.

“We immediately took her to the medical clinic where we were staying and they gave her antibiotics and told us we should see improvement in 24 hours. The next morning, Bella’s foot had completely swollen up and the pain had travelled up to her knee,” Bella’s mum Emma Macey told The AJN.

Frustrated and alarmed, they returned to the clinic, where stronger antibiotics were prescribed.

The pain persisted, and her leg showed no signs of improvement.

“By this stage, we had borrowed a wheelchair from the clinic to get her around. Any trips to the toilet or transferring her onto the bed were traumatic for all of us, as Bella just couldn’t tolerate the pain,” Macey said.

The situation continued to deteriorate, and Bella’s cries of agony escalated.

Desperate for help, the family rushed Bella to another medical centre, which had more extensive facilities. Intravenous antibiotics were administered, and they were asked to return the next morning for another dose before their scheduled flight back home.

However, Bella’s condition worsened overnight, and she was plagued by constant, unbearable pain. In an effort to alleviate her suffering, she was given morphine and immediately transported to the hospital for further examinations, including ultrasounds.

Thankfully, the ultrasounds showed no signs of clotting and indicated good blood flow.

This allowed Bella and her family to board their flight back to Melbourne the following morning, albeit with an emergency medical team on standby at Brisbane airport to monitor her condition.

Macey said, “The trip was horrendous … We rushed Bella straight from Melbourne airport to the Austin Hospital who were quickly administering many strong antibiotics via IVs and doing numerous tests including x-rays and blood tests to try understand what was causing Bella all of this pain.”

After several days of exhaustive examinations, no remaining signs of infection or other underlying causes were detected.

“This is when we received Bella’s diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome. We were shattered. We knew this was going to be a long journey to remission and our lives were going to be changed,” Macey said.

CRPS is a chronic neurological condition characterised by severe pain, considered to be a malfunction in the nervous system, often related to an area affected by a previous injury. The exact causes are still unknown.

As members of the Melbourne Jewish community, Bella’s family is reaching out for urgent help for their daughter.

“Bella is now undergoing numerous treatments a day at Spero clinic in Arkansas, which focuses on calming the central nervous system and improving functionality,” Macey told The AJN.

“The days are tough, but Bella knows she needs to do the work to get better. There are lots of screams and tears each day, which we hope improves quickly.”

Drawing inspiration from the Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya, which sheds light on the devastating impact of this disease, Bella’s family is appealing for donations to support her treatment and trying to raise awareness about CRPS.

Macey said, “If you have seen Take Care of Maya, you will see firsthand what this disease can do.”

You can help by donating towards costs of Bella’s overseas medical treatment: gofund.me/fd54ab8a