Dear Friends,
Every week, I talk with patients experiencing debilitating fatigue, muscle pain throughout their bodies, headaches, brain fog, irritability, forgetfulness, and a number of other symptoms. Most of their homes or places of employment had water damage from Hurricane Ian. While some repairs have been made, the majority are still awaiting mold remediation and restoration. Unfortunately, too many of their landlords are unwilling to take on the expense and hassle of fully addressing the water damage.
Scores of people in our community are dealing with Biotoxin/Mold Illness, sparked by the water damage to their homes, schools, and workplaces. Biotoxin Illness leads to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), a life-changing illness that is often brought on by extended exposure to toxic molds and bacteria. Twenty-four percent of the US population has a genetic factor that predisposes them to develop CIRS from living or working in water-damaged buildings.
Children are feeling symptoms as well: sleeping a lot more than usual, hyperactivity, difficulty concentrating, and behavior problems. Based on the populations of Lee, Charlotte, and Collier Counties, and the number of structures damaged by winds and stormwater, I expect 80,000 or more cases of CIRS within the next three to twelve months.
Biotoxin Illness is one of the conditions we treat at the Southwest Florida Free Pain Clinic. And now, to better serve the needs of our community, our parent organization, Christian Medical Ministries, is launching a free mobile clinic specifically focused on treating Biotoxin/Mold Illness for low-income and uninsured patients.
We will partner with United Way and local churches to provide the sites and volunteers to help deliver care. We will also offer treatment at these sites using our free pain clinic model to help those with acute and chronic pain. The locations will cover areas throughout Southwest Florida, including Cape Coral, Downtown Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, Bonita Springs, Pine Island, and North Fort Myers. We have also arranged a partnership with FGCU nurse practitioner students to work with us, which is very exciting!
Will you consider a generous gift to help us launch our new mobile clinic? Please mail a check today, or if you prefer, you may donate online here.
Thank you for your support. We could not have helped so many people return to work, resume caring for their children, and avoid becoming a statistic of the opioid crisis without you! Your continued backing will enable us to care for those in our community who have no resources or hope to feel well again.
God bless you,
Alan Gruning, DO
Executive/Medical Director
I am excited to introduce our new Clinic Director, Jackie Kelley, a Masters-prepared Registered Nurse with degrees from Duke and Syracuse Universities. Her nursing career has spanned many areas of practice. Jackie and her husband, David, have lived in Fort Myers for 44 years and raised three sons here. David is a retired United Methodist Minister currently in private marriage and family therapy practice.
“It is my great honor to have joined the Christian Medical Ministries organization,” Jackie shared. “I hope to use my time and talents to further our mission to the underserved people of our community.”
$1 Can Make a Difference!
When you use PayPal to make purchases, you can easily give a $1 donation to support the SWFL Free Pain Clinic. Just click here and select Christian Medical Ministries as your favorite charity, and it will ask you if you want to donate $1. It’s an easier way to give and it will add up to a big help for people who are hurting!
We are working to rewrite the paradigm for low-income, uninsured pain patients. The Southwest Florida Free Pain Clinic is the only facility of its kind in Florida, and possibly the nation. Utilizing physician and chiropractic care, physical therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, nutrition and lifestyle education, counseling, essential oil therapy, and modalities such as electrical stimulation and ultrasound to alleviate pain at the source, patients are able to truly begin an effective healing process. No drugs are used in treatment. In fact, through the course of care, patients are helped to wean from opioids and other substances they have become dependent upon. Thank you for helping the hurting in our community and showing the world there is a better way to care for low-income, uninsured people in pain!