The Profit to aid disease awareness

A lumbar puncture to treat a diagnosis of spinal meningitis interfered with nerves in her back, resulting in Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a disease that causes extreme pain in hands and arms.

Now, anything from a prick to a major injury can bring on severe pain in her left arm, said Goodall, 16.

"Because there's not much known about it, very few doctors know about it, let alone the community. I was about to be wrongly amputated," she said.

Goodall is determined to reach out to people suffering from RSD, and raise awareness of the obscure disease that can be misdiagnosed, as in her case.

She knows of two people with RSD in Bakersfield and expects there are more.

Goodall, the president of Rock Out To Knock Out RSD, is in the process of registering for nonprofit status with the state. The benefit on Saturday will raise funds for RSD research and support others suffering from the disease.

The inaugural Rock Out to Knock Out RSDevent at the Norris Road Veterans Hall in Oildale combines a rock show with more than 20 bands, a fair with vendors and concession stands, and a bike and car show.

Among the local bands scheduled to play are Krotch, Seed and Dirty Spanglish.

The concession stand is run by Boy Scout Troop 415 and Teen Challenge, the bike show includes Mike Freeny of The Bakersfield Thunder Run and Bikers for Christ, and the car show is put on by Performance Industries, a hot rod shop on North Chester.

Part of the event's proceeds benefit the UCLA Reflex sympathetic dystrophy research program and awareness of the disease.

RSD is a syndrome commonly characterized by pain, swelling and nerve pain in the hand or extremity due to a bone or tissue injury, according to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Goodall doesn't know how many people will show for the event. But she only needs to find one person with RSD to make it all worth her while.

"I feel like if I just reach out to one person, I feel like I've done my job," Goodall said.

source:www.bakersfield.com