BETHANY - Judy Rettig's name has long been synonymous with animal rescue and care, first as animal control officer in West Haven, then for the Bethany, Orange and Woodbridge animal control district.
But these days, although she still helps animals any way she can, Rettig's name has been attached to something less cheerful - a nerve disease that causes such debilitating pain its sufferers can lose the will to live.
Rettig developed reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a chronic neurological syndrome which often appears after an injury or surgery, after she slipped on ice and broke a leg at the animal shelter.
The strongest painkillers available do little to dull the pain. Rettig wears a special boot on her affected leg because even a bed sheet brushing across it is excruciating. The vibrations from a loud sound can send her reeling.
"This disease is very complicated," Rettig said. "Every minute of my life, it's like my leg just broke. ...You learn to make friends with your pain."
At one point Rettig became so discouraged, she considered giving up the fight. But the same determination that made her crawl into sewer pipes to free trapped dogs or carry a 90-pound Labrador retriever down a rescue ladder kicked in, and she went into fighting mode.
On June 22, she joined the RSD team as part of the sixth annual Achilles Hope and Possibility 5-mile run/walk in New York City's Central Park. The event raises money for the Reflex Sympathethic Dystrophy Syndrome Association, headquartered in Milford.
Unable to walk, Rettig made the journey in a wheelchair, pushed by her partner of 30 years, Christine Santoro, and other friends.
They named Rettig's group, "Team Monk," after television's fictional detective, Adrian Monk. Monk's character has obsessive compulsive disorder, which acts as both a curse and a blessing, because while it creates barriers, it also helps him solve cases.
Rettig is very organized, clean and particular, qualities revealed in the immaculate way she kept the shelters she managed, and her house at a time when she had more than a dozen dogs there.
"It was really wonderful," Rettig said of the walk, noting that many participants were Iraq War vets with missing limbs. The event also included groups raising money for other causes.
"When I look at life around me, I still feel very lucky," she said.
James W. Broatch, executive director of RSDSA, said they had more participants than ever in this year's walk. Although the total has not yet been tallied, and donations are still coming in, Broatch said he hopes it raised at least $60,000, 90 percent of which will go directly to research. Participants, including RSD sufferers and their family and friends, came from as far away as Colorado and Florida.
"It was a day filled with hope," Broatch said.
Hope is what gets many people through RSD, an "under recognized disease," Broatch said.
RSD affects between 200,000 and 1.2 million Americans.
Rettig was replaced as animal control officer because there was no sign of her recovery, although RSD can go into remission. Because there is no cure for the disease, remission is her only hope. The disease or pain can travel to other limbs, and did in Rettig's case.
Still young and driven to help animals as well as people, Rettig hopes someday to get a version of her old life back. There's nothing she'd rather be doing than chasing dogs and cats or helping rebuild areas of the nation affected by hurricanes, floods or other natural disasters, Rettig said.
Donations for RSD research in Rettig's name can be sent to: RSDSA, P.O. Box 502, Milford, CT. 06460 or made by visiting the website, www.RSDS.org. | |
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