In Constant Pain, but in the Game

River Hill Senior Endures Rare Disorder to Stay on Court

Becky Paynter remembers certain volleyball referees more than others. Ones that like to use their whistle for an extra reminder after each point and sideout or use continuous tweeting to get the attention of a team captain -- those are the ones who stand out. Each of their shrill proclamations heightens the intensity of the shocking sensation that continually surges up and down her left arm and shoulder.

It's in these matches with whistle-happy referees that the River Hill High senior's body can't help but succumb to the pain. After a game or two, her arm will recoil following the sound, twisting and contorting as if controlled by a mind of its own. She'll start shaking it, as if trying to rid herself of an invisible cobweb, coaxing her arm back into position so she can move on to the next play, her next set.

She tries to keep the routine subtle. The best way she's found to cope with the pain that's been her constant companion for the past two years is to ignore it. To shove it into a box in a corner of her mind and slam the box shut.

"I've gotten really good at hiding it," said Paynter, 17. "If it comes out for a second I'll hide it. I don't really know why, but I don't want people to feel sorry. It hurts so much to keep playing, but I love volleyball and I didn't want to stop."

Paynter suffers from the chronic pain disorder Type I Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), which doctors believe results when a malfunction in the nervous system causes nerves to send constant and abnormal pain signals to the brain and spinal cord.

On a numerical pain scale, her normal state is "five," where zero represents no pain and 10 is the worst imaginable. Sometimes, she said, it feels like her arm is being stabbed by hundreds of steak knives. Other times it's as though it's on fire. Most often, though, it feels like she's being electrocuted and there's no way to turn the power off.

"It's difficult to watch her go through everything, to know how much she hurts and know that there isn't anything we can do," said her mother, Lynn, who also is the River Hill junior varsity coach. "We just try very hard to stay up, stay positive and be goofy like we've always been around her so that she won't get down about it, but there are times when it's hard."

Two years ago, Becky, then 15, and Lynn were driving to the mall in Columbia on a rainy Sunday. Just as they pulled out from an intersection near Wilde Lake High School, a driver on the cross street lost control of his sedan, his car spinning before slamming into the driver's side of the Paynters' sport-utility vehicle.

Becky was in the back seat, on the passenger side, and as she watched the car spin toward them, she tried to brace herself against the front seat and ducked. Doctors think the impact of the crash bounced her against the seat and ultimately resulted in CRPS.

The other car was totaled, and there was about $14,000 in damage to the SUV, but neither Becky nor her mother had any visible injuries. After sorting out the accident details at the scene, they went out to lunch and Becky went to the movies with a friend as planned.

When she came home that evening, she broke down in tears. Her left arm was engulfed with a searing pain, and no one could touch her without causing more anguish. The Paynters went to the emergency room and started what has become a constant rotation of doctor and hospital visits.

"What she was describing was a pretty good representation of RSD or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. You usually don't see it in young kids, though," said Clark Brill of Maryland Spine and Sports in Clarksville, a doctor who has worked with Paynter since the accident. "Luckily though, young people's nervous systems have a better chance of readjusting than an older person's. I'm still holding out hope that this will calm down for her."