Reagan, 13, can now eat pasta, her favorite food. This is something he hasn’t done for the past nine months. “It was such a relief just to be able to taste the food,” Reagan said. Back in May of 2021, Reagan got COVID-19. Through that, she developed parosmia, where foods she normally loved now smelled disgusting. The doctors could not find a solution. “They were like, ‘This is going to go on forever. You’re never going to get well,’ so I got in the car and cried,” Reagan said. Then Reagan’s mom, Heather Springer, found a post on Facebook where a pain specialist gave shots that helped her condition. “I called that night,” Springer said. Before Reagan knew it, he left for Texas where he met David Gaskin. “It’s changing people’s lives,” Gaskin said. Gaskin gave Reagan a stellar ganglion block that required two shots to his throat. The stellate ganglion is a collection of nerves found in the neck. The shots helped reboot that system and brought relief for people with parosmia. “From the time they injected her, she was able to eat and smell the food and the difference was such a short time,” Springer said. Gaskin said the procedure is not new and has only recently been used to treat parosmia. Gaskin said their success rate is 90%. Once, people started hearing about the shots on social media, saying their schedule filled up quickly. “I just treated a gentleman from Israel yesterday. He took a 19-hour flight from Israel to get an injection,” Gaskin said. Gaskin said he is happy to help people return to normalcy. “Seeing patient after patient coming in and crying with joy, my whole staff is crying, I’m crying. It’s a tough day but a great day,” Gaskins said. Although the shots helped with Reagan’s smell, it still hasn’t returned to 100 percent. “I had chicken wings the other night and it was fine but then it’s a lot worse, like grilled chicken,” Reagan said. Springer said Reagan’s parosmia is now manageable. She credits the shots that Gaskins gave to Reagan. “If I could do it again, I wouldn’t change anything. We’ll definitely go back and probably get it a little quicker,” Springer said. After nine months, Reagan can finally go back to being a teenager. “I feel so much better and I’m so much happier and I’ve been able to do a lot more with my friends and things like that,” Reagan said.
Reagan, 13, can now eat pasta, her favorite food. This is something he hasn’t done for the past nine months.
“It was such a relief just to be able to taste the food,” Reagan said.
Back in May of 2021, Reagan got COVID-19. Through that, she developed parosmia, where foods she normally loved now smelled disgusting.
The doctors could not find a solution.
“They were like, ‘This is going to go on forever. You’re never going to get well,’ so I got in the car and cried,” Reagan said.
Then Reagan’s mom, Heather Springer, found a post on Facebook where a pain specialist gave shots that helped her condition.
“I called that night,” Springer said.
Before Reagan knew it, he left for Texas where he met David Gaskin.
“It’s changing people’s lives,” Gaskin said.
Gaskin gave Reagan a stellar ganglion block that required two shots to his throat. The stellate ganglion is a collection of nerves found in the neck. The shots helped reboot that system and brought relief for people with parosmia.
“From the time they injected her, she was able to eat and smell the food and the difference was such a short time,” Springer said.
Gaskin said the procedure is not new and has only recently been used to treat parosmia. Gaskin said their success rate is 90%. Once, people started hearing about the shots on social media, saying their schedule filled up quickly.
“I just treated a gentleman from Israel yesterday. He took a 19-hour flight from Israel to get an injection,” Gaskin said.
Gaskin said he is happy to help people return to normalcy.
“Seeing patient after patient coming in and crying with joy, my whole staff is crying, I’m crying. It’s a tough day but a great day,” Gaskins said.
Although the shots helped with Reagan’s smell, it still hasn’t returned to 100 percent.
“I had chicken wings the other night and it was fine but then it’s a lot worse, like grilled chicken,” Reagan said.
Springer said Reagan’s parosmia is now manageable. She credits the shots that Gaskins gave to Reagan.
“If I can do it again, I wouldn’t change anything. We’ll definitely go back and probably get it a little quicker,” Springer said.
After nine months, Reagan can finally go back to being a teenager.
“I feel so much better and I’m so much happier and I’ve been able to do a lot more with my friends and things like that,” Reagan said.