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Angel Flight West Brings Hope To Woman Battling Chronic Pain

RIO VISTA (CBS13) — For more than 20 years Phoebe Grace has been dealing with chronic pain due to dystonia. Dystonia is a movement disorder where involuntary muscle contractions cause repetitive or twisting movements.

"It felt like all the bones in my body were broke and the muscles were wrapping around and constricting the bones," Grace said.

Now she is getting help with red light therapy at the Rio Vista Holistic Health Center. Darrel Brown, a Family Nurse Practitioner at the health center, said that the therapy helps cells get more oxygen and "knock off the bad stuff."

The red light therapy will hopefully help her pain, but the drive to Rio Vista from Fresno was not feasible for Grace. So an organization called Angel Flight West helped her out by giving her a lift to Fresno.

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Gil Takemori volunteers for Angel Flight West and flew Grace to her treatment. He said the organization is able to give people options that aren't available by any other means.

After Grace's treatment was complete, Angel Flight West took her back to Fresno.

"I am a warrior and I fight the disease but I've never been hopeful in the disease and these people have brought hope," Grace said.

Grace's nurse practitioner is recommending that she continues the treatments to mitigate the pain since there is no cure for dystonia. She is unclear if Angel Flight will help her fly to more appointments.

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