The History

Noel Louis Gelfund was born with a large birthmark (Port Wine Stain) over 80% of his face and head.  Over the years, he endured countless and extremely painful attempts to remove it with the technology of the day... argon, flash lamp, and tunable pulse dye lasers, with little or no success.  As Noel got older, and was able to have his voice heard regarding the treatments, he elected not to participate in what he felt was an effort in futility.  For ten years Noel withheld treatment.

The pain associated with this and other laser procedures is likened to the snap of a rubber band against the skin.  Dermatologists use many types of topical anesthetics to ease the discomfort, yet patients still complain of and must endure significant distress.  Young children undergoing laser treatment may even be given a general anesthetic in order to complete the procedure.

In 2003, Noel decided to resume laser treatments, knowing that leaving the stain untreated would lead to other serious medical issues.  Unfortunately, shortly after he started the treatments again, the topical anesthetic his doctor (and many others) used became unavailable.  It was at this point that Noel's parents, Larry and Diane Gelfund, sought advice and help from family friend and compounding pharmacist Kenny Walkup.  Kenny is the owner/pharmacist of Specialty Medicine Compounding Pharmacy in South Lyon, Michigan.  Larry and Diane hoped Kenny's years of experience formulating custom medications would help him formulate something Noel's doctor could use to continue the treatments.

Kenny formulated a topical anesthetic called Tri-Caine which combines the power of three active ingredients:

• Benzocaine
• Lidocaine
• Tetracaine

He chose these ingredients to provide the best combination of

• effectiveness
• time for efficacy
• depth of numbness
• duration of the anesthetic results

In November, 2004, Noel's Dermatologist wrote a prescription for Tri-Caine and administered it to Noel at his next laser treatment using the V-Beam laser and dynamic cooling device.  The results were remarkable!  Noel didn't feel any pain throughout the entire procedure.  His exact words, at the completion of the procedure, were, "I think I'm gonna like this cream!"  The numbing effects of Tri-Caine extended far beyond those of products previously used by the Dermatologist.  Noel was able to complete the largest area of laser treatment ever personally achieved.

Sadly, just three weeks following Noel's first use of Tri-Caine, he was tragically killed in a car accident.  Noel's death was a tremendous shock to his family, friends, and the Sturge-Weber community around the world.  But his death served as the impetus for a renewed commitment to provide relief to SWS patients and to raise funds for research that could ultimately lead to a cure.

Larry and Diane approached Kenny about making his Tri-Caine formulation available to both SWS patients and PWS patients around the world.  Kenny enthusiastically embraced the idea and offered to name the cream "Noel's Numbing Cream" in loving honor and memory of Noel.  He also offered to donate 20% of the proceeds from each prescription sale to the Sturge-Weber Foundation (SWF).  The SWF is the largest charity of it's kind dedicated to the research of SWS and PWS conditions.  Kenny was well aware that Noel was a worldwide Ambassador for this charity.

Disclaimer

Contact Information

Telephone

248-446-2643

FAX

248-486-1906

Postal address

Specialty Medicine Compounding Pharmacy
116 North Lafayette, Suite B South Lyon, MI 48178

Electronic mail

General Information:  contact@specialty-medicine.com
Webmaster: laredo1@core.com

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these products will go to the Sturge-Weber Foundation and dedicated to the research of Port Wine Stain conditions in loving honor and memory of Noel Louis Gelfund.

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