Chronic illness is hard to explain to someone who has never experienced such a thing. Chronic means there is no cure - you're stuck with it. Being diagnosed with chronic pain at 14 was absolutely terrifying.
I had been searching for answers for nearly three years when I finally got my diagnosis.. The pain started after I was in a boating accident 07/07/06. i had many surgeries, and saw many doctors before I was diagnosed.
I was happy at first. Usually when a doctor tells you what's wrong, they can fix you. I thought I was done with the pain. I thought, "Ooh! There's a new medicine I can take that will fix me."
Those 14 year old dreams were crushed when I read the papers the doctor gave us about Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome. I was speechless. My whole world stopped and turned upside down at that moment.
I suddenly had this cloud looming over me, reminding me of the illness on a daily basis.
When you have a chronic illness, it follows you wherever you go. It doesn't stop so that you can hang out with friends, and it doesn't stop so you can concentrate to complete your Algebra test. It's just there, stalking you.
After a while, I started to join online support groups for RSD. I met a lot of really interesting people, they helped me get back up on my feet and push forward.
This past summer, I started talking over twitter with some pretty amazing people. All of them also have RSD. Chelsea, Jenna, Abby, Natalie, Kara, Mary, Rachel, Shelly, Dave, and the Martinez family provide terrific support.
If you looked at my twitter feed, you'd see a lot of joking around about RSD between my girls and I. This doesn't mean that we take RSD lightly - we just have to find humor in this pain to stay sane.
All of us have said at one point in time that RSD can be your worst enemy, but also your best friend... I really do hate this pain. I don't understand why I am having to live with this. What I do know is, that it's all for some purpose. Without RSD I would not have met my RSD family. I really care about all of them, and while we all live far apart and have never actually met, I would do anything for them and know they would do the same.
I should probably sign off for the night - I feel a flare up coming on. The weather has been out of wack here lately, I hope it calms down ASAP so I can go back to less pain.
I had been searching for answers for nearly three years when I finally got my diagnosis.. The pain started after I was in a boating accident 07/07/06. i had many surgeries, and saw many doctors before I was diagnosed.
I was happy at first. Usually when a doctor tells you what's wrong, they can fix you. I thought I was done with the pain. I thought, "Ooh! There's a new medicine I can take that will fix me."
Those 14 year old dreams were crushed when I read the papers the doctor gave us about Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome. I was speechless. My whole world stopped and turned upside down at that moment.
I suddenly had this cloud looming over me, reminding me of the illness on a daily basis.
When you have a chronic illness, it follows you wherever you go. It doesn't stop so that you can hang out with friends, and it doesn't stop so you can concentrate to complete your Algebra test. It's just there, stalking you.
After a while, I started to join online support groups for RSD. I met a lot of really interesting people, they helped me get back up on my feet and push forward.
This past summer, I started talking over twitter with some pretty amazing people. All of them also have RSD. Chelsea, Jenna, Abby, Natalie, Kara, Mary, Rachel, Shelly, Dave, and the Martinez family provide terrific support.
If you looked at my twitter feed, you'd see a lot of joking around about RSD between my girls and I. This doesn't mean that we take RSD lightly - we just have to find humor in this pain to stay sane.
All of us have said at one point in time that RSD can be your worst enemy, but also your best friend... I really do hate this pain. I don't understand why I am having to live with this. What I do know is, that it's all for some purpose. Without RSD I would not have met my RSD family. I really care about all of them, and while we all live far apart and have never actually met, I would do anything for them and know they would do the same.
I should probably sign off for the night - I feel a flare up coming on. The weather has been out of wack here lately, I hope it calms down ASAP so I can go back to less pain.