The Miracle Worker

Well I know I am a few days late, but it's been a very rough week so far. But I finally did get to meet Dr. Hess who is an extreme pain specialist and someone who has worked with RSD patients before. He was wonderful! He was almost the male version of me :) We spent a lot of the appointment (which was 2 hours long) laughing and joking. He really was very comforting and seemed very confident.

We went over all of my symptoms and the dr.s notes. And whenever the subject of paralysis came up he immediately squashed the subject. Saying we arn't there yet and I won't let it happen, I am going to do everything in my power to get you well, etc. He said that he has a lot of colleague/friends from all over the world and he'd send me to Philadelphia, Germany, France, where ever I need to go for treatments. He was so caring and sweet. He switched all of my meds and one of the drugs he put me on was Lyrica. When he mentioned it I told him my insurance wouldn't cover it, so he left and came back with 4 bottles of the Lyrica. So kind and wonderful :) He said he is going to aggressively treat me for systemic RSD, but he did say that he thinks I may also have Lupus. I asked him, how is that possible and he said stress. Who knew?

His main concern along with the pain was my stress level. He is very concerned with how tense I am all the time, all the guilt I feel, all the pain. Dr. Hess explained that my body is naturally going to be very tense because of my high pain levels, but that I need to try to eliminate external stresses. When I told him that it's too hard, that I feel constantly guilty all the time...he responded with "Are you Catholic?". Shoot, might as well be, lol!! I know I do need to calm down, I tell myself that all the time. I know that de-stressing is imperative to calming down the RSD and not putting myself at risk for other possible problems. But when I've lost 90% of my life, 95% of the control, & 99% of my self-control...it's hard to watch the life I loved so much fall to the wayside. Like one of my friends so bluntly said to me yesterday "Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill!" Well, if all I have left are molehills, they are going to feel like mountains. I am going to want to hold on to the little bit of control I have left and in my life, I've got to fight like hell to keep it.
So I go back to see my so-called "miracle worker", in 2 weeks. I am very excited to see what he has for me, to find out what all of his colleagues have to say. He's doing a case study on me and this isn't just inter-office, it's world-wide. He's pulling out the big guns! Woo hoo! I am glad that a doctor finally recognizes how sick and how much pain I am in. And it has seemed to be the pain specialists, so thank God for them! It feels good to look into the eyes of someone who just "gets it." It feels freeing, comforting, non-judgemental, and yes, a bit calming.
I am very ready to get this thing under-control, fight the pain with an arsenol, not a brick.

He also gave me some tips on how to get through the most extreme pain....hee hee... As most of you know I am not one to swear unless very mad or frustrated. And most of that has just started since I've gotten sick, lol!! So Dr. Hess, said to let out a good f**k while I am in pain. And mom and I looked at eachother and then at him and both said together "I/She doesn't swear!" So he laughed and told me then to yell GDRSD! GDRSD! Like my own personal cheer, and I am sure you can figure out what he meant by that term. But I don't take the Lords name in vain, so I'll stick to GoshDarnRSD! LOL!!
Love and Hugs,
Chrissie :)