Living with RSD

Well here I go:My story of RSD.
I was opening my own business, Peanut Brittle, home made chocolate and all the candy you can’t find here in this up-state community: (only in the city, N.Y.) I had started the business called “Anise Best” back in 1985, but only did wholesale. Now I’m going to open a store front!!

I worked very hard for the Grand Opening, 1995.Three days of very little sleep, if any. All went well. It was quite the success!! I was so busy, and worked my tail off!! Here is the good part. I had such lack of sleep; it caused my body to have a seizer. During this Grand Maul seizer, I got my left foot stuck under the railing of the stairs and broke five metatarsals, and a dislocation. This kind of fracture is called a Liz Franc fracture.

This is common in horse back riders as their foot gets caught in the stirrup when they fall from a horse. Well I was taken to the local Hospital, only to be told that there was nothing wrong with my foot!! (gotta love them Hospitals sometimes). This was on a Saturday night. I got home, got some sleep, and woke up on Sun., with a foot discolored, and I had to crawl to get anywhere. The pain was so bad, but I was Not about to go back to the hospital, I was going to wait till Mon. when my reg. Dr. was in. I go to my Dr., counting each second till the office is open, and get right over.

She took one look at my foot, and said “your foot is broken”, get your x-rays from the hospital and go to this Ortho. Dr. I know really well. I did just that, and he told me I had one fracture in one of my metatarsals. He placed a cast on my foot up to my leg and on my way I go. I still had a store to run, so back to work (after a few days of bed rest).

A few months go by, and the pain only to get worse to the point now I couldn’t stand, a call to the Ortho Dr. and told him how bad the pain was, and especially in the back of the calf, he advises me to go to the hospital he is affiliate with. Off to the Hospital I go, and now I have a blood clot!! The Doctor says I Must stay for a while! I was on a blood thinner for a bit over a year. I was lucky to be able to get off them.

Now, hard cast is off, and I am in a soft cast, but the pain in my foot just won’t go away. After many visits to my Ortho, and another x-ray, he tells me “I think we might have a problem” Great, so off to a foot specialist I go. When I got there, they took more x-rays, and not only the Dr. had I gone to see, but the head of the practice comes in the room. I knew there was a problem right there and then! They tell me together what is wrong with my foot. It was not diagnosed right in the first place.

They tell me I have five fractures, and a dislocation called a “Liz Franc Fracture. (French Word) The best is yet to come. It has now healed incorrectly! They must re-break the foot, and put screws and pins in it to correct the foot, so it can now heal correctly. This will mean, after surgery, which by the way had to be done ASAP or there would be a chance my foot would collapse, Six months of bed rest with no weight bearing!! (What about my store??)

We do the surgery, rest the six months, now it’s time for the hard cast to come off, and a soft cast to be put on. Now they tell me Limited weight bearing for another six months! The pain has not gone away!! After all is said and done, the both Dr.’s come in to see me on a follow-up visit only to tell me that they think the pain is not going away due to the fact that I have RSD!!

“What is RSD” I ask, there answer was not something I wanted to hear!!! Pain Management here I come! Lumber Blocks, Meds you name it! NOW we have to coordinate the pain level with the blocks, to remove the screws and pins, as the Dr.’s feel that is only adding to my pain (having foreign bodies in my foot). Another round of surgery, and shaving part of my bone off my foot!! Back on bed rest, with a very slow recovery! Pain level still high!

“Ok there is nothing more we can do for you but manage your pain from the RSD!!” Well the rest is just plain old history. I have developed many other Dx.’s from this Monster, and from the treatments I have had. I’ll tell you what, Nothing kept me down (except the bed rest) and I still fight each and every day!!

If I were to give advice, I would say, hold on to your Faith, there is hope, and with the right Dr.’s it can be controlled. It will never go away, but controlled! Oh one more thing, I had to close my candy store. There is still hope for that too, as I just might go back on the net, and just do wholesale, who knows. If I can’t, I would rather Watch the Birds, then Dream I could fly!

Hold on to your Faith, Stand Strong, and Keep Hope!
Annie