Thank you so much for this advice, it is really helpful. I live in North Carolina and NCMs are allowed by law to talk to your doctor, with you also present, after the appointment, so there was really no avoiding what happened last appointment. I have spoken to a few lawyers in the past at the advice of others (mainly co-workers and a family member), but they all told me they don't think I need legal representation at this point. I think I do now, so I will make some calls tomorrow. I've been keeping a journal since February at the advice of a friend, so I've been somewhat preparing for an attorney should this keep getting worse, which it is.

...about the part of your reply that I quoted, are you sure about stopping wearing the brace? My PT mentioned he wants to try to get me out of it, but said I should keep wearing when needed. I can walk short distances around my apartment CAREFULLY without it if not in too much pain, and in my apartment without it, but my balance still feels off and my right ankle is soooo weak. Whenever I have to go somewhere that's not right around the house, I usually put on my brace and have to walk with a cane if it's not a short distance or if the pain is already too intense. It's VERY sensitive to touch and air movements, I haven't experimented much with hot-cold except for the desensitization at PT, the cold part always hurts tremendously. And I do have exercises to do at home and am able to do them for the most part, it's quite rare that I'm completely bedridden but it's happened a few days lately.

Thanks again, I'm a very diligent person when it comes to research and my recovery so if anyone is going to beat this CRPS it's me, but it's definitely hard to keep my spirits up when I never seem to get a break anymore. I can already tell joining this forum was a good move.