Hi Mommy, I am sorry your RSD is spreading. Mine has gone from right shoulder and arm to my entire body, over time. I know how that first spread is though and how awful it is when you get to the point where you have to accept reality. You had said that you can hardly use of the right arm, wrist, hand now. Please, please do everything and more to keep using that arm and hand. Do you have a physical therapist? If not you should do everything in your power to get one, hopefully one who has RSD experience. You need to find exercises you can do every day, so that you do not lose the use of your right arm and limb. If you admit defeat and do not use a part of the body, you will suffer from the breakdown and contortion of cartridge. Within one month of my coming out of a right shoulder surgery that initiated my RSD, my right arm was frozen into the position the sling I was to wear for a month forced it into and I had almost no movement in my fingers, none in the rest of the hand or wrist. At that point I was not able at all to move it myself, I required passive movement, where the therapist slowly moves your body for you, while tears roll down your face because the pain is so horrific. I have seen the horrible distorted limbs of people who did not use and lost the use of limbs, but I have also seen other RSD patients in person, who stopped moving and because they were never properly diagnosed, they did not know that they would lose use and the limb would become twisted, if they did not use the limb.

Please, do not allow that to happen. You have to force yourself to use that arm and hand. I know how awful that is to do and how awful it feels to force yourself to tough a door knob and to barely be able to move it a fraction. If you don't have a PT or ex resides given to you by a doctor, you can find some on line. One of the exercises I did was scrubbing, movement is as if you have a sponge in your hand and you apply pressure on a counter or table top and rub the surface up and down. If you can barely do that, then barely do it and barely do it several times a day for short periods of time and do it every day. I think if you look at the RSDS.org website, they might have some exercises on a video there. They did at one time. If you can't find them there them do a search on physical therapy exercises for RSD. I know there are some on line that a physical therapist has posted, it's been a long while since I've seen them but I'm sure you can find something. I had very young nieces that I couldn't hold or even hold hands with, much less play with 10 years ago. I still have lots of pain and my RSD is everywhere, including internal places, but I can hold on to those girls now and push them on a swing, and walk my little dogs and load the dishwasher, and so on. If you have grandchildren , don't settle for not being able to use that right arm, hand and wrist and keep that left side moving. Though I have the pain, I do not think I ever lost very much function at all in my left arm and hand. I never allowed it. So keep the left moving, do everything you can to keep all the range and strength you can and work that right arm ad hand. Find something you enjoy to add to the exercise type of movements. I started beading and doing mosaics, to help me with desensitizing and fine motors kills, once I had larger muscles moving again. And use that right hand to pick up that coffee cup and drink your coffee. Any little movements you can perform are hood starts that you can build on.

I am so sorry about your spread , you may not be able to stop it but you can help keep yourself functioning and not let the RSD take everything. I hope your week goes well. Stay warm too, the cold must me outrageous compared to the winter we get here in Albuquerque. We actually moved from Michigan so I would not have to be housebound with my RSD.
Soft hugs, Sylvia