Hi Joe,

Sometimes it takes more than one try to find the right pain doctor. I wasn't impressed with the first two and only saw each of them once. I have been very happy with the third doctor and plan to keep him.

The inability for them to make an appointment for you before your meds run out is concerning. Can you get in with someone else in the practice? If not start calling around. You need to be secure in the knowledge that you'll be taken care of...

Can you clarify what you meant when you said "my doctor saw me two minutes and said I am getting...." That sentence cut off and I'm not sure what you meant - better, worse?

Two things concern me - that you say you push too hard and you still have the bone stimulator. This may not be the best combination. Is your ortho still involved? You had a major re-do on that foot and if your hardware isn't seating due to overuse that's a problem. If it doesn't seat properly it will cause other issues. Follow up x-rays will give an idea on how much bone your are depositing (or wearing away) if you haven't had one in a while. Don't make things worse by pushing through if you haven't healed properly yet.

If you never had any nerve conduction studies they might be helpful if your hardware is in a place that imperils any nerves. Your ortho will know from the placement if this is warranted and can order it for you.

Challenging yourself is okay if there is no medical contraindication to doing so but you don't want to perpetuate your pain cycle by overdoing all the time. Personally I found in the beginning that I had to really, really pace myself. Overuse and too much dependent position contributed to swelling that made things worse for me. This can be especially problematic after foot surgeries and can go on for a year depending on the procedure (even without CRPS). Personally exercise in the pool helped me stay active and build strength while keeping swelling down.

I understand thoughts that you might be better off without your foot but what the others say is accurate. It won't solve anything. I had a negative relationship with my own foot for some time that I had to actively work to change. I decided that it wasn't going to heal if I kept wishing I didn't have it. So I made a point to be very loving and tolerant of my foot, an underappreciated appendage if ever there was one. Whether it impacted my healing I can't say but it did impact my attitude which probably helped me in multiple ways.

I hope you find relief and healing soon. Take care and be kind to yourself and that foot okay? Don't give up on improvement. Your poor foot has been through a major ordeal and even without the complication of CRPS would need time (more than you want to give) to heal and settle from the surgery and adjust to the mechanical changes from reconstruction.