please remember that she had 20 years of various problems before the RSD started to spread, too ... and RSD is SO unpredictable in every individual that there is really no template for predicting how the disease will progress. That is why the "Phases" model has largely been abandoned...
I did think the article was useful because it is gets out in the open that RSD can spread beyond only one "region" of the body, and also that it can involve multiple "systems" of the body (like gastrointestinal), not just neurologic. So many doctors just don't "get this" and it's so frustrating for people with advancing/ advanced RSD.