I likely wouldn't have RSD if it weren't for two RI doctors that badly screwed me up - and they are reputed to be among the best in their fields. My orthopedic surgeon performed a 2nd rotator cuff surgery and ordered aggressive PT when I was exhibiting classic signs of RSD after his first surgery. When he finally referred me to PM with a "suspected RSD" diagnosis, that doctor (Harvard medical school and voted one of the best PM docs in RI Monthly magazine last year), sent me to a CHIROPRACTOR. In addition, he performed a series of trigger point injections directly into many of the neck and shoulder muscles which have now become the source of some of my worst pain and inflammation (RSD areas should never be injected). By the time I found a doctor on my own up in Boston and scheduled my first SGB block last December, almost 6 months had passed and the RSD had already spread full body.

I have a really great PT in RI and a wonderful team of PM docs in Boston. And my PCP has also been there for me when I've needed help that no one was available to help me. Unfortunately, like the rest of you, I suffer pain (sometimes REALLY bad) on a daily basis. And since my injury was WC the hassles never end. My husband and kids have also been impacted, our household has literally been turned upside down by this!

It is indisputably my former employer's fault that I was injured. But it the doctors' fault that I did not recover completely and that I will most likely deal with the RSD for the rest of my life. I think that if a doctor accepts a patient with a certain diagnosis, accepts a fee, and confirms the diagnosis, then he should know what he's doing when he sets a treatment plan, or confer with one that does.

I will never put blind trust in a doctor again. For anyone out there that is newly diagnosed, I would urge you to try to get to the best medical center and/or teaching hospital that you find as quickly as you can - where the doctors are on the ball and see a good number of RSD patients. It will almost certainly make a huge difference in the outcome of your case.

Sandy