Hi all,

I have a friend who has a multitude of autoimmune diseases, diabetes (insulin dep), etc. She also has RSD in both arms and probably one leg, which began last December (hospitalized and blood pressure cuff left on for days). She saw the pain specialist twice, takes Lyrica on and off and has only had a few weeks of home OT for one arm. At this point, she's decided to "live with current symptoms" and is not pursuing further care.

As a result of the autoimmune diseases, she has frequent aspiration pneumonia. One of her doctors now suggests placement of a feeding tube so she won't have to swallow food/liquids. The fact that I think other testing should be done before placement of the tube is one thing, but I'm also concerned about cutting on a person with RSD, and having a permanent "open wound" and how that will affect the RSD. My friend maintains the surgery can be done under local anesthetic but I've read that nerve blocks may need to be done to prevent a flare/spread.

Any opinions?

Thanks!

4-eyes