Hi :]

Well I am a 17 year old senior in high school and I was diagnosed with RST or CRPS 7 months ago. It all started in January when my foot was numb and I got up and some one pushed me causing my foot to bend in a abnormal way. It hurt a lot, but within 3 months it was better and I maintained walking on it throughout everything. Once it was better I still felt pain, but my doctor said it was just because I had flat feet. During the summer I started my color guard practice which involved ballet, running, jumps, etc. I was practicing for more than 5 hours each day and I still felt this horrible discomfort, but I went along with it. When camp time came it was 18 hours straight of non-stop dancing and running and I almost lasted two weeks.

The first day of away camp, after everything, I could barely walk. The pain was awful and the slightest touch caused me to flinch. I went to the ER and they said I had tendinitis and that it would be better within a week. So I got some crutches ( for the first time ever) and continued learning my color guard routine. I really couldn't stand the pain, but my coach told me I should try to join in because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to join them in the Fall and I would be too far behind. So following his orders...I went to the extreme and didn't use my crutches and followed along. This lasted until day three of camp when I collapsed and couldn't get up. I told my coach I would have to sit from the sidelines and wait it out.

My foot was huge and purple before I ever went to the Er so now, you can imagine, it was the worst I had ever seen and I had this constant pain. When camp ended and I went home, I went to the doctor and she said I probably had a small fracture in my foot and I had to wait 3 weeks until I could go visit my new Orthopedic doctor. So I was still on my crutches and I toughed out high school and when I went for my first visit to the doctors, he told me to get an X-ray, MRI, etc but he believe it was RST and he wanted to make sure nothing was wrong, so I got everything done and everything came back fine. I had to go to Physical Therapy now.

I went to PT for over 3 months and although it was painful, my foot got better and I could actually touch it with a tissue- which was impressive. Still, A lot of things bothered it. Aside for the constant pain I had, it was always cold, my wrap made it sting, and I couldn't sleep because every time it touched the bed, I would feel this awful pain and instantly walk up. Over these 3 months I went from both crutches to one crutch and then a walking boot with an ankle brace. Walking without anything lasted a good..4 days because after that, that awful pain that I got the first week of camp came back and it was worse than ever. My PT couldn't even touch it or put anything hot or cold on it. My Orthopedic doctor thought it was time to go to the pain center.

Its was November by then and now I could barely walk on it and I was back on my crutches. During the duration of the month I got two sympathetic nerve blocks. The doctors plan was to give me one every week until the pain was at a good level and then spread them out. The first block I was completely out during the actual shot and when I woke up, my pain had subsided a bit ( on a scale of 1-10 probably a 8), but once I touched the floor that blaring 10 came back and stayed all week until my next shot which was the following week. The 2nd shot didn't go as well for me. It was on the 23rd of November and this doctor liked his patients to be apart of the actual "shot" and he got that from me. I felt everything and heard everything the doctor said and once I got the shot not only did my foot feel worse, I now have an awful pain in the lower part of my back ( lumbar region)< where they gave me the shot>

The doctor believes it was because my nerves aren't working well that I have this awful pain in my back and now I am in a wheel chair. Aside from that I can't go to school because of this awful pain and my medications make me sleep through most of the day( but they don't give me relief). Tomorrow will be my first time going to school with this much pain. Now I have to wait until Monday and I am hopefully getting either a Tunneled Epidural catheter or a Spinal Cord Stimulator.

So this is my story that is still continuing....and will hopefully have a good ending :]

Thank you for reading <3