Hello! My name is Courtney and I am a 21 year old girl, who finally after atleast 4 years of searching for answers was diagnosed with CRPS! I am new to NeuroTalk and just wanted to tell my story and get started with a support team of people who understand what I am going through.

When I was in 4th grade, I was a competitive gymnast and was getting ready for a competition the next day. I was practicing my vaults and when running, felt a pop in my buttock area. After a doctor vistit and MRI it was discovered that I had avulsed my ischiam in my pelvis. Since I was so young the treatment was to stay out of gymnastics a few months and let the pelvis heal on its own. After a few months I went back into gymnastics and trained and then ended up quiting and started cheering competitively as well as as school.

My freshmen year of high school, I was dropped doing a stunt and landed on my butt. After going back to the dr. and another MRI, result's showed either a re-tare of the ischiam or that it never healed originially. I quit competitive cheerleading and layed off the activity. Pain worsened and worsened through out the years and my leg began to have tremors and shakes when it got tired and was hurting bad. My senior year of high school the pain overtook me and I basically became paralyzed, and in so much pain even to touch my foot would completely un-nerve me. I was taking hydro-codiene and morphine at home and it hardly even touched the pain. Every doctor I saw would take a look at x-ray's and tell me "they wouldn't touch me with a 10 ft pole." Finally, after many dr's, I found a confident orthapedic trauma specialist that said that he could make me better.

Surgery was perfomed. The bone that I had avulsed has entraped my sciatic nerve. The bone was removed and my nerve was released. The night after the surgery I could already tell that I was better! Within a week I threw out all pain medication and was begining to walk again.

About 2 months later I was jogging and felt the same familiar pain shoot down throught my toes. Back to the doctor for more MRI's. Results revealed heterotopic ossification in my muscle adjacent to the sciatic nerve. My surgeons exact words were to suck it up. Determined that I didn't HAVE to live in pain, I searched for doctors. I went from orthapedic surgeons, to neurologists, to back specialists, since my pain had began to go into my back as well. One orthpedica trauma specialist told me it was in my head and I was making up the pain.
Therefore, I decided to put myself with a psychologist and pain management doctor. The psychologist told me that I was fine, I was just in pain, and the pain management doctor put me on different medications that gave me headaches and horrible side effects but never helped with pain. I even tried one medication that gave me mood swings and suicidal thoughts.
Finally, after researching online we found a wonderful doctor at the hospital for special surgery in New York. We traveled to New York to see him. Which was the first place that RSD/CRPS was mentioned. Me, being sick of doctors ignored this, by my mother went home and researched it. The New York doctor prescribed a lumbar sympathetic block to be done at my pain clinic back in Texas. My pain management doctor was completely convinced that this was not the case and that this block would not help me, but he agreed to try it out. I had the block and felt immediate relief! It was like a new me, and I had never felt that good in my life!!! The temperature difference when the block took was a 10 degree difference, which my pain management doctor was pleased to say that it was afterall a succeful block.
The block lasted me about 9 months and I received another block in December of 2009. The second block took just as well, but my back pain was getting worse! I proceeded to go see back doctor at Texas Spine Team. Who took MRI's and referred me to another physiologist in his center. The MRI's came back nomal. Even the heterotopic ossification and dissapeared, which in our opinion was an unbelievable gift from God! Good news, which also confirmed the bad news of CRPS!

My physiologist talked to me about options, but listed me a favorable to recover! I know I have a long road ahead of me, and I am willing to do anything to get better!!! I am excited to have found this website, where I cant talk with others in pain, and we can give eachother positive feedback!

Anyways, that's my story! Can't wait to hear from everyone!!!