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yiisd · 01-25-2011, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tazlady

Hi all, I am writing this for my wife. She is 56 and has had RSD for 8 years, starting in her left hand from a simple finger injury, progressed up her arm into the shoulder. Last year she fell and tore the tendon in her left knee and that has never really healed so we attribute the RSD to maybe taking over in the leg also.

She is Type 2 diabetic and has had eye surgery for cataracts or glaucoma once before. Now she has to go to the eye doctor tomorrow (Tuesday) and is scared to death that the any surgery she may have to have (probably have to have) will activate the RSD in other new areas or step it up a notch where she hurts already. Her hyper sensitivity is usually a 9 or 10.

She is a tough lady, refusing any treatments, except when the pain becomes unbrearable, she will take a hydrocodone, but that is rare that she will take one. She does not want to become a drug user.

Is there any evidence that anyone knows of that could link surgery to the eye that may aggrevate the current RSD locations?

Thanks in advance from her loving husband, Rick

First let me say how lucky your wife is to have a husband who understands her RSD fears and concerns. I am living proof that not all surgeries have catastrophic results when the patient has RSD. I have had RSD for 8 years. I spent 13 months in a rehabilitation hospital because my RSD is in both my upper and lower extremities, so I was learning to walk and use my arms. It was a nightmare then and I have had consistent RSD flares during the subsequent years.
Nine months ago I had a 360 degree, three level, Cervical Spine (neck) fusion with hardware both front and back. I found a Neurosurgeon, who hesitantly and with me convincing him that I fully understood the outcome of this may cause me to be institutionalized, surgically removed my discs and did bone grafts on my CERVICAL SPINE ..... the area where RSD resides. I can not say that I did not have exacerbated pain and symptoms from the RSD, but I can say that the surgery was successful and I would do it again in a heartbeat. IF YOUR ANESTHESIOLOGIST and SURGEON fully understand the working of RSD, it does not have to be disastrous. Most patients, AND NEUROSURGEONS, would not even consider having surgery right there on the central nervous system (cervical spine); but I give credit to my team of anesthesiologists who treated me different than they would have treated a normal person having this same surgery. I stayed in the hospital longer, and stayed on complete pain control longer than usual .... but it worked. I am most happy to say that I am the same as I was before the surgery (as far as my RSD).
I have MANY, MANY eye problems from taking LYRICA for my RSD. One Year on Lyrica and I went from needing no correction to see and seeing normal, to being legally blind. I have been off Lyrica for two years and my eyesight is still that of a legally blind person ... only now, I can not have any procedure to correct my vision due to something the Lyrica did. I say to ANYONE SUFFERING WITH RSD WHO NEEDS SURGERY: If the need for the surgery is great, find a surgeon who is very familiar with RSD and then an anesthesiologist (who will be attending the surgical procedure) who is extremely knowledgeable about RSD, and go ahead and have the surgery. Don't let RSD ruin every single aspect of your life. Any that you can control with a surgical procedure - DO IT! We suffer enough with the things we have no control over due to RSD, don't let it hinder the things you can control. I fought taking pain medication for years until I realized that I was causing my friends and family to suffer from this disease when they really didn't have to -- all because I did not want to be dependent on medication. Finally I reasoned: What if I had Diabetes? Hypertension? Epilepsy? If I had any of these conditions, I would be dependent ( addicted ) to medication to keep me alive or at least living in a decent lifestyle ..... What is the Difference? Your wife needs to think about that? Epilepsy? Diabetes? You HAVE to have your medication - you can't do without it. With RSD you have to have your medication also..... SO LIVE your life the best you can and don't punish your family because you don't want to be an "addict"! My mother accuses me of being an "addict" nearly every time I see her, right after I watch her religiously take her blood pressure medication. Don't let what others think OR make YOU THINK OF YOURSELF cause you to not take pain medication for fear of becoming addicted. Other people are not knowledgeable and actually you are hurting your body by letting it be constantly under the stress that constant pain brings.
Do your wife a favor by letting her do herself one.[/B]