Hi, catra121 and alt1268:

I just got a call from my son's baby-sitter, who told me my son has been crying on and off since I left for work this morning. Just before I left for work, my son was in my arms, hugging me tight, wiping off my tears, patting my head, putting his head on my shoulder, and telling me he loved me. I feel so guilty for not feeling better and for being in that much pain... It is my fault if my baby is crying like that... I just hate this knee so much I wish I could have it amputated! No knee, no pain there! The rest of my body which has RSD does not hurt as much as this knee. I guess it is because my RSD started there.

I agree with you when you say the knee has flared up my RSD. I was expecting it to happen because I know my body, but I was hoping nevertheless that it would not happen. Stupid me! People, at home and at work, do not understand me or, more precisely, they do not believe "just a scraped knee" (these are the words they used) can cause me that much pain. Lucky them! They do not know what it is like to live with RSD!

Quote: "I think the extra burning pain is most likely stemming from the RSD as opposed to just the scrape itself."

This is what I told the Emergency Room doctor, but she refused to believe me. All she had to say is: "Scrapes always burn!" I was thinking that if the Emergency Room doctor did not believe me, there is no reason for my primary care physician to believe me. No medical professional on the island where I live now knows RSD well enough. They just heard "a little bit about it", in their own words, in medical school. How much time do you think medical students spend spend studying RSD in medical school? I do not think they even spend an hour doing this.

I do not want my primary care physician to touch my RSD scraped knee, for fear he will cause me more pain than I already have. I am afraid the pain will climb from the 7 it is at now to a 10+ just because the doctor touched the scraped knee wound and hurt me, even involuntarily.

The Emergency Room doctor told me she only covered my scraped RSD knee because I asked for it. She claimed a scraped knee wound should not be covered with a dressing. What about the dirt, dust, and other dirty things that will penetrate into the uncovered scraped knee wound? What about the rubbing the uncovered scraped knee wound might get from my clothes, or bed (while I sleep)? She forgot about this, obviously! Or, maybe, she just does not have enough knowledge about RSD! I found this Emergency Room doctor to be kind, but kindness does not do all the job. Knowledge is important also.

I will see my primary care physician on Wednesday. I might mention to him the problem with the scraped knee wound causing an RSD flare-up and infection, but there is just no way I can allow him to touch my knee, even if he truly wants to help me. Even I do not dare touching my knee, so it is out of the question to let someone else do it! If I involuntarily hurt his feelings by doing this, too bad for me! I will just get lost once more!

The antibiotic I was prescribed is amoxicilline / acide clavulanique (name in French; name in English unknown). The dosage is two 500 mg tablets three times daily for eight days. I started Friday night.

Quote: "If it was deep then it may take a little longer than normal to heal but it should at least show SOME signs of getting better by now."

I see the surface of the scraped knee wound, but I cannot tell how deep it is under. As for the healing, some people who lack understanding tell me to be patient but, obviously, they do not know what RSD and severe pain are like! Besides that, what you said is totally true, so my instinct tells me: "It should at least show SOME signs of getting better by now."

Quote: "I have heard that RSD can weaken the immune system and make it more likely for us to get infections..."

Do you know the links to Internet documents that mention this fact? These documents would be very useful for me; I could show them to my doctors so they do not say I am making things up.

Quote: "If it happened at work (did you file an accident report?)"

I did file an accident report: one part went to the public health insurance company, one part went to the pharmacist (for the medications), one part went to the Emergency Room doctor, and one part went to the employer. Since I already saw an Emergency Room doctor for this work-related injury, I do not know if I can see another doctor (my primary care physician) and get all the expenses covered 100% for the work-related injury.

Alt1268, the odor from my scraped knee wound is so strong I have the feeling the room I am in is filled with baby diapers full of baby poop. Never before have I heard of pus smelling this bad. I even thought my mother had forgotten the used diapers of my brother's baby in my bedroom because it was smelling like poop in the bedroom (the room in which I spent my weekend).

I do not understand why the antibiotic is not yet doing at least a little something to help with the infection of my scraped knee wound.

Thank you both for sharing your answers and giving some comfort and kindness.