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Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Way down yonder in the Land of Cotton
Posts: 231
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Another Right Foot (almost exactly same place too!) person here!
Hey Jennifer,
I can totally sympathize with you. I was only a few years older than you when I stumbled into a curb on a charity walk, stubbing my big toe VERY hard...and winding up putting a hole in the cartilage where it attaches to the ball of my foot. Thing is, no one knew that is what the problem was (one of the problems anyway) for...well...months. I knew I hadn't broken anything (I have never been what you would call a "Graceful" Person..I mean..I stumbled over a CURB for goodness sakes! LOLOL), because I had had many broken bones before...but I knew that SOMETHING was horribly wrong. The docs did their litany of x-rays and what not to come to the same conclusion, and then put me in a series of orthotics, because they figured that it was my extraordinarily flat feet that was causing the pain, redness, and swelling around the ball and up and down the inside of my foot and big toe. Never mind that I have had these huge big extraordinarily flat feet my entire life, and stumbled and tripped over many things, and never had this happen before without a reason. No...the curb didn't have anything to do with the pain...Sheesh.
Anyway, to make a long story somewhat shorter, I wound up having a total of 4 surgeries done on my foot, all in the area of the First Metatarsal Phlangeal (sp?) Joint, which you should be pretty familiar with? LOLOL. Wound up having it fused together...and then having a nerve (forget the name of it..think it started with an "H", as if it matters anymore, *sigh) severed. That is something that I most certainly DO NOT recommend having done no matter WHAT any doc tells you, or what they do to convince you otherwise. It only made things about a zillion times worse in my case.
I am having some troubles understanding exactly what the problem is up there in TN? (I am down in AL, BTW..."Howdy Neighbor!" LOL) First of all...one thing that is really standing out in your post to me is that there isn't any test that will prove RSD. Pretty much there are tests that exclude other things...but don't dx RSD. It is a clinical Dx, which basically means that it is one that is made by a knowledgeable doc who sees the symptoms and confirms or gives the dx that way. But, then I read that you say that there are no knowledgeable docs up there...Hmmmm. Ok...that could be a problem.....LOL
What kind of "Blocks" have you had done? I ask, because if your docs don't know their heads from their elbows, then they might be giving you the wrong kind, then telling you that they are supposed to work, and then acting all surprised or upset or even MAD at you (or, rather, looking at you like you are crazy or a hypochondriac muttering the dreaded words we all hear at some point or another, "it's all in her head", when you KNOW it is good GD well NOT! GRRRRRR) when the blocks don't work. So...tell me/us what kind they "said" they did, how they did them, if you were sedated then how much you remember or what they told you before or afterwards about what they did, where the procedure site(s) was(were), and ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that you felt afterwards. Like, did you get ANY relief at all, even if it was only for an hour or two? Or, did you have a pain increase, and if so, for how long? Did your limb/foot change colors (like get nice and pink again..or not), and get warm (or not) afterwards? If so, for how long? ANYTHING that you can think of.
As far as SSD goes...You should qualify if you are unable to work, and haven't worked for ...dang...I forget how long...and if you are not going to be able to work for the forseeable future. A lawyer will be able to tell you that stuff better than I can remember it. RSD IS a quailifying disease/aliment/whatever you call it, for SSD. There are other things that might qualify you too. When I first won my SSD, I wound up winning it for "Depression" and "Chronic Lower Back Pain". Depression is a BIG THING. So, if you are suffering from Depression, and can't get a proper RSD Dx, you might be able to run with that Dx for now. When I got y Recertified for my SSD, It was for RSD, and Depression (I am Chronically and Clinically Depressed, and have been ever since RSD came to live with me....but that doesn't mean that I walk around all "Gloom and Doom" all the time, so don't get scared or any thing)..and not sure about the Lower Back stuff. Could care less about it after that exam, really.
So, I guess that basically what I am saying here, is that I totally agree with Mark (ATallOne, who is a super nice guy, and well worth listening too) and think that you should really, really get a hold of an attorney to see if they will take your case. He is right on the money about how they work. They will take your case if they think that you win....you will loose no money by talking with one...no matter how many you talk with. They will not charge you if they take your case and loose. They take your case, and they have a set amount that they are allowed to charge you by law, it is either a dollar amount, or a % of your lump sum from SSD, depending on which is the lesser. When you call to talk to one, they should go over all of this with you, and you can find out what all of that info is now....as I rally can't remember. I won my case back in 1998. Dang...it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago in some ways...but then in others it seems like longer ago than that! Sheesh.
I think that I am going to end this here, because it is after 12:30 am here, and I have to get up and drive my daughter to her classes at the community college in the morning. Her car is having some problems (like not having ANY Transmission fluid in it! EURGH! She KNOWS better than that!!! *Sigh), so that means that I have to get out of here by 6:45 and fight yucky traffic on the way back home. Fun fun. Plus, I am probably babbling on....and I am not sure if I have helped answer the things that you needed answered? I also have to watch out, because if you haven't noticed yet...I am NOTORIOUS for writing horribly LOOOOOONG posts, and if I don't stop myself, I am like the Engergizer Bunny...and I keep going, and going, and going, and going, and going....and you get the idea. ROFL
Let me know about those blocks, OK? If you have more questions...give a holler. If I caused you to have more questions...give a bigger holler! LOL.
Ok..really am stopping now. Hope you have a good night...
((hugs))
Jose
(Please excuse typos and whatnot..not proofing or spell checking, as I am heading off to bed right now. So sorry in advance for any unreadable gibber gabber.)
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