Welcome Carolina Rose,

So sorry you had to come find us! I can only imagine how tough this is with such a young child. Mine is 13 so was actually able to help or at least get his own snack when I was on crutches, scooter, walker, etc. The best thing you can do is get that pain under control and start some gentle PT. Don't know what that will look like with the left foot issues. Pool therapy is great on many levels for CRPS. Especially when you can't bear weight. Is there a gym or Y with daycare and a pool near you? At the very least get the limb moving, ankle circles, toes flexing, alphabet, bicycle in the air kind of thing if you are not immobilized. What was your injury?

Nerve pain is poorly addressed by opiates. Neurontin or the old Tricyclics antidepressants like nortriptyline at a low dose are good. Some people do well with topicals. There are lots of good tips on treatments, meds, supplements and therapy on http://www.rsds.org on a video by Dr. Pradeep Chopra that is a good to place to start for info. Some people also do well with a burst of steroids in the beginning to get inflammation down so they can start therapy. I feel for you on the dinner thing, after nearly killing myself on crutches I rented a scooter and later used a walker I could sit on. That whole boiling water no hands thing is pretty tough.

You will make progress. It might be agonizingly slow but it does usually come. I am walking now with no devices. The key is listening to your body and doing things gently, slowly and gradually to rehab but avoid flare. Flare does not help you heal and there is no pushing it with this disorder other than to just test what your limits are. Most people, 80%, do get better over time, ignore the doomsday crap on the Internet that tells you otherwise. There is a lot of it but the real study statistics don't support the worst case scenarios as being the norm. Hang in there and get your stubborn on. CRPS will demand patience and grit from you but you're a Mom, you already have these things. Come here when you need to vent and remember that you are not alone.

Sending Healing Love,
Littlepaw

Ugh just found your backstory! I don't know what doctor refuses to treat a fracture. Is it calcaneal? Since you have hardware and such in your CRPS ankle I always argue for getting some kind of work up for nerve entrapment. If neuro can't do or ortho won't refer out for nerve conduction study you could go see a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctor. They often do these and some will look at nerves on ultrasound and find constrictions or evidence of swelling that won't show on MRI. You want to be sure there isn't some underlying contributor to the CRPS that needs treatment. It is so frustrating and frightening in the beginning as we all know but you WILL get through this.

Littlepaw