It's so good to see braintalk back up and to see all of old familiar names posting messages.

I am still doing great. No signs of RSD for almost 2 yrs now. I have been officially discharged from medical care and documented as " a miracle". For those of you who do not remember my story, I was diagnosed with RSD from an ankle sprain in sept 2001. I spent 4 yrs trying everything from the standard medical treatments( drugs, blocks, week long inpatient epidurals, ketamine) to alternatives (HBOT, accupuncture, cranial sacral, applied kineisiology, aqua therapy, herbology, passive yoga,...). My doctor was the infamous Dr. Daniel Carr, who at the time was one of the big name doctors treating RSD. He told me to give up and stop trying to cure myself. I prooved him wrong.

I finally found a doctor who theorized that I might not have RSD after all. That maybe I had 2 entrapped nerves in my ankle( the superficial peroneal and the sapheneous). I had told doctors for years that these 2 nerves were trapped because over 20 years ago I had an entrapped ulnar nerve in my elbow and the pain was exactly the same but no one would listen to my theory. Once this doctor came up with the idea, my chiropractor( Dr. Michael Miller) said he could make some adjustments to the bones in my foot/ankle/heal/toes and maybe it would help. Well, within 10 days my RSD symptoms completely disappeared!

It has taken me over 1.5 yrs in rehab and pt to get back everything I lost from 4 yrs of being unable to walk. It was not an easy road but it had a rainbow at the end of the storm. I have gained back the 30 lbs I lost and look like a healthy human being again. My coloring is back and I don't look like I'm ready to die. My black foot has no signs of discoloration and there are no tempurature changes. The only sign left that anything ever happened to me is a scar on my face from an RSD-blister. I also have no limp.

I have been waiting for the forum to get back up and running to post this for a very long time and hope that my story can somehow inspire other's to keep fighting to get better. If I can then so can you!

If there is anything I can do to help anyone, please let me know. If I can help just 1 person get better, then maybe, just maybe the pain and suffering I endured will be somehow worth it.

Peace and Hope to all,
Lisa

hi lisa.....it is wonderful to hear that you are pain free.....success stories are so great to hear .....................sure wish that we heard more of them...............
big hugs to you.......(they don't need to be gentle, as you are pain free....yipeeee )

Lisa....this is the type of "family" story we want to hear! From the beginning when people log on in pain, we tell them to fight. Fight the dragon...to put out the flames.

I for one always say, YOU are in charge of your health not your Doctor. Lisa, you did just that! You fought them tooth and nail...er well in your case Foot, Ankle and Elbow did you say!

Maybe one day they will put your story on Medical Incredible! And you would so deserve to be in the lime light. The needless suffering that you didn't need to go through for the not so simple entrapment, but the 4 years of your life that you lost of your wonderful life.

I raise my cup of coffee to you! You fought the fight against the Dragon....and you LISA won!!!

Good for you. May you pain free forever. Never to have pain in your foot, ankle, toes nor elbow again.

Aloha! Dana

Dana,
Your response put tears in my eyes. You are so right about how we all encouraged one another to fight and to conquer the monster. And yes, I did win. I just hope and pray that others, who are in the midst of suffering, can gather strength and inspiration from my experience and win too.

I think I have a bit of survivors guilt.

Thank you so much for the pat on the back. It means so much to me.

Peace,
Lisa

I think I have a bit of survivors guilt.

do not ever feel guilty for getting better................survivor guilt/ ????/ NEVER

we are all very happy that things turned out superb for YOU........

big hugs to you...............................