Karen,
What a nice post! You just made me do a lot of thinking after reading your post! This is all so very, very true and I for one want to thank you for such a positive attitude that you have! Wow!! Such meaning in all of this that you wrote! You truly amaze me. I have a good friend who is dying of lung cancer(She never smoked a day in her life,) the doctors some how related this cancer to the breast cancer that she had 3-4 yrs. ago. The cancer has not spread, but it is wrapped around her main artery of her heart. They had her on the strongest chemo and it still will not shrink it. She NEVER complains, just says she's pretty tired. She coughs so much that her entire chest, back ribs hurt her. they even removed the breast that had the cancer in it and she is going down hill pretty fast. She has a good strong support of her family, has an 11 yr. old daughter, still go's to church. I don't know how my friend(Amy) comes to grips with all of this too. She asks me how I am doing? How I feel.. never about herself. she never says why me? She is now having Hospice coming to her home. She is around a 10 hour or more drive away from me. I seen her not too long ago and you can tell she's hurting, but is intent on listening to everyone else and how they are doing. So, again.. Karen, thank you for your "eye opening reply". ~Love, Desi

Sorry to hear that you are dealing with RSD too - I really hope that you can get your pain levels under control soon!

I sometimes too think "What did I do to deserve RSD" but then I realise that it was not mine or anyone else's fault that I developed RSD.

Try and think of the things you can do and not the things you can't do - I find that it helps!

It also helps to know that I have some good friends and that most of my family are supportive.

Hope this helps you.
Pain free hugs,
Alison

"I would like to know what the heck I did in my lifetime to deserve having this tossed my way."
What does anyone do to deserve their lot? What do Anna Frank do, or the 6 million Jewish people do? What did, what did, it can go on an on, both ways.
But, I think You should consider about talking to your doctor about depression. We absolutely deserve the right to be depressed.

"I want a refund on my life."
I'm assuming we have all thought about getting a do-over. Even the person with one of the biggest do-over stories ever, Lazarus, ended the same way. He died. He still became old and lost the ability to do the things he could do in his youth. It can't be about what we cannot do; it has to be about what we can still do. I used to worry about smoking cigars. I don't anymore. I used to worry about the social ladder. Well, I still worry about it, but not as much and not in the same way.

"How do you guys come to grips with dealing with this stuff, knowing that you never really will be free of it until the day you leave this Earth?"
It isn't how we have come to terms w/ it. Our spirits our different. It is how will you. What brings you peace? What brings you joy?
Still, rail against the pain; rail against the lack of options. I wish for you a means of finding peace, joy and happiness that passes beyond the comprehension that should be experienced by those in such pain.