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Hi! I am Cricket! I have RSD/CRPS. I was diagnosed 6 1/2 years ago after about 18 mos. of symptoms. It began in my right shoulder and upper arm. It was caused by her double herniated disc at C4/C5 that trapped the C5 nerve root. In Nov. 2006 I had surgery-a cervical Discectomy with fusion-to repair it, however the damage to the nerve was already permanent leading to the RSD. I was working as an Oncology RN at this point and continued to work until Feb. 29, 2008 when after three 12 hour shifts in a row I came home in such excruciating pain that I was vomiting and actually passed out from the pain. The hospital I worked for had a very strict policy about no narcotic policy for all employee whether you provided direct patient care or not. My RSD started spreading across my chest wall and into my left shoulder and arm. My spinal cord stimulator which had been a God send for the past six months and had allowed me to return to work after being on FMLA, STD, and eventually being let go after five months of not working, suddenly was causing pain instead of helping my pain. And despite numerous trips to my surgeon and meeting with the representative from The company who made my SCS no amount of reprogramming or adjustments made to the unit work again. So my husband took me to the ER and my pain mgt doc admitted me for pain crisis and emergency pain control. I was started on a PCA of morphine. The next day he came in and we had a serious heart to heart about what my options were. He basically laid it out that it was time for me to go on disability. Later that day, my cardiologist (RSD affects my heart) had the same talk. So did my hem/Onc. And my neuro. I asked my employer for a LOA to decide what to do and to look into treatment options other than narcotics, they declined my request and fired me. Nice, huh? So, I filed for disability and luckily was approved on my first try. The RSD is now in my entire upper body, front and back, affects my heart and back, and most recently has started affecting my left hip and upper leg. In addition I have been diagnosed with Sjogrens Syndrome, palindromic rheumatism, fibromyalgia, gastroparesis, and degenerative disc disease (lower back L2-5). Seven years ago I was completely healthy….now my body is fighting against itself.
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It is nice to meet you Cricket. I too have Sjogrens Syndrome which has began to affect my eyes in an extreme way. I also have a very progressive form of degenerative joint disease that started at a very young age. I did not know until my early 20’s. It is a hard journey when our bodies go from being healthy to feeling as if you are falling apart.
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