Living with RSD

When i was twelve years old, i was sitting in the sixth grade and my toes started to tingle. i figured they were just falling asleep, so i tried to shake it off. later that day i realized that it was still there, in not only my toes, but my entire right leg! so that night i went to my mom and i told her and she just gave me some advil and sent me outside to play. little did any of us know, this was only the begining.

i woke up the next day crying. i couldn’t get out of bed! and my right leg hurt really bad! so i stayed home that day, hoping that it would be better the next day so i could go on that field trip! but the next day, it wasnt better. i rememeber my friend coming over and tryin to get me to go play outside, and i would tell him that i couldnt move, but boys are stubborn (lol).

About a week later i finally got an appointment with the Pediatrician. when i hobbled in, the pretty young doctor didnt really beleive me when i told her what was hurting and how bad (i described it as a hot nail going through my leg in about a thousand places.) She finally realized after about an hour that i REALLY was in pain, and that she had no idea what it was. so she refered me to a orthopedic surgeon who put my on crutches.

after about a week of that, my left leg started to hurt. and it was about an hour before it was at the same pain level of the right leg. they then put me in a wheelchair, and i was in that for roughly two months. then, one day, my leg didnt hurt anymore. AT ALL. thats when people started to think i had been faking it. and it wasnt very encouraging to know that no one believed me. but al i knew is that it hurt, and then it was done.

about a six month later i moved to Texas. after i lived there for about a year. i woke up with that tingling sensation in both my right and left leg. and again, i thought they were just falling asleep. not even 12 hours later, that unbelievable pain was returning to my legs. my mom saw that my legs were beginning to change color and that i truly was in pain, and she and my dad took me to the emergency room.

fast forward about three weeks: im back in a wheelchair- in twice as much pain as last time. and still, no one could figure out what was wrong with me. i went to almost every doctor in the city! then one day me best friends had a horrific accident, and her leg was really badly injured- but nothing was broken. she found a doctor who imediatly diagnosed her and she had surgery and now, a year and a half later, she is perfectly fine, if not better!

so i went to this doctor, and within the first ten minutes of my appointment, he diagnosed me with RSD (reflex sympathetic distrophy). i was so happy to finally know what was wrong with me! and i think everyone was. but i then found out that, unfortunately, that there was no designated cure. i was put on about three different medications and scheduled for a spinal block. that spinal block cured me instantly and i could walk again for the first time in about eight months. but after about two weeks, i began to feel pain again. so i got another epidural. this cycle continued until i had had about four epidurals total.

then after year of treatment, i was finally getting better! because i had developed atrophy in my legs, and to prevent me from re-triggering the injury, i went to physical therapy (which also served as my Psycological therapy, lol). thet clinic REALLY helped me alot. not only was i strengthening my legs, particualarly my ankles, i was surrounded by encouraging doctors who truly helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel.

i am now fifteen yours old, and i am just now able to become active again. there are three things that i give credit for my recovery:
1) My physical therapists
2) the people who believed in me and helped me to believe that i could get through this.
3) and last but definitely not least, my savior and god, jesus christ. he put my throught this trial so that i could truly depend on him. and i did/ do.
James 1:2-3
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you are faced with trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith developes perseverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that youmay be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”