At Mon, 23 Sep 2002, Michelle wrote:
>
>Hello all,
>I posted once before, but I must have picked a bad time - no one
>responded. At first I was hurt, but after reading more posts I have
>come to appreciate how generous you all are in sharing your caring,
>knowledge and your time even though you all are in pain and that you
>can't possibly answer every post! Before I begin my rambling self
>pitying story, I offer my sincere thanks for this forum & all who
>contribute.
>I too suffer from the relentless pain that so many of you speak of.
>I've had numerous pelvic/abdominal surgeries, tests, physical therapy,
>biofeedback, acupuncture, radiofrequency, nerve blocks - you name it!
>I take a ton of meds - DAILY dose = 18 Neurontin, 3 Gabitril, 3
>Oxycontin, OxyIR as needed for breakthrough & 2 Wellbutrin - they help
>control the pain, but don't eliminate it.
>I am also homebound with very limited activity.
>I feel best when I lay flat & still, take all my meds & either eat
>nothing or very little.
>To make a long story short - I finally found you all and through this
>site and links found on this board, I have educated myself about ARD and
>RSD (CRPS).
>Throughout this whole nightmare I've remained hopeful that if I couldn't
>be completely pain free, I could at least find some way to control the
>pain enough to be reasonably "normal" again and maybe even go back to
>work (and play).
>My last surgery was with Drs Reich & Redan in Scranton, PA. These are
>fantastic doctors - particularly Dr. Reich. It took them just a few
>hours of surgery to perform a miracle!
>For the first time since this all began - I was TOTALLY pain free!!!!!
>Unfortunately it only lasted six days and then the pain came back in
>full force.
>So here I am - still laying on the sofa taking buckets of pills. I've
>been to the best and they did their best - I just wasn't one of the
>lucky ones. There's nothing left to hope or strive for and I can feel
>depression, anger and despair creeping in and I don't know how to stop
>it.
>What do I do now?
>
>--
>Michelle
>