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Jasmine’s Fight Like a Girl Story (RSD aka Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy)

by 3 Comments
Jan
09
2013
Jasmine's Story (RSD) LR

Today I am going to tell you about my journey with RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy). RSD is a chronic pain condition that is a result of dysfunction in the central nervous system. The nerves affect blood vessels, skin, bone, nerves, and tissue. RSD changes the skin, muscles, joints, ligaments, and bones. RSD is caused by fracture, sprain, or surgery. Even an injury as small as a spider bite can cause RSD. RSD is the highest ranking on the McGill Pain Scale, worse than child birth and amputation of digit. Some symptoms of RSD are: deep burning excruciating pain, swelling, increased sensitivity to touch, joint pain, color changes (red, blue, molted), temperature changes (hot/cold), skin texture changes (shiny, thin, sweaty). Motor system dysfunction symptoms include: Muscles spasms, tremors, reduced motion, and weakness. RSD can spread to a wider area including your whole body, anywhere where there are nerves. In May 2010 I was at softball practice. I was playing 2nd base and my … [Read more...]

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Kerry’s Fight Like a Girl Story (RSD aka Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy)

by 15 Comments
Jan
22
2012
Kerry's Story (RSD) LR

In 2000, when I was 13 years old, I was running pre-season for cross country…my FIRST year in high school!!! During a practice, I twisted my ankle, but finished the practice before finding the athletic trainer and talking with him. He told me to get an x-ray and stay off of it for a week before trying to run again. The x-ray came back negative and I began high school on crutches, just as I was told. A week later, the pain was worse, NOT better. I went through a series of MRIs, more x-rays, bone scans, etc. Nothing was coming back with any reason as to why I was in pain. I now felt as though I was on fire, my foot was swollen, and quite discolored. After about 3 months, my pediatrician ran out of ideas and sent me to a pediatric orthopedic about an hour away. After talking with me, my mom, and looking at my foot for about 5 minutes, he diagnosed me: Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. That’s quite a mouthful of jumbled words with ZERO meaning for someone so young. He explained it to … [Read more...]

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Life of Agony…

by 17 Comments
May
10
2011
FLAGCBLOG

How ironic is it that one of my favorite bands is Life of Agony? Never in a million years would I think I would end up living a life of agony. I am not just speaking of the physical pain, but of the emotional pain that goes along with suffering from a chronic illness. My days are so unpredictable it’s frustrating. One day I am fine, the next four days I can barely move. I have to decide if today is really a day worth taking a shower for because the pain of the water hitting my hypersensitive skin makes it an unbearable task that I now avoid. I have bouts of guilt for being in pain and barely able to walk one day and then walking fine the next day. People think because I am young I am faking it. I wrestle with my mind because my mind tells me I should be hunched over, limping, using my cane, walker or wheelchair all the time. That I should not take advantage of my good days. Why? Because I crave consistency! For ONCE it would be nice to know what I will consistently be facing. I … [Read more...]

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INSPIRATION…

by 5 Comments
Mar
21
2011
Inspiration

It has been a while but I am back. I apologize for the lack of posts but the truth is I was in a yucky place and just could not dig deep enough to find the inspiration to show up and post. I apologize for that because this blog is my responsibility and I do take it seriously. When a lot of things happen at once you really need to fine tune your coping skills. It’s an actual job, something you must be diligent with. I failed in that task and my depression and pity party got the best of me. I hate being a Betty Buzzkill, its not who I am. Its part of who I am but only a small part and one I struggle to keep in check. When I get that way I find it a lot harder to make myself reach out to others, I don’t like to spread negativity. So in my feeble attempt at protecting all of you by way of isolation, I had let the blog take a back seat and for that I am truly sorry and will make sure it won’t happen again! That being said, I decided to make this blog topic about INSPIRATION! I am … [Read more...]

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