Living with RSD/CRPS

My Cardiologist called me first thing yesterday morning to let me know that my blood values for heart failure have not risen. Nevertheless, this has definitely been a wake up call for me. The meds have caused me to gain weight and I have not been as careful with my diet for heart healthy foods. I also have not been doing enough cardio. Even 5-10 mins each day would help I think..... I am still going for the Muga scan next week to get a true Ejection Fraction Output. Now we are not expecting as low as 44% thank god. I am curious to find out asap now though. I started wondering if I might only have 5 or 10 years to live which kind of freaked me straight out! Wow.....

Jan 2nd marked my 4 yr anniversary of acquiring RSD/CRPS. I truly have come so far physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. This illness has tested me on all kinds of levels! My New Year's resolution is to place more time and effort on my blog. I cannot believe it has already been 6 mths since my last post. Update: I moved in with my boyfriend and bought a new house. We started moving much too quickly and so we have scaled it back quite a bit. I don't know why I didn't mention this last year, but Feb 2010 I was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy and luckily a mild case. It may prevent me from Ketamine. I don't know as of yet. On friday, I am seeing Dr. Bhatia to consult about Ketamine so that is exciting. This is the Dr doing it in Canada and so I guess if they won't treat me then OHIP will have to pay for treatment in the States. I read about a product someone else w RSD/CRPS uses to control the pain and so I purchased it to see if it would help me....

I have met someone! I have met someone very, very special. I cannot stop smiling and it is awesome. I tried internet dating yet again, but this time on a much more reputable site and found such a wonderful man. Eek! I am so happy. His name is John and we have been seeing each other for a couple months and it is wonderful. He has two amazing children, a son and a daughter and they are so sweet and well behaved. He is exactly the kind of guy I was looking for. I have continued to focus on positive thinking to draw positive things into my life and it is working. Work is going extremely well and so is the love life. I also just got back from Florida which was beautiful and oh so warm. I am really missing those beaches already......:( I will be back to visit soon I hope!!! I have had a fever for 2 weeks now and on antibiotics so I hope that it clears this week. I also, unfortunately, rolled my ankle and so I am now back on crutches etc. I started to get down the first day, but decided to ...

I saw my MS Specialist today and he said he sees evidence of old optic neuritis, but not new. He said in terms of MS, I am looking good. Phewf! Thing is I still have, for 2&1/2 yrs now unrelenting dizziness. They say it is due to a bout of Vertigo that I had back in 2008, but the Neuro-Otologist said that he wasn't sure why my body hadn't adjusted to the deficit yet. He said it actually isn't even that much damage. I know! What else is new right??? My body overreacting!!! As in all other Rsd ways, I wonder if this is due to that or my Dr's are missing something. I cannot survive a few hours if I do not take my gravol. I end up feeling super sick.... I called my Neuro-Otologist. I guess it is back to him for a follow up so that we can get to the bottom of this.

This year has been going amazingly well so far. I decided to take a hiatus from dating and it has been the best thing for me. I got back to being me and my hobbies and my friends. It has been great. I also have been working really hard and have already sold 6 condos, 2 houses and 2 leases. I am on track to do 40 deals this year. Or maybe even more....Excellent. Best real estate year so far:) My ankle got better realtively quickly.  My neck is another story....6 months post last car accident. If you can even call it an accident. So minor it is truly unbelievable I am still in so much pain ugh!!! I know this will sound a bit insane, but I learnt to harness the power of attraction. My new automatic thought is "I am a Real Estate magnet. Real estate comes easily to me and in abundance." I tried it from the begining of the year. I kinda thought all this positive talk was not really able to attract things that easily. Seems I was wrong. The mind is strong and the Law of Attractio...

I really don't like any other season then Fall anymore. The cold and the rain and the snow make life more difficult for me. I keep trying to think of the positive, but it becomes increasingly more difficult as my pain levels rise and I become more and more trapped indoors. Not that I hate being inside at all, I just don't like feeling stuck indoors. **Sigh** Such is life I guess. What can you do? I find that the cloudy, cold and grey days are kinda depressing. I'm trying hard to stay positive, but the pain in my feet gets worse and I have to start layering up like crazy. Even right now I am freezing, but I guarantee everyone else around me feels completely comfortable. Another grey, rainy cold day.

I have won against another hurdle. I had a lot of great insight last week and was able to pull together and face the challenge at hand. How did I do it? Great question. I started taking the vitamins I had been forgetting to take, using heat, meditating, self-hypnosis, breathing, improving my diet and getting more sleep. Today is my 2 month anniversary and I couldn't be happier. I am also relieved that we were able to get over this. It brings me more hope for the future. Now don't get me wrong. I am still in a ton of pain and have been going to physio and massage almost everyday. Progress has been made and I no longer feel as panicky or overwhelmed as I have been. I can handle this. I am strong. Some days it is easier to be strong then others..... and that is ok. The bad days are when I can lean if I need to and the good days are just better then the bad ones. I have a lidocaine infusion on Thursday am, thank god. I had one Sept. 1st and was due again Sept. 21st, but I just can...