I Said Never

I remember the first time I heard about it. I sat there in my head thinking “absolutely not. never. not me. not an option.”

Of course that was at the very beginning when I had zero clue at what any of this meant.

It was just a few days after being diagnosed. I was at my very first physical therapy appointment where it just happened that the patient in front of me also had this rare disease I was just learning about.

It was in her knee. She found out in that small space that I had just been diagnosed when she let me know the kind of hell I was about to experience. I knew up to that point in time, I had felt pain like I never could have imagined but I still believed I would be “cured” soon; even though there was no cure.

She went on to tell me about everything she had tried & that now she had a spinal cord stimulator in. I sat there with a confused look. A spinal cord stimulator? How does that help CRPS?

In my head, I thought there was absolutely no way I would ever try that. That seemed crazy & scary & who wanted that inside their body. Not for me.

Less than a year later, I went in for surgery.

Just over a year later, I went in for a revision.

Two weeks out, here I stand. I had my follow-up with my surgeon today & my incision has healed beautifully & my stitchers were removed. I am SO thankful that they were able to keep the battery in that same place & just anchor it down because that meant just one 3″ incision on my back instead of two incisions.

My rep from the manufacturer was there today as well. We reprogrammed my stimulator & today I was feeling more stimulation coverage on more area of my foot than we did the first time with the DRG. I am hopeful.

My binder belt is off, I no longer have to wear it but my restrictions are essentially the same for a bit longer before I can slowly begin to move more with listening to my body.

I can tell you that today my battery feels better than prior to surgery. I truly had so much back pain with the battery constantly flipping out & sideways. Now that it is staying put, despite a healing incision & the obvious soreness, my back has less pain!

Also, today while the nurse was going through the normal questions, like always, I had to rate my pain 1-10. I said, “2, which for me is like the best day, it’s like awesome.”

The DRG Stimulator is not a cure. It will not take away all my pain & that was never the promise or the thought. However, it’s hopeful that it will greatly reduce my daily pain & honestly I can live forever with a 2-3 on the pain scale living life big.

Today, I had a little pep in my step. After my appointment, I felt ready. I felt like this was an entirely new day one, a new chapter. I am so ready to continue on with my therapy & my stimulator & start working on a stronger, more positive Krisha.

I have every intention to find me again.

Until Next Time~