My Story............By Terrie

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Recommend Delete Message 3 of 3 in Discussion

From: byrd45 Sent: 3/27/2006 7:33 AM
Hi Terrie,
It is great to have you here with us and thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Wow you have really been through some horrible times. I am so glad that you getting the spinal cord stimulator has made your pain and life more bearable! That is such a relief to hear. Your fiance` sounds like a wonderful person. Well welcome and hope you like being a member here! Talk to you soon.
Love,
Robyn
----- Original Message -----
From: moonbaby831
To: RSD Outreach
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 7:41 PM
Subject: My Story


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New Message on RSD Outreach

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From: moonbaby831
Message 1 in Discussion

I joined RSDOutreach a while back but I didn't post anything (at least I think I didn't ....). I wanted to read posts and see if I would like it here.


Hello Everyone,

I am new here and just wanted to introduce myself. I am sorry for the length of my story, please bear with me. My name is Terrie and I live in Gainesville, FL. I was diagnosed with RSD in my lower left leg after I got out of the Army, just before I turned 19. I am now 31. When I graduated from high school in 1992, I joined the military. While in basic training for the Army I sprained my left ankle and knee. The military doctor initially said I fractured my left ankle and put me in a cast for six weeks. While in the cast I participated in all the basic training activities, like hiking on crutches, getting in fox holes, going on bivouac (pronounced biv'wak' - meaning to create an encampment where to perform war games or tactical training). All on crutches carrying a 70lb pack, helmet, rifle, and canteen belt (which carries two canteens strapped to your body). When the cast came off, I was no better, actually I was worse. The military doctor then told me my ankle had never been broken, that it was all in my head. I told him no one could make their leg swell up, turn purple/blue, and ice cold by having it in their head! I was medically discharged. When I came home my mom took me to the VA hospital here in Gainesville. As soon as the doctor walked in and saw my leg, he immediately knew what it was. He put me in the hospital and did sympathetic nerve blocks on me. I was better (it went into remission)! This confirmed the diagnosis. A year later it came back out of remission. Again I went to the VA hospital, but this time they wouldn't see me. They told me I was not considered a veteran because they said my injury was prior to service. (When I left for basic, they gave me airborne qualification, which requires them to test my ankles and knees to make sure they are strong enough) Anyway, I appealed the decision and while the appeal was in the process, they allowed me to get treatment (I later lost my appeal). So again I went in the hospital and had the nerve blocks, and again it went into remission. This time it stayed in remission for around 10 years.
I am sure you all know how stress can trigger flare-ups and can cause it to come back out of remission. In August of 2002 a series of very stressful events occurred which brought it back out of remission. When it came out of remission, I lost my job, my friends, my house, and everything else you can think of. The only person who stood by my side, besides my dad, was my fiancé, Mike. At that time, he worked out of town and pretty much all of his check went to my medical bills. While he was away, I stayed with my mom. She is an alcoholic and one night while I was watching TV she walked over and hit me in my temple. It was not a punch and it didn't hurt, but within an hour just the stress of it caused my right leg to blow up just like my left one, it turned purple/blue, ice cold, and burned horribly. I knew it had spread. Since that happened, Mike has no longer been able to work because I have to have someone here 24 hours a day. I get ulcers caused by cellulitis and staff infections on my legs that ooze, drain, and don't heal properly. When my legs "flare up", (I'm sure you all know that is when they are at their worst), they swell so severely my toes split apart. Flare up's also cause my legs to feel as if my skin is being boiled off. I also feel that way when my legs are touched, but when they swell the burning feeling is there constantly. My pain management doctor was making me feel like a criminal for wanting to get rid of my pain, but I see a new pain management doctor now. I am in a wheelchair permanently and I have had to sleep in a chair because when I sleep lying down I feel as if my skin is being boiled off. I finally got my disability approved in January 2005, after a 2-½ year fight, and my Medicare kicked in March 1, 2005. We now have an apartment in a building for persons with disabilities and the elderly. Mike has stuck by me through all the pain (and grumpiness to go along with it), being homeless, having severe hunger pains because we had no food, and the mental breakdowns I have. If it weren't for him, I truly would not be here today. I would have given up! To tell you the truth if I didn't have him I sometimes feel I would have no reason to live anymore. In January this year (2006) I had a spinal cord stimulator put in and it has helped with my pain tremendously! It did not get rid of the pain completely; I actually still have a great deal of pain!!! But, now life is bearable!!! I wanted to tell my story so everyone would somehow get to know me better.

Again, I apologize for the length of this, but I needed to tell my story. Sorry for rambling! And thank you for listening (or actually reading).

Much Love,
Terrie


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Reply
Recommend Delete Message 1 of 3 in Discussion

From: moonbaby831 (Original Message) Sent: 3/26/2006 7:41 PM
I joined RSDOutreach a while back but I didn't post anything (at least I think I didn't ....). I wanted to read posts and see if I would like it here.


Hello Everyone,

I am new here and just wanted to introduce myself. I am sorry for the length of my story, please bear with me. My name is Terrie and I live in Gainesville, FL. I was diagnosed with RSD in my lower left leg after I got out of the Army, just before I turned 19. I am now 31. When I graduated from high school in 1992, I joined the military. While in basic training for the Army I sprained my left ankle and knee. The military doctor initially said I fractured my left ankle and put me in a cast for six weeks. While in the cast I participated in all the basic training activities, like hiking on crutches, getting in fox holes, going on bivouac (pronounced biv’wak’ - meaning to create an encampment where to perform war games or tactical training). All on crutches carrying a 70lb pack, helmet, rifle, and canteen belt (which carries two canteens strapped to your body). When the cast came off, I was no better, actually I was worse. The military doctor then told me my ankle had never been broken, that it was all in my head. I told him no one could make their leg swell up, turn purple/blue, and ice cold by having it in their head! I was medically discharged. When I came home my mom took me to the VA hospital here in Gainesville. As soon as the doctor walked in and saw my leg, he immediately knew what it was. He put me in the hospital and did sympathetic nerve blocks on me. I was better (it went into remission)! This confirmed the diagnosis. A year later it came back out of remission. Again I went to the VA hospital, but this time they wouldn’t see me. They told me I was not considered a veteran because they said my injury was prior to service. (When I left for basic, they gave me airborne qualification, which requires them to test my ankles and knees to make sure they are strong enough) Anyway, I appealed the decision and while the appeal was in the process, they allowed me to get treatment (I later lost my appeal). So again I went in the hospital and had the nerve blocks, and again it went into remission. This time it stayed in remission for around 10 years.
I am sure you all know how stress can trigger flare-ups and can cause it to come back out of remission. In August of 2002 a series of very stressful events occurred which brought it back out of remission. When it came out of remission, I lost my job, my friends, my house, and everything else you can think of. The only person who stood by my side, besides my dad, was my fiancé, Mike. At that time, he worked out of town and pretty much all of his check went to my medical bills. While he was away, I stayed with my mom. She is an alcoholic and one night while I was watching TV she walked over and hit me in my temple. It was not a punch and it didn’t hurt, but within an hour just the stress of it caused my right leg to blow up just like my left one, it turned purple/blue, ice cold, and burned horribly. I knew it had spread. Since that happened, Mike has no longer been able to work because I have to have someone here 24 hours a day. I get ulcers caused by cellulitis and staff infections on my legs that ooze, drain, and don’t heal properly. When my legs “flare up”, (I’m sure you all know that is when they are at their worst), they swell so severely my toes split apart. Flare up’s also cause my legs to feel as if my skin is being boiled off. I also feel that way when my legs are touched, but when they swell the burning feeling is there constantly. My pain management doctor was making me feel like a criminal for wanting to get rid of my pain, but I see a new pain management doctor now. I am in a wheelchair permanently and I have had to sleep in a chair because when I sleep lying down I feel as if my skin is being boiled off. I finally got my disability approved in January 2005, after a 2-½ year fight, and my Medicare kicked in March 1, 2005. We now have an apartment in a building for persons with disabilities and the elderly. Mike has stuck by me through all the pain (and grumpiness to go along with it), being homeless, having severe hunger pains because we had no food, and the mental breakdowns I have. If it weren’t for him, I truly would not be here today. I would have given up! To tell you the truth if I didn’t have him I sometimes feel I would have no reason to live anymore. In January this year (2006) I had a spinal cord stimulator put in and it has helped with my pain tremendously! It did not get rid of the pain completely; I actually still have a great deal of pain!!! But, now life is bearable!!! I wanted to tell my story so everyone would somehow get to know me better.

Again, I apologize for the length of this, but I needed to tell my story. Sorry for rambling! And thank you for listening (or actually reading).

Much Love,
Terrie




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Reply
Recommend Delete Message 2 of 3 in Discussion

From: theMatrix777 Sent: 3/26/2006 11:42 PM
Terrie: Welcome to the group. I hope you have been reading the posts and
seen that we are one big family here. And we truely care about each other.

You have been through a lot a lot, yet you don't sound bitter. That's says a
lot about you. You are definetly a fighter and that's good. I'm glad you
have Mike standing by you as some husbands/boyfriends split when times get
tough. You're very lucky in that way.

I'm glad you've decided to join us and feel free to jump in any time in our
dicussions. As you have noticed we pretty much talk about anything and
everything.

Hope you're pain levels are not too bad,

Trudy


>From: "moonbaby831" <mooneyhamt@bellsouth.net>
>Reply-To: "RSD Outreach" <RSDOutreach@groups.msn.com>
>To: "RSD Outreach" <RSDOutreach@groups.msn.com>
>Subject: My Story
>Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:41:09 -0800
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> I joined RSDOutreach a while back but I didn't post anything
>(at least I think I didn't ....). I wanted to read posts and see if I
>would like it here.
>
>
>Hello Everyone,
>
>I am new here and just wanted to introduce myself. I am sorry for the
>length of my story, please bear with me. My name is Terrie and I live in
>Gainesville, FL. I was diagnosed with RSD in my lower left leg after I got
>out of the Army, just before I turned 19. I am now 31. When I graduated
>from high school in 1992, I joined the military. While in basic training
>for the Army I sprained my left ankle and knee. The military doctor
>initially said I fractured my left ankle and put me in a cast for six
>weeks. While in the cast I participated in all the basic training
>activities, like hiking on crutches, getting in fox holes, going on bivouac
>(pronounced biv’wak’ - meaning to create an encampment where to perform war
>games or tactical training). All on crutches carrying a 70lb pack, helmet,
>rifle, and canteen belt (which carries two canteens strapped to your body).
>When the cast came off, I was no better, actually I was worse. The military
>doctor then told me my ankle had never been broken, that it was all in my
>head. I told him no one could make their leg swell up, turn purple/blue,
>and ice cold by having it in their head! I was medically discharged. When I
>came home my mom took me to the VA hospital here in Gainesville. As soon as
>the doctor walked in and saw my leg, he immediately knew what it was. He
>put me in the hospital and did sympathetic nerve blocks on me. I was better
>(it went into remission)! This confirmed the diagnosis. A year later it
>came back out of remission. Again I went to the VA hospital, but this time
>they wouldn’t see me. They told me I was not considered a veteran because
>they said my injury was prior to service. (When I left for basic, they gave
>me airborne qualification, which requires them to test my ankles and knees
>to make sure they are strong enough) Anyway, I appealed the decision and
>while the appeal was in the process, they allowed me to get treatment (I
>later lost my appeal). So again I went in the hospital and had the nerve
>blocks, and again it went into remission. This time it stayed in remission
>for around 10 years.
>I am sure you all know how stress can trigger flare-ups and can cause it to
>come back out of remission. In August of 2002 a series of very stressful
>events occurred which brought it back out of remission. When it came out of
>remission, I lost my job, my friends, my house, and everything else you can
>think of. The only person who stood by my side, besides my dad, was my
>fiancé, Mike. At that time, he worked out of town and pretty much all of
>his check went to my medical bills. While he was away, I stayed with my
>mom. She is an alcoholic and one night while I was watching TV she walked
>over and hit me in my temple. It was not a punch and it didn’t hurt, but
>within an hour just the stress of it caused my right leg to blow up just
>like my left one, it turned purple/blue, ice cold, and burned horribly. I
>knew it had spread. Since that happened, Mike has no longer been able to
>work because I have to have someone here 24 hours a day. I get ulcers
>caused by cellulitis and staff infections on my legs that ooze, drain, and
>don’t heal properly. When my legs “flare up”, (I’m sure you all know that
>is when they are at their worst), they swell so severely my toes split
>apart. Flare up’s also cause my legs to feel as if my skin is being boiled
>off. I also feel that way when my legs are touched, but when they swell the
>burning feeling is there constantly. My pain management doctor was making
>me feel like a criminal for wanting to get rid of my pain, but I see a new
>pain management doctor now. I am in a wheelchair permanently and I have had
>to sleep in a chair because when I sleep lying down I feel as if my skin is
>being boiled off. I finally got my disability approved in January 2005,
>after a 2-½ year fight, and my Medicare kicked in March 1, 2005. We now
>have an apartment in a building for persons with disabilities and the
>elderly. Mike has stuck by me through all the pain (and grumpiness to go
>along with it), being homeless, having severe hunger pains because we had
>no food, and the mental breakdowns I have. If it weren’t for him, I truly
>would not be here today. I would have given up! To tell you the truth if I
>didn’t have him I sometimes feel I would have no reason to live anymore. In
>January this year (2006) I had a spinal cord stimulator put in and it has
>helped with my pain tremendously! It did not get rid of the pain
>completely; I actually still have a great deal of pain!!! But, now life is
>bearable!!! I wanted to tell my story so everyone would somehow get to know
>me better.
>
>Again, I apologize for the length of this, but I needed to tell my story.
>Sorry for rambling! And thank you for listening (or actually reading).
>
>Much Love,
>Terrie
>
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