crpsstrong

#crpsstrong

Nearly four years ago.. I slipped and fell in my backyard. The fall didn’t hurt that much, I thought I had just twisted my ankle. Thinking that, I stood back up and limped inside. I sat down, and my mom had me ice it. I assured her I was fine, and that I definitely do anything serious.

Time jump one week. My ankle had progressively started to hurt worse and worse. At the time, I was a competitive dancer, and I didn’t stop dancing when I had fallen. We decided it was time to go get it checked out, since the pain was getting worse. I went to the orthopedic doctor and got multiple x-rays, all of which showed no fracture or break. That doctor diagnosed me with a sprained ankle and said to come back in two weeks if I wasn’t feeling better. He told me I could keep dancing as long as I was careful.

Fast forward two weeks, and the pain was getting worse. I had been dancing on my ankle, to the point where the pain was excruciating 24/7. I would be lucky if I could fall asleep, because the pain usually kept me awake. I went back to the doctor, however this time I went to a new one. They also took x-rays of my
leg, and they also said it just seemed like a bad sprain. This doctor put me in physical therapy for a sprained ankle, which only made the pain much much worse.

After staying up all night a few weeks later crying in pain, my mom took me to the hospital. The doctor there was absolutely no help, and accused me of faking my pain and looking for strong pain meds. This sent me home an emotional mess, and it really seemed like no one could help me.

Two weeks later one of my doctors finally agreed to get me an MRI scan. The MRI showed a hidden fracture along the inside part of my ankle. Mind you, I had been walking and dancing on a broken ankle for 2 months at this point. We were so relieved to finally know what was wrong, but little did we know what this meant. My doctor casted my leg, put me on crutches, and said to come back in 6 weeks and we’ll take a follow-up MRI.

The 6 weeks went by, and despite being casted and non-weightbearing, my leg hurt even worse. I got the cast off, and could not move my ankle at all. I couldn’t even attempt to put weight on it, the pain was so excruciating. My doctor put me in a boot, saying that I should stay in crutches. At this point, he diagnosed me with CRPS/RSD.

I spent months in excruciating pain even after the fracture had healed. Very few doctors treat CRPS in children, in fact there are only 19 doctors in the country who do, and only 2 in my state. This meant that getting in would be extremely difficult.

Once I was an established patient with a hospital system months later, I began formal therapy treatment. I was also told I would definitely never dance again, and I may never walk again.

I spent all of middle school in a wheelchair, knee scooter, crutches, or some other mobility device. I went to physical therapy 4 days a week, and saw doctors 24/7. I still deal with this today, and that’s my story :)
#crpsstrong #ComplexRegionalPainSyndrome

Having #CRPS prevents me from going out in the sun or when it gets really humid. Used to be so active and I grieve everyday when I see the sun come up. I try to open the house in the morning. I hate #crpsstrong
#52SmallThings