It’s that time of the year again, what I mean is that it’s time for all the winter illnesses to start there rounds! Usually it’s one of my kids who’s bringing home a cold or flu however this time I’m the one. The last couple of days I’ve been under the weather so the writing has been put aside and my best friend at the moment is my pillow and a nice warm bed. The way I see it however is that I may as well get it out of the way now because sooner or later it’s going to be my turn! I am feeling a bit better today and hopefully it all passes quickly.

The weather here where I live has finally started to cool off, and therefore with those barometric changes comes an increase in my pain. So it’s time to make a few adjustments to my implants to try and combat the changes in my pain. For the most part things are manageable however I have been having a few more flare ups than I normally would making things a bit more difficult.

When I was trying to come up with an idea with what to write in today’s post, I kept drawing a big blank. I’m having one of those days where I can’t think clearly and it is rather frustrating. It takes everything to try and put my thoughts together, and when this happens you remember pretty quick just what type of a beast your dealing with when it comes to CRPS. When you have to struggle to remember a conversation that you had five minutes earlier it can be pretty overwhelming. So having a difficult time today I decided to go through some of my past posts to get some ideas.

I started to comb through my posts when an idea for todays post came to life. What is a typical day like in the life of someone living with CRPS? Everyone case varies a bit but there a lots of similarities between them as well. A typical day usually starts with having to take a hand full of different pills! They help reduce pain and all the other symptoms that your body has to deal with. Then there are the doctors visits that happen almost weekly whether it be a surgeon, in my case the implant clinic, or your family doctor. Oh ya! Then at lunchtime you stuff another hand full of pills down your throat! After lunch I go off and do my physio for the day, then I come home and at dinner it’s time for another dose of pills. The evening is spent with family only to end at bedtime with another round of pills!

When it comes to trying to sleep, well that is something all on it’s own. Many nights are filled with pain or your body can’t slow down enough to fall into a good deep sleep. In between that routine did I forget to mention your also dealing with the PAIN! I think you see my point! This isn’t just some of the time, for most of us this is 24/7! For most of us our full time job becomes trying to manage the pain in whatever way we can. What the implants that I have received this year have done is make the management of that pain easier with a little less medication.

This of course isn’t all that goes on during a typical day but I think you understand the point that I’m trying to make. Life is now consumed and filled with trying to manage your CRPS and everything else around you takes second place if you let it. Every day brings a new challenge that you have to face, and having to make choices that can either make your day better or worse in regards to your pain.

Many of you dealing with chronic pain know what I’m talking about and can relate to what I’m trying to say. For those of you who don’t live with pain I know it can be hard to understand what I’m saying because you don’t live with it. I do hope though that you get a better understanding. So to those of you living in pain I leave you with these thoughts. Do all you can to try and break up this vicious cycle of a day. For me it’s my photography, it helps so that every day doesn’t blend into the next. It will help make life a little easier!