Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there! I hope you all have a really special day because you deserve it. It wouldn’t be right though if I didn’t put up a post saying a very special Happy Mothers Day to the amazing woman that I’ll have been married to for 15yrs come the end of this month. Not only is she a special woman but she is an incredible mom to our two kids. I can’t begin to say enough about what she does for this family to keep it running and the amount of love that she has for her kids. I am the luckiest husband in the world and God has blessed me more than I could never imagine.

So I stopped for a moment and tried to think of a few words to describe her as a wife and mom and the list just went on and on. It wasn’t an easy task because there isn’t just one or two words to describe her. When I try to think of words that best describe her, I think of ones like loving, devoted, caring, unselfish, giving, compassionate, thoughtful, loyal, understanding, hard working, sensitive, and the list just keeps going! Your a very special person that deserves a very special thanks for all the things that you do for our family.

Life gets really busy sometimes and it can be easy to forget to stop and just say thanks!  Your kids and I want to take the time to tell you just how much we appreciate everything you do for us, and so we want you to enjoy your special day and take some time for yourself. It’s time for a time out! Make this day all about you because you deserve it!

So keeping things short and sweet today I say Happy Mother’s Day!

Hi once again! It’s only Wednesday and I feel like we’re at the end of the week. These first couple of days have been really busy but things are only going to get busier as the week goes on. I only hope that my pain stays at a reasonable level and doesn’t spike up like it can sometimes do. As of late I’ve been putting a lot of time and what energy into trying to get ready for the Arts Festival that I will be trying to sell my photographs at. I’m hoping for amazing things to happen and that it will be a really big success. So here are a few photos I’ll have at the sale. So sorry if I’ve been a little more distracted than usual.

I want to take a second to thank my friend Lydia over at Sea Beautiful. She runs a fantastic site which I really recommend that you check out. The site never fails to inspire and they are always looking for opportunities to pay it forward. They were kind enough this month to write a post about me and my site and so I just wanted to say a big thanks! I really appreciate sites like theirs that help me in trying to get my message out. If I didn’t have that help from others then I’m not half as effective as I’d like.

With that being said I wanted to tell everyone about a fantastic new site on CRPS/RSD that I have been told about. The site is called PARC for short or Promotional Awareness of RSD and CRPS in Canada. It’s a site designed to support, educate, and inform about the illness. What’s nice is that it’s a website that not only educates those in the CRPS community but it also targets medical professionals about the early diagnosis and treatment of CRPS/RSD. There are a whole bunch of things that the site offers, to many to really get into so I would urge you to use the link I’ve provided to check out the site. I will also be putting the link on my sidebar if you want to access it.

After six years I have a pretty good idea of what CRPS is all about but after looking at this website I realized that there were still a lot of things that I didn’t know about it. As well I was able to link certain things together that I didn’t realize may be related. So from an educational side it’s a great site and if your looking for more information this is where you will find it. I find that a lot of sites have medical terms that make things really hard to understand. This site lays it out in terms that are easy to understand. In Canada slowly the education is starting to come but we need more than just websites and places to find materials. We need more programs put in place to educate. Public awareness needs to be better. If we can do a better job of educating in all the right areas then it’s going to lead to a better chance of early detection. If that happens then there is a better chance of reducing some of the symptoms that we deal with.

Well another week has come and gone and I can hardly believe how quickly time has been going as of late. I think I had mentioned in my last post that I would be visiting the implant clinic again this week to see why my pain level is going up at the moment. Ever since I got back from Disneyland things just haven’t felt quite right and the pain has been bothering me more. So it was off to the clinic this week to do some brain storming as to why things are bothering me so much right now.

When we got to talking about all the different reasons that my pain could be up we weren’t really able to draw one conclusion as to why I’m flaring up the way that I am. It isn’t stopping me though I keep pushing and moving forward believing that it’s going to be an amazing day when I’m pain free! With the pain being worse my sleep has been affected as well and I’m lucky if I get a good solid sleep. So the last couple of days have been a little rough when it comes to functioning the way I’d like to.

We aren’t sure but there is the possibility that coming down off the medication might be causing some of the extra pain as well. It’s a fine line to find the right balance of medication to combine with the implant. It’s possible that I might be too low and as a result we’ve bumped my meds up to see if it makes a difference. When we first started talking about reducing the meds I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy on my body and that we’d have to do lots of adjusting! It is nice though that I’m able to come down a bit off some of the meds. Although like they said it isn’t easy to do because your body has to do a lot of adjusting that it has to go through.

Overall what was encouraging was that they said I’m doing well post implants. Even though I’m having a few problems with elevated pain you need to look at the big picture. A few months ago we were hoping to reach a target with my pain medication. I’ve now reached that target and all I need to do is some fine tuning. If you look at my overall quality of life there is no question that it has improved. So even though here and there I’m having to deal with a few flareups I’m happy with where I’m at at this stage in the game.

I’m going to keep today’s post short because well really if I’m being honest my brain needs a rest. I just need some me time! So I’ll see you all in a few days.

Hi again everybody! First off here are a few more pictures! Today’s original post will have to be put on the back burner because a certain phone call has me taking this post in a totally different direction. Yesterday I got a call from the security company that is handling my claim, in regards to my medical equipment that was passed through the scanners at the airport in Vancouver. I wanted to give you an update of what has happened as a result of all of this and where things are going from here. If you are having implants put in then this is information that I think you need to know. If you missed my last post about what happened then I suggest you read it before carrying on with this post to get caught up.

After getting off the phone with the agent that dealt with my complaint, I felt as though she understood my concerns. I really did think that my side of the story had been heard and that some of the issues that I had would be addressed. Well when the phone rang the other day I really wasn’t prepared for what was going to come jumping through the phone. When I spoke with the agent her whole demeanor had changed, and it was pretty clear that there was no use in pursuing things any further.

She started out by explaining that they had watched the video of my family and I going through security. To make a long story short she said that my wife and I watched the equipment go through the screening device and that we had every chance to stop the bag with the equipment from going through. Funny thing is my wife was already on the other side of the scanners. Apparently I’m suppose to stop the officer from putting the bag through. Didn’t I tell him not to put it through when I handed it to him??? Aren’t they the ones with all the authority??? I’m sorry but I was probably upset by what was being done and was frozen in shock!

So based on the fact that I apparently watched it go through my claim is denied! The way they treated me was never brought up and once again it was pretty clear that she didn’t want to listen to what I had to say. It was apparently ALL up to me to stop that bag from going through the scanner and because I made no effort they take no responsibility!! I think they handled things very poorly and the least they could do is admit that. So now I’m left with nobody to take ownership. Wouldn’t audio have been great to have in this case.

At this point in time all I can really do is try to forget about the way we were treated and move on. Would it have been nice to get a sorry we made a mistake? Of course it would but I’m not willing to lose any sleep over the issue. At the end of the day they are the ones who have to live with how they conduct business not me. I just have to hope that my medical devices keep working fine. Thanks for listening to me rant today! Talk to you all soon.

This has been a really busy week and so trying to find time to put up a post has been a bit of a challenge. Not to mention that I’ve been dealing with a bit of a flare-up since getting back from vacation. As well I’ve also been spending a lot of time trying to put things together for the arts festival that I will be showing my pictures at in a couple of weeks. In today’s post I’m giving you an inside glimpse at some of the pictures that will be a part of the show. These are also pictures that I have up in my Etsy shop for sale. So feel free to visit my shop sometime at http://www.etsy.com/shop/rossmccreery and take a look at some of my work.

Like I’ve said it’s been a hectic week and it hasn’t helped that my pain level has been up. Why my pain level is up is I really don’t know. It could be several reasons the reduction in pain medication, increased stress, or even trying to get over the exhaustion of the vacation. All I know is that up until now I’ve been feeling good and the implants have been doing their job in helping to control the pain. Speaking of vacation I wanted to tell you a bit about something that happened on my way home.

When I received my implants I knew that I was going to have to go through a bit more when it came to going through the security in airports, and I have no problem with having to be checked out a little more carefully. I give myself lots of time to get through and I’m ready to be subjected to anything and everything. When we went to Disneyland I didn’t have one problem on the way there, it was on the way home that I encountered a problem.

At each and every airport I ask the security agent who’s taking your things and putting them through the scanner to NOT pass my medical devices through the machines. I can’t take the chance that the scanners will mess up my devices seeing as their combined value is $5000. So I hand everything to him and ask him if he could walk them around and swab them and check them like all the other airports have done and had no problem with. What does he do HE PUTS THEM THROUGH THE MACHINE! To make a long story short one thing led to another and we wanted someones name to make a complaint. However they refused to give us anyone’s names. Even the supervisor refused to give us his.

We tried to explain why we were upset but ended up being met with arrogance and it was clear that what we had to say was not of importance. Not to mention that my kids were getting upset by what was going on! The funny thing is that right on the form that we were given to file our complaint it wanted names and badge numbers of the employees. It was very clear however that we weren’t going to get very far with the people in that airport so I was resolved to walking away upset by what had happened.

When I got home I called the company and to my surprise got someone great who apologized for the way we were treated and promised me that they would investigate the matter. She told me what I needed to do on my end and what would be done on her end and then assured me that if there were any problems with my equipment in the future that they would take responsibility. She took the time to listen which went a long way. Admitting that he made a mistake by putting my things through the machine would have gone a long way! Anyway it’s still all being worked out but that’s my rant for today!  I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I’ll talk to you soon.

Hi again! As I was reading through the comments that were let on my last post one in particular really struck a cord with me. So I’ve been thinking about it and the more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to post about it. Before I go on though I have a few more pictures from the trip, that will be placed throughout the post. The comment that was left was having to do with pride and not allowing it to stand in your way. When I was in Disneyland we had a lot of walking to do, something that isn’t easy for me. So I could have let my pride stand in the way and just toughed it out all week. However I had to set that pride aside and allow myself the option to get some extra help if I needed it.

Now as it turned out because of how crowded it was I found it easier to walk for short distances and then sit and take breaks. I feel I did a good job of letting my wife know when I couldn’t keep going and when I could. This is something that isn’t always easy to do as others of you may know who struggle with disabilities. Our pride often stands in our way and becomes a wall that proves to be hard to get around. Its been an area that I’ve had to pray about and ask God to help me in getting past. At the start of all of this it wasn’t easy to admit that I needed help in various ways. My pride was one of the things that often stood in the way.

Slowly I started to break down that wall and get myself to a point where my pride wasn’t as big an issue. There will always be times where you will want to do things on your own or push yourself too hard just to do things without help. However you need to be able to give yourself a break and admit that sometimes you might need a little extra help and that you can’t do it alone.

I’m not at all saying that this is easy to do at all because it really isn’t. However if you humble yourself and give yourself permission to receive help then it’s going to be a lot easier to get through each day. It’s all part of accepting things for the way that they are. So I have a challenge for some of you out there who struggle in this area. Allow yourself to set aside your pride and see what happens. I promise you that you’ll start to knock down that wall that that may be standing between you and moving forward!

Hi everybody I’m finally back from holiday, needing another holiday to recover from that one. After two days of travelling to get home I finally have enough energy to put a post together.  My girls had the time of their lives, and even I was taken back to my childhood in a lot of ways. Every way we turned we were running into the characters of Disney and there were so many different highlights to the trip. One of the greatest moments though had to be when we were watching the Disney Parade. My five year old daughter turned to my wife and said “this really is the place where all your dreams come true!”. It was one of those moments that you’ll never forget.

One of my concerns when we set out on this trip was how I was going to do with all the walking that you have to do at Disneyland. I went prepared to rent a scooter if I had to but found it easier just to take frequent breaks, sitting where needed along the way where I needed to. With the crowds being the way that they were it was a lot easier to do it this way. As I got to the last day I could tell that my body was starting to tell me that I’d done enough, so I’m really happy that we went for the length of time that we did. If we had stayed any longer then I would have found it difficult to keep going. I paced myself well through this trip. With all distractions I’m sure it helped me in keeping my mind away from the pain.

Overall I felt good and that my CRPS wasn’t stopping me from doing the things I wanted to do. Really what it comes down to is that I feel as though I had control over the CRPS and not it having control over me. I was able to enjoy a family holiday and not spend the entire time in pain or wondering if what I was about to do was going to set off my condition. A lot of that was knowing my limitations and staying within them. You have to find a piece within yourself to know when to say enough and stop fighting your own mind. I went in to this trip saying to myself that I wasn’t going to push myself to hard and that I wasn’t going to let pride stand in the way.

There are too many highlights to the week to mention but one that can’t go without mention was when my eight year old daughter challenged me to going on the Tower of Terror. Let’s just say that it never happened! Yes! I’m a wimp but something doesn’t sound so appealing about dropping 10 stories in about 5 seconds. It seems as though I have a real thrill seeker in Emily because she also wanted to be on California Screamin which is a roller coaster that turns you upside down. I did manage to find it within myself to take my daughters on Dumbo which is more my speed!

It was a great week filled with memories for a lifetime and I’m glad for the most part that the pain stayed under really good control. Now it’s time to get back into routine and start with a hectic schedule once again. So I’ll talk to you all in a couple of days and I hope to get caught up on some of your blogs out there as well. I’ll post some more pictures of the trip in my next post as well.

As your reading this post I’m either busy trying to hunt down Mickey Mouse or I’m laying by the pool enjoying the California sun! That’s right I’m enjoying some much needed time away with the family and won’t be returning for a week. So if a few days go by and you don’t see a post please check back again. I’ll resume posting once I get back.  With everything that I’ve been through in the last several months I just find that there’s a serious lack of energy to get through every day. I’ve been having a really hard time with this issue and not being able to sleep very well hasn’t been helping that issue.

I’ve mentioned before that with CRPS one of the things that comes along with is difficulty in sleep patterns. Now since my surgery I seem to get a little more broken sleep but it’s never very good. On an average night I maybe get 3 or 4 hours of broken sleep. What I mean by broken sleep is that I never get into REM sleep. When I am able to get any sleep I can usually count on walking up five or ten times. Usually what happens is that my body stays awake until  it just gets to that point where it can’t take it anymore and it just has to shut down.

A lot of people don’t understand that this is all a part of CRPS and that most of us can’t remember the last time we had a great sleep with a solid eight hours of sleep. I could take sleeping pills but the effects that they have on my body just don’t make it worth taking them. Half the time they make me feel a whole lot worse so it’s not worth taking them. Not to mention that the pain usually ends up waking me up anyway, and it’s just adding to all the pills I’m already taking. It really ends up being a pros and cons decision and there end up being more cons than there are pros!

So as a result of the lack of sleep my body has had to adapt to living with less sleep than it should be getting. I wish it was different but this is the way it is at the moment. My daughter asked me yesterday if I’d had any dreams to which I answered “no” and that I couldn’t remember the last time I had a dream. Sleep to some people may be seen to some people as something that really isn’t all that important. To me it’s one of those small things that I’d love to have back. For now I continue to do relaxation therapy to get myself relaxed enough to sleep. Sleep is one of the things that hopefully over time the implants will help me with. Until then I try to do the best I can! See everyone soon!

Well the countdown is on! Only four more sleeps until we get to leave and begin our Disneyland adventure, for a week of magic with the kids. There have been a couple of close calls where the kids have almost found out, but so far they don’t know where they are going. It’s going to be a great holiday and our family needs this time on our own just relaxing and having some fun. It’s been a really hard year with the stress of my surgeries and just the adversity that the entire family has had to endure over the last year.

This trip is about the kids and they deserve to have some fun and get lost in the magic of Disney. I want this to be a time where they can’t stop laughing or having fun seeing as that is what visiting Disneyland is all about. I can hardly wait to see the look on my youngest daughters face when she sits down and has lunch with the princesses. I’m sure it will be the highlight of the trip for her. I’m going to do my best to put the pain and health issues behind me as best I can. The reality is that it will be next to impossible to do that, however I can do my best to minimize the amount it affects me.

My pain over the last couple of days hasn’t been all that great. My neck and where they went in between my shoulders has been bothering me to the point that I’m waiting to hear back from the implant clinic to see what they suggest I do. It’s hard to say why the pain has been worse over the last couple of days. I need some fast relief before we go. It’s so very frustrating because up until now things have been great and the pain has been under control. Oh well! I’m sure that spending some time in a nice pool and a hot tub along with the hot California sun will help bring me some relief!

This will be my first trip with all the new implant hardware in my body so I’m getting ready to set off all the alarms at the airport. I’ve been told that I need to prepare myself to be delayed a little longer than I’m used to. I’m hoping that things go smoothly and that I don’t run into to many obstacles at airport security. My understanding is that they are starting to get a lot better with people who have implants. I say load me into the full body scanner and get things over quickly from the start! Any way you look at it this should be an experience!

I’m really hoping that I come back refreshed and full of great ideas to blog about because I really feel like I’m needing a break at the moment. When I get back I’ll be sure to post the pictures of the girls and the looks on their faces when we tell them. We plan of video taping the moment we tell them. I hope that everyone has a Happy Easter and I’ll talk to you all very soon!

First of all I have to apologize to everyone for the length of time between post. I’ve been trying for a few days to put this together but it’s been busy and I haven’t been feeling my best as of late. It was a busy week and because of that I’m sure that’s why I’m not feeling as good. My pain as well as some of the other symptoms have been worse and so I’ve needed to slow things down a bit. The last few days the pain at the various surgery sites where the surgery had been done has been bothering me, so that has probably set things off as well.

I don’t know why but for one reason or another this post has been really difficult to put together. One of the reasons is that I’ve been very foggy in the head the last few days and it makes things a lot more difficult to put together. It’s the reality of this disease though and I’m not prepared to let it slow me down and stop me from overcoming CRPS. Without a doubt the implants have helped no question! However they aren’t a cure and I’m still going to have days where I find it hard, and today is one of those days.

I’m having a hard time with my concentration today and trying to put together a sentence. However I’m bound and determined not to let this disease defeat me. This is where I dig in my feet and fight even more so that I can win this battle. According to the word of God I have already won this battle and so I find strength in those words. I have come too far and taken back too much to be defeated now.

The message is pretty simple today, and so I’m telling you I’m having a tough day. We live with a disease that sees us up one day and down the next. I’ve made a choice in all of this not to stay down and defeated but to rise up against all of this and show you that it can be beat. You need to know that that none of this would be possible without having God do all the work that He’s done in my life. Tough days are going to happen along the way on your journey as well, and you have to soldier through them and then start moving forward again. I look forward to the day that I can write that one post that says I have no pain, and that I have full use of my limbs again!