Only a few days after my last post and how things can turn! Over the last few days I’ve been experiencing a really bad flare-up with my CRPS. Today I’m feeling a bit better although it’s been a while since one this bad has hit me. I woke up the day before yesterday and I felt like I’d gone ten rounds in a boxing ring. The pain was so bad that I ended up spending most of the evening in bed trying to rest through the pain. Then yesterday morning when I woke up, not only could I feel pain in my affected limbs, but through my entire body. As I said though I’m feeling better today than I did yesterday so hopefully the worst is over.

As I’ve mentioned time and time again! CRPS is the type of condition where out of nowhere things can turn, and you can be left rocking in the fetal position! Yes! I am trying to have a sense of humor in all of this. Making a joke or laughing at some of the symptoms that a person lives through helps! You might ask how can you laugh at something like this? Well it helps with the stress and when I’m able to laugh a little, it reduces the amount of stress on my body. You always hear people saying that laughter is the best medicine and sometimes I find it really is. There are times that I find it helps me better than any of my medicines ever could. If I can’t laugh at some of the things that I face in my battle with CRPS then the disease wins!

Do I find it a coincidence that I have a sense of humor in all of this? No! I really believe that God has given me the ability to laugh at times when I need to. Laughter will often help me in lifting my spirits when the things around me are filled with chaos. It just makes things so much easier when I can make a joke about things, or laugh at something that I had to go through in coping with this nasty illness. When people are trying to deal with CRPS often things like depression result, and so laughter helps to reduce the possibility of that happening.

Those of us who deal with CRPS in most cases have suffered losses of various types. One thing that you don’t have to lose though is the gift of laughter. I know that going through everything that I’ve been through personally, that I couldn’t have gotten to where I’m at today without being about to laugh. Of course I can’t speak for anyone else but I can speak for myself. It makes a difference in your fight! It changes your attitude in dealing with all the things that you do in dealing with a health issue like CRPS.

Even though the last few days have been rough I need to look at the big picture. The last two or three months have been better overall and I really do believe that God is starting to heal my body. There is no backing down from CRPS and I will continue to laugh my way through this illness when at all possible! So for today I’m going to leave you with a few pictures of what brings a great deal of laughter to my life. My kids!