So how is everybody doing today? I’m having one of those days where I’m trying to ignore the pain yet it isn’t working. Every time I try to distract myself from the pain it flares up a bit more and makes things worse. It doesn’t help that at one of my doctors appointments today, I received a nerve block for recurring pain that I’ve been getting in my abdomen stemming from another problem. It’s suppose to help take the pain away! Not make it worse! At the moment I’m feeling quite a bit of discomfort and it’s making it hard to keep my mind off the pain.

Things have been getting a little more difficult over the last couple of days, as I try to deal with the stress of two kids and a wife recovering from a hysterectomy. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t affecting my pain level!! All things considered however the pain level is ok.  I’m still waiting for news on when they are going to do my spinal implant, however it could be this month or three months down the road. I’ve already been on the wait list for five months so I’m trying to be patient. I keep telling myself it will be worth it in the end if I can reduce my pain by 50%. 

I’m trying to think of all the things I’d like to be able to do again if the spinal cord implant works. It would be great if I’m able to increase my exercise from what it is now, which is practically nothing. That alone would be something great. If I’m able to get more active then maybe I just won’t get sick quite as much.  At the moment yet again I’m fighting off bronchitis. It’s the second time I’ve had it in under 6 months!! Having a lowered immune system because of the CRPS/RSD certainly makes it a challenge when flu and cold season hits. It’s usually next to impossible not to catch something that the kids bring home from school or get from their friends. So if you’re newly diagnosed with CRPS/RSD then this is something that your going to watch. Make sure that you’re doing as much as you can to stay healthy. 

 One of the things I’ve done to try and keep myself healthy is change my diet and eating habbits a little bit. I generally eat a pretty healthy diet  and because of that, have managed to lose  4lbs in the last little while just by changing my eating. It’s really only been a matter of fine tuning my eating and it’s helped a little weight come off. It was also making sure that I control my portions. Knowing that I can’t be as active as I’d like, I have to account for that and so you do that odviously by controlling the quantity that I eat. I don’t often go back for seconds anymore.  As well as eating better I take certain supplements that my body needs. In my case there are a couple things that I need to take. I have osteopenia in my hand, or bone loss because I can’t use my hand. So to fight that I take vitamin D, and calcium daily in order to try and slow down the bone loss. At least by eating a pretty healthy diet, I give my immune system a pretty descent chance at functioning at the best level that it can.

It’s so important for us to keep our bodies as healthy as we can as we go through this. If you think about it it gives you the best chance at minimizing some of the symptoms that we suffer from. Just the amount of medication that I take is reason enough to try and stay as healthy as I can. Eating well gives me the chance to reduce some of the symptoms that the medications can cause. I’m not going to lie and say that it’s easy to watch your eating. I’m not perfect and at times have trouble with staying on track, however I do feel better doing it. I find the days where my pain is really bad to be the hardest. You don’t always want to eat because of the pain, yet if you don’t then your body isn’t going to be in the shape it needs to be to fight this.

There are certain things that we can do to fight everything that our bodies are going through as we deal with CRPS/RSD. Eating right and giving our bodies the nutrients that it needs is one of those things. It isn’t just that I want to tell you to eat right, it’s that I’ve noticed a difference in how I feel. Even from the standpoint of being able to say that eating well gives us the energy our bodies need to keep up the fight. 

It’s time that I try to get some sleep! As of late I’ve really been having a bad time trying to sleep at night. Sleep hasn’t been easy at the best of times with my CRPS. However lately with my increase in pain I’ve been having an even harder time when it comes to sleep. I roll over into a position that puts pressure on my affected hand or foot, and you have to peel me off the roof!! The burning sensation of my limbs has also been worse at night for some strange reason. I just keep praying every day that I wake up one morning and the pain will be gone. Anyway until the next time I say goodnight!