****Needing your Prayers****
Hey everyone, I'm sure many of you have seen me around on the forum. I will share my situation in decent detail (full detail would take a few days to type up).
On 7-11-14 my life was changed completely. I was injured and sustained nerve damage. My left hand kept swelling, turning purple and was blotchy. Not to mention it felt as if someone had poured gas on it and lit it on fire. After seeing several Doctors and they all told me "it's a bad sprain". I explained to them that whatever was going on was not a sprain. I finally seen a Doctor that knew what was going on. He had a blank look on his face and said "you have CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome)". I obviously asked what it was, what causes it and most importantly what needs to be done to fix it.
He said it is an extremely complex nerve disease that is caused by damage to a nerve pack. He sadly told me that there is not a cure. I started to freak out and obviously wanted other opinions. During my quest to find multiple opinions while doing my own research I did find out that there in fact is not a cure for CRPS. I was told I needed to see a pain specialist to discuss options for pain relief. When meeting with the pain specialist (fantastic Dr BTW) he took over an hour to explain the treatment options. He did tell me up front that CRPS is the absolute most painful condition known and generally the treatments do not work as they should. We set a date to have the first injection done (Stellate ganglion block). That treatment did not help. I had a few of the Stellate ganglion injections done and none provided relief. I then had another treatment done called interscalene brachial plexus done. Again, no relief was obtained. Now onto treatment #3 (epidural injections). For the third time there was not any relief from the pain that is not even imaginable.
Next step was pain medication (hard stuff). If a person that was not in pain took the meds I had it would knock them out cold for 24+ hrs. I found that the meds worked but only a minimal amount.
The last option (not an option for me) is a treatment using ketamine. There has been positive results for CRPS pain relief with ketamine infusions. While the relief is only about 50-65% that is MUCH better than none at all. If even 40% of my pain was relived I would feel like I hit the lottery (literally). I am blessed to have medical insurance but they always find excuses as to why they can't pay for treatments. They absolutely refuse to pay for the ketamine infusion treatments. Their excuse is "the treatment is experimental and we do not cover treatments that are not 100% proven to work". I find it odd because they cover meds and those are not "guaranteed" to work.
CRPS causes the nerve receptors to constantly send pain signals even though an injury is no longer active. The pain is absolutely excruciating about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time it is flat out horrible but I manage to get through it day by day. It affects people differently. For some it will stay localized where the nerve pak was damaged. For others such as myself it will spread to other parts of the body. The following is how it has and continuously affects me:
1. Severe muscle spasms & brick like knots (entire back, thighs and upper left arm). Feels like non stop charley horse cramps on steroids.
2. Burning as if I was locked in an oven set at 400 degrees.
3. Muscle fatigue (due to not being able to do much)
Many people I have talked to about CRPS have said (it can't be that bad, there is no such pain & it's in your head). I know what general pain feels like (fractures, etc) and those are like a mild bee sting compared to CRPS.
I am not perfect (NONE of us are) but I am strong believer. I know that God allows things to happen and for his greater purpose. Even though we do not understand why things like this happen we are not to question it. However, it is extremely hard to accept it.
I am at a point to where I am not handling it very well. I would never go down the path to take a life that is not mine to take. However, I am unsure on what I need to do mentally to be able to accept the fact that I have such a horrible condition and it's never going away. Of course there are other things on my mind besides that. I am shocked and hurt to know that people who claimed to be my friends have pushed me away and didn't look back. Besides being in horrific pain every day I am stressed beyond anyone's imagination. I can no longer work and have not had a personal income in 23 months. Praise the Lord that my wife has been by my side and will do anything she can to help. She is a teacher and barely makes enough to cover the bills. Again, Praise the Lord that there is that income.
I'm just asking for your prayers that I can get some relief from the pain and for a miracle to happen so that I can get the Ketamine infusion treatments done.
Please send up prayers for my wife as well. She needs relief from the daily stress.
Thank you in advance for your prayers. God bless.
Tim