Our first post: Life is too short to worry!

Life is too short to worry. Our condition stinks but we cannot sit and worry about it. This page is a place to go as an alternative to a lot of the misinformation you see on the net regarding our condition. We need to listen to our doctors and live life! Our lives are changed, they are different, but we just have to adapt to the new normal and work to improve ourselves. This is a place to go to help forget our problems and also guide us in the right direction of things that can help us. I put a beautiful sunset on Lake Erie as the photo because life is beautiful, like the sun and nature and we need to embrace it.

I broke my foot in August and was told the bone should heal up within 6 weeks or so. From close to the onset of the injury I felt tons of swelling, tingly pain in my foot, odd colors of red and purple and these symptoms all the way up to my knee. I felt that it was just part of the healing process and in my initial follow up 4 weeks later that was what they said. At approximately 8 weeks the orthopedist noticed there was an ulcer on my foot and sent me to another doctor because he was unsure of what it was. He sent me to an Internal Medicine Doctor and he was unsure of what was going on, but that it would heal within a month but to call him if there was still swelling and pain. I called him and he sent me to the ER to have some tests done. They did a blood test and that came out normal, they did an X-Ray and Doppler Test to check if there was a blood clot and that came back fine and they suspected there may have been infection. They were not sure though and referred me to someone they knew was great, a podiatrist. That podiatrist looked at my foot and leg for two seconds and knew right away that this was CRPS. He prescribed Neurontin and this immediately brought me back to bearable pain. After that I saw a In the mean time, since the injury was in August, I had to go on leave from being in education. I was very fortunate that my second, weekend job was a sitting security job that gave me full time hours. The future of my career in education is in doubt at this time, but I am very fortunate to have a job that is covering my bills and a lovely fiancee to get me through this. However, there is no time for worry. I am in the midst of therapy that is really making a difference in my functionality and I can lightly move my foot in walking motions on my crutches now, with light weight bearing. 

Instead of letting myself get down about the situation, I look at the positive aspects of every day. A moment feeling down, a moment worrying, is a moment wasted. Listen to your doctors, get second opinions, do what they say and things will get better. CRPS is the new reality if you have it, you just have to adapt. It is your new normal. You can improve if you work at it. Do not let the "web doctors" freak you out like they did when I first was diagnosed. Keep a positive outlook and think of how much worse you could have things. Look at the sun rise, look at the sunset. Go see a movie, go sit on a bench somewhere and take in people and nature, but most of all, just live life. Your time on Earth is limited, do not waste it on account of something you cannot control. The best things in life are still there, just take the time to appreciate them and adapt to the new hand you have been dealt.  Steve Winwood once said "The Finer Things Keep Shining Through." Let them shine through for you, let the best of the world shine through for you because there are so many great things out there. Just keep on plugging at it and making it work.