About Me and My CRPS

I am a 45-year old single working mother. Still have one child at home. I love them both dearly and can't imagine life without them. I consider them my best accomplishment in life! I've been divorced twice. I spent over 10 years working in the chemical dependency field, and am still certified as a drug and alcohol counselor. I now work in the field of prevention, teaching curriculum in the schools, doing afterschool programs, and working with adult community coalitions. I love it, and I can't say enough about the support I receive from my coworkers and director. I'm sure I would have been fired from any other job. These people are the most supportive, understanding and caring people I've ever worked with.

How'd I get it? Oddly enough, helping my now ex-husband move a couple of log piles so that we could have some landscaping done. Moved them and re-stacked them one day, and moved them back and re-stacked them the next day. My hands have always been on the weak side, and I've had carpal tunnel surgery on the right, and a cyst removed from the back of my right wrist twice. Had a cyst removed from the back of the left wrist also. So, I was really careful, and didn't pick up anything very heavy. I noticed that about 3 days later my hands were both really sore, and a bit swollen, and I figured I'd overdone it. So, just kept taking ibuprofen. My left thumb, however, continued to hurt. A little at first, then quickly became excruciating. I was unable to do anything with it - couldn't let it touch anything, run it under water, do my buttons, open doors or hold anything. By the way, bungee laces are the bomb! I saw my own family doc, who is a wonderful MD. She figured it was deQuervain's tendonitis, and we splinted it for 6 weeks. No help. So we kept it splinted another month or so. (Hard to remember at this point.) I saw a couple of doctors, with different results and again no help. Went through a long series of medications that also did not help. Had a bunch of steroid injections right in the old thumb. Yes, they hurt like you-know-what. First specialist considered me a bother, and absolutely would not prescribe narcotics. Keep in mind, I was working as a counselor, and was responsible for doing all my own case notes. Typing was killing me. So, forget that guy. Went to see the surgeon who did my carpal tunnel. Being a surgeon, he wanted to fix my carpal tunnel, and just didn't know what to think about "that thumb thing." I told him it was NOT carpal tunnel. He assured me that when I'd had enough I'd be back to schedule the surgery. He definitely needs to retire. So, I called my family doc back, in tears. I've known her for a very long time, and really trust her and her judgement. Asked her to refer me to someone who would actually listen to me and believe that I know my own body the best. So that was the beginning of finding the solution. She sent me to a rehab dr, another md. Many tests later, they couldn't do anything but rule out everything. So, sent me to OT to regain my range of motion, do some strengthening. That did work, and even the pain began to lessen. The very last day of OT, she ran me through some movements, and then did a "thumb grind." I about went through the roof. She said there is definitely something not right, and sent me back to the doc. She had me see the hand surgeon in her office. Who of course could also not figure anything out. So, they sent me to a pain doctor. Hallelujah! This man, Steve Quam, took 15 minutes to listen to me, and promptly diagnosed my with CRPS. Gave me my first stellate ganglion block. I regained the circulation in my hand, and it stopped being purple. (My favorite color - just not on my hand!!) I ended up having 5 more. They stopped working as well, and on June 4th, after my CRPS had begun to spread into my left shoulder blade and the back of my neck halfway up my head, he decided to do a cervical block - the back of my neck. The needle went in fine, but try as he might there was not enough room for him to move the needle where it needed to go. (I'm very small.) So, we did the ganglion block through the front of the neck again. The next day my lower back was killing me. This went on for a week or so, and I ended up thinking I had a kidney stone! CT scan later, nothing significant. (Well, a big ovarian cyst that went away on its own, but anyway.) The attempt at going in cervically had set off a huge flare and spread. It took months to calm down.

Currently I take an extra blood pressure med to keep my veins open to enhance circulation, an antidepressant for the anxiety that started in February, an NSAID for the arthritis that has developed in both of my large thumb joints, a multi-vitamin (I'm 45 and have terrible nutrition habits!), and 30mg oxycontin twice a day.

I've had one infusion of low-dose ketamine, and am anxious to see what the end result of the series of three will be. It's too early for me to retire, and I feel like I still have so much to offer.