INTRO TO ME

I have put this off for a while because the thought off actually listing my dx in black and white is a bit daunting. I have decided the best thing to do is list the major issues, and the minor ones will come in to play eventually. So here goes...

I was diagnosed in July 1999, by an independent panel of Dr's to have Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. It is like a distant cousin to Fibromyalgia. The main difference being that Fibro only affects the nerve endings, RSD affects bone, tissue (muscle), and my entire nervous system. RSD normally only affects one limb. If it spreads, it does so bilaterally (leg to leg, or right arm to right leg etc). Over the years my RSD has become systemic (affecting entire body), the odds of this happening were supposed to be something like 1/1,000,000. So I guess you can honestly call me the odd ball of the bunch. Until just prior to my dx, I had been relatively healthy. I injured my left shoulder in 3 separate incidents over a period of 18 months. The result was RSD.
RSD is an autoimmune disease so things started going downhill from there. It spread slowly from arm to arm then to my lower extremities, however after that it spread like wildfire inside my abdomen. I now have an umbrella in the atrial chambers of my heart where the wall began to shrink and tore a hole between the two atrial chambers. I have a pacemaker (the newest addition), because the sympathetic nervous system is the part that controls your hearts rhythm. Mine was in A-fyb more than I was in a normal rhythm. I have had a plastic sleeve placed in my esophagus because the tissues there shrunk causing a huge hole; added to GERD, I had more food going into my lungs than in my stomach, causing constant pneumonia. I have developed IBS, which I understand is common with fibro.
There a lot of other annoying little things that have resulted from my RSD, but I think you get the picture when I say I understand your pain. My hope is that by blogging about life with chronic illness, I can help others know they are not alone in their painful journey.
So there you have it, me in a nutshell! I can't promise how often I will be able to post right now, I am going through a really tough time, but I promise to be as steady and frequent as my body will allow. Butterfly hugs to you all, until next time be blessed!