Thanks Tony. Ditto!
Comparison is the thief of joy.

We all here have been thru it right? The ones who do well don't come here. So when I go to a site about CRPS, I know I'm hearing the worse case senarios and then I see a parent of a 13 yo thinking we are average. I'm always there to tell the parents there is hope. There is treatment when first diagnosed. Its true, a dr put a SCS in a teen like 3 months into her dx. There's no place to go from there.

I do take LDN (low dose naltrexone - very different than the 50mg people take coming off drugs - if you've never heard of it. Its an antiinflammatory but you can't take it with any opioids do clearly not near surgery. Its also a very long treatment. Life for me and many. There is quite a bit about it here if you need more info.

I am looking at the 3 week Mayo Pain rehab mostly because they don't do test to diagnose or try to treat.

I just need to be able to cope better - until my hip of course which I do want diagnosed. If its my back, ill learn to live with it. One doc says fusion but at almost 70, living alone, medicare doesn't really pay for much except a bath. And a fusion can fix the instability but already so much scar tissue I don't know it would do that much and it would have to be from L2-S1. Too much. I ned to improve my coping again. I hear tho that some go to the Mayo PRC in a chair and walk out 3 weeks later. A lot of work but I'm game!

I recently bought a wheelchair and trying (don't want to!) adjust. My age is catching up and some of us have an early start huh? When is your surgery? Are you alone, married, kids nearby?
Till later, betty