Imagine living with chronic pain
so intense that it leaves you in
the corner of a room rocking in
the fetal position. This pain continuously
burns, throbs, and
sends shooting pains along your
extremities. It’s a pain so severe
that it can lead to depression and
thoughts of suicide for many of
those affected.
This is just a small look into the
world of someone who lives
their life with CRPS. My goal in
sharing my story is to raise
awareness of some of the challenges
I faced while navigating
the Canadian healthcare system.
Thirteen years ago, I was diagnosed
with Complex Regional
Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a rare
neuro-autoimmune chronic pain
condition. This would turn my
world upside down. It is not well
understood and is still very uncommon.
CRPS manifests itself with extreme
pain, swelling, and numerous
other symptoms like
atrophic changes to the skin and
bones. It’s considered to be one
of the most painful chronic pain
conditions existing. I don't like
to compare pain because, as far
as I'm concerned, there is no
good chronic pain.
What we know through current
research is the earlier the disease
is diagnosed the better the
chance of remission. As you will
see this wasn't the case for me.
My Story — Who I Am
My name is Ross. I live in the
city of Regina, Saskatchewan,
Canada. Regina has a population
of 223,000.
Telling my story always brings
back emotions that I would rather
not have to relive. However,
I believe that everything I've
gone through is all a part of a
bigger message that I have to
give.
When I received my diagnosis in
2006 it wasn't as simple as it
could have been. It wasn’t just
walking into a specialist's office
and having him give me the diagnosis.
Our Canadian Healthcare system
doesn't make it that easy. It took
almost two years and 23 different
doctors to get me to a specialist
who could make a diagnosis.
Then there were 2 surgeons
and 10 major surgeries.
But First, How it All
Began
The catalyst was surgery to remove
a cyst from my left wrist.
Following that surgery, my arm
started to swell, and I started
suffering from an intense burning
pain. The surgeon who operated
quickly dismissed the
symptoms as post-operative. To
him everything was healing the
way that it should.
Dissatisfied with that answer, I
went looking for anyone who
could help me find what the
problem was. This led to numerous
tests, too many to count, that
didn’t give me the answers I
needed. Eventually, I would fly
By Ross McCreery
20—iPain Living Magazine