Not really good news

I got some not-good news today. I wouldn't call it bad, per say, but at camp I would call it an opportunity. I've been seeing a variety of doctors (orthopedic, and neurologist, mostly) for the past 4 months, trying to figure out why I've been having foot pain and swelling for the past year +. Today, my neurologist diagnosed me with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome. What that means is.... well, I don't really know.

Doctors don't really know what specifically causes CRPS, and there's no cure, but they do know that it is triggered by a trauma (I sprained this part of my foot in the fall of '06) and instead of healing the injury, the nervous system stays continually aggravated. In my case, they injected a dye into my bloodstream and did a bone scan, which showed increased absorbency in the region - a sign of increased blood flow to the area - a sign of CRPS, I'm told.

Thankfully, my case seems to be milder (according to my PT) because nothing beyond the exact region of injury is affected (mine is limited to the abductor hallucis muscle and the surrounding bones). Hopefully, it stays this way. I don't know what treatment will be yet, but it's mostly to manage pain and swelling, not to heal or eliminate.

Sorry if the post bored you. Pray for me as I try to work all of this in with a busy first year of teaching and still trying to adjust to a totally new place. Pray that I rely on others to help me (that's hard for me), that I'm vulnerable when needed, that I don't worry, and that I make wise choices about medicine, treatment, etc.