50 Words or Less

When I met my wife in 1997, she was really self conscious about the scar on her neck. She was about a year out from a fusion in her cervical spine and she had a scar on the front on her neck where the surgeon went in. To be honest, I was a lot more focused on how good looking she was. It took her quite some time to believe me when I said her scar didn’t matter to me.

Around that time, she was experiencing a tingling sensation in her left hand, but we were falling in love and didn’t think much about it. As the months went on, it gradually began to get worse and it started moving up her arm to her shoulder. Those of you with RSD can probably guess what happened from there. In the thirteen years since, the RSD has made its way to her right arm and down to her legs. It may now even be in her face. It’s a progression with which many of you are probably familiar.

That’s her story in 50 words or less, but there is a lot more to tell.

So, what is this blog? Well, it’s really a couple of things. First, it’s a way for me to get some feelings out about her situation and how helpless I feel as her husband and partner, but I also hope it lets those of you with RSD know that you are not alone. There are many other people out there struggling with issues similar to yours. As you all know, RSD affects not only the sufferer, but their family as well. That’s the story I am going to tell. The story of what it’s like on the other side of the pain. The story of what it is like to watch your beloved partner slowly lose function and deal with pain on a daily basis which most of us cannot imagine.

There are two sides to RSD. What the patient experiences, and what their family experiences. There is no possible way for me to feel what she is feeling, but I can be there in the best way I know how. The reality is that I can never truly connect with her on that level because I don’t feel the pain. No matter how much we love each other, there will always be a barrier between her world and mine.

I hope our story helps you in some way. Your feedback and comments are always welcome.