I am incredibly honored to have recieved the Liebster Blog Award from Chris Dean who blogs at Life Your Way.  “Liebster” is German and means favorite or beloved.  The point of the award is that it is given to blogs that are somewhat less known.  I’ve noticed this among other blog awards around, but never expected to receive one myself. I’m even more surprised by the kind description she used to describe me and my blog: “I haven’t been following her long, but Amber is a fun-loving, positive person with a big heart! Don’t believe me? Check out her post ‘Crazy Sock Day!’” Now it is myRead More →

Maigee and some of my crazy socks A year ago, a bunch of my friends who have CRPS/RSD had these pictures of wild socks on their Facebook pages.  While seeing funky socks on a friend or even two’s profiles might not be enough to make me think twice, the fact that nearly all of my CRPS friends had crazy socks and a bunch of CRPS’ers who I wasn’t friends with also had crazy socks on their profile.  My curiosity was piqued! This was my introduction to an amazing girl named Melanie.  A girl who at age 10 got CRPS in her foot as a result of aRead More →

I haven’t updated my blog in quite some time! Since my previous update, my right arm has been healing very well. It is still weak, and some pain, but it is nothing compared to the pain in my left arm after surgery. I have gained much strength and the sensitive pressure ulcer is completely healed over, nothing but an ugly scar left. I went to my orthopaedic surgeon last week and he told me he was kicking me out of his office. I told him that I never wanted to see him again – at least not in the office! I’m so grateful that IRead More →

I was cleaning my closet and found an orange Frisbee from TUFW. Out of all of the things I found cleaning my closet, this cheap piece of plastic didn’t seem like much, but it brought me to tears. Not so much the toy, but the memories attached to the toy. See, I got this frisbee on September 27, 2008. The day is about as important as an orange frisbee to others, but for me it was my last day of freedom. It was a pretty typical day, in fact, I don’t remember much, except that we had some sort special dinner where we got freeRead More →

I’m reapplying to college to continue my education at a community college in the fall. It is by far less expensive than the college I was at before and I’m sort of excited about classes, but more excited about the fact that it brings me one step closer to my dream of being a nurse. In the process of getting ready, I have recently written an essay for a scholarship about my current goals. I thought that I would post it here for others to read. “Painful as it may be, a significant event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves usRead More →

So far, I have learned many things from CPRP. But one of the things that is most influential to me is the idea of living beyond the pain. I once read a quote somewhere that said “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.” Only now am I really realizing how true that is for me. Pain is something that I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life, but that doesn’t mean that I have to suffer for the rest of my life. I can choose to live a life, even with my pain. Pain may limit me in some ways, butRead More →

“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.” Matthew 6:34 One last prayer request is for my foot/ankle. Back in September, I was experiencing some pain in it, which was diagnosed as Cuboid Syndrome, which basically means that one bone in my foot occasionally twisted a little bit, which caused pain. Last Thursday, the pain became much more severe and moved to the other side of my foot. I’m experiencing a lot of swelling and it is excruciating to walk. In fact, I’m using a cane to help me walk and would probablyRead More →

Tomorrow I’m starting something completely new and different. I returned to Cleveland Clinic yet again last Monday where I went through an hour and a half of questions as part of an assessment for admission to the Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program (CPRP). Tomorrow, I will begin the program. Because the program is outpatient, I will be staying at the Ronald McDonald house, which is a huge blessing because it is less expensive than a hotel and is directly across the street from the building I where the program is located. I am hoping the program will be able to help me not only physically withRead More →

This poem came to me in an e-mail from a blog called How to Cope with Pain. It really captures the idea of the fact that in spite of the pain, in spite of all that has happened in my life, I am still who I was, I am still me. My dreams may have changed, some of my abilities may be different, I may think differently about some things, but the truth is, beneath it all I still am who I was, I just have a different take on life. I Am Still Me My disease after all these years Has brought to lightRead More →