Chronic Pain in Many Ways

My first brush with chronic pain was when I was 17 and developed TMJ problems. Back them, no one knew anything about it. Thankfully my mom didn't give up. 17 doctors later she found me an amazing Dentist (still my Dentist and pseudo Grandfather to my daughter ) who found me a surgeon. Long story short my TMJ pain has been gone for 30 plus years. It prepared me for my future battles with Fibromyalgia after a car accident and then 9 years ago, the worst, CRPS/RSD after a fall in icy stairs and a bad surgeon left me with chronic pain like I had never known before. It took three revision surgeries to fix what she did physically but the CRPS will never leave. She never told me nor showed me my xrays until I was 6 weeks post op. After she had me weight bearing with a 2 inch gap of missing bone with nothing there! My new surgeon warned me that CRPS was a possibility but in hindsight I know I already had it. I did begin treatment quickly after my surgeries because my new surgeon and staff were so well qualified. I was very lucky, and they referred me to one of the top CRPS pain clinics around. Even with all of that, my pain has been off the charts. I am on my second SCS, and will be replacing my pain pump this winter too. It's time for that now again. They have been lifesavers as I developed gastroparesis from pain meds and need alternative ways to get enough pain controle into my body. So far, my CRPS is just in my left lower leg and back. Quick series of stellate ganglion blocks stopped a spread to my arm a few years back and reversed it because we caught it very early.