Dear Julie, A Letter to myself after receiving the diagnosis of Avascular Necrosis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome itsjustabadday.com

Dear Julie – An AVN Diagnosis Letter

Avascular Necrosis. WTF?! Like, what the hell. I didn’t even know bone could DIE?! THAT’S A THING?! WHATTTT!? For the past few months, you KNEW something was wrong. Something was off. There was no reason you should have been in that much pain. Yet, your healthcare team told you otherwise. “Oh, you’ve just overdone it …

I am strong.I am powerful.I have an invisible illness that won't hold me back! Invisible Illness Week 2015 #Spoonie #chroniclife #Psoriatic #Arthritis

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

September 28 – October 4th is Invisible illness awareness week. Below is the official 2015 30 things meme. Read mine and then make sure to check out the other participants here! 30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know 1. The illness I live with is: Psoriatic Arthritis. Not many people know what …

Tis The Season: 13 Ways To Enjoy The Holidays Without Getting Stressed Out!

                    This post originally appeared as a guest post on Painfully Optimistic! Ross, from Painfully Optimistic, asked me to write a guest post for his blog. He’s a wonderful CRPS advocate who is living a great life, despite chronic pain. Make sure to check out his …

Medication: Neurontin Update

As I mentioned in this post, I’ve been weening off of Neurontin and guess what?! I’m finally off of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This time last year I was on 9 different medications. Now I’m down to 4 currently, 5 once I start back up on my blood thinners. But I’m heading in the right direction! YAY YAY …

Acupuncture for Pain Management {Part 2}

Acupuncture is a wonderful treatment for pain management. Avascular necrosis (AVN) of the knee and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are extremely painful on their own, let alone combined! My knee was finally settling down and the complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) was pretty much gone. The AVN specialist that I was seeing at the time said …

‘Walk In Your Next Appointment Without Crutches’

    From December 2012 to April 2013 I wasn’t allowed to put any weight on my knee. After a trip to the AVN specialist he challenged me to start putting weight on my leg and the next time I saw him (which would be in June) to walk into the appointment without the crutches. …

Medications – Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Neurontin

After receiving the diagnosis of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, I wasn’t really sure what to expect in terms of medication. I was currently taking vicodin to help with the pain, but what else, other than the nerve blocks, would help? My pain management doctor prescribed Neurontin/Gabapentin. First I started with a low does, something like …

Treatments – Massage

    Once my knee swelling starting going down, and the nerve blocks started kicking in, my chiropractor suggested I start getting massages on my leg. Since the avascular necrosis was caused by lack of blood flow, the thought was that massaging the area would stimulate blood flow. And! Massaging the area would also help …

Treatments – Nerve Blocks

  One of the first treatments, other than medication, that I tried were nerve blocks. I would meet with my Pain Management doctor and assess my pain. From January until June I went once a month and received a block. I received a lumbar sympathetic nerve block and the hope was that it would help …