Today's Appointment

I had an appointment today with my Neurologist. Before I went to see my Neurologist, I was supposed to go to my Children's Hospital to see the Orthotics Doctor to collect the splint for my leg. The traffic was really bad on the way to the hospital (probably the worse I have seen it), so we ended up missing the appointment. Because we missed the Orthotics appointment, we had to wait about an hour for my Neuro appointment so we ended up having to go into the Starbucks near the hospital for a smoothie (yum!). My mum was really not happy about missing the appointment. We are going to have to see if the Orthotics can take the splint to my Physiotherapy session on Thursday; I really hope they can.

After enjoying a nice smoothie in Starbucks, we went to see my Neurologist. My Neuro is really nice, I saw him before I was diagnosed with RSD and he was the Doctor that recognised my condition and got me a referal straight away to my PM Doctor. We went to see him about the really bad, myoclonic spasms in my leg. The last time we saw him (back in June), he said that if the spasms didn't settle down any, he would prescribe me a med called Keppra which is used a lot in people with MS or Epilepsey. My Neuro took a good look at my leg and noticed straight away that the Dystonia (foot rotation) hadn't changed any. He said at this moment in time, he doesn't want me to try and other medications as they could potentially make me worse.

My PM Doctor said that it might be an idea to use Botox in my leg to try and get rid of the Dystonia so we spoke to my Neurologist about it and he said that the best person to see would be an Orthopaedic Surgeon however he thinks that because of the complications I have had from the 2 nerve blocks I have had, the Botox could make me worse or send me off my balance. He explained that the Botox could paralyse the muscle that is working overtime, but it could make the other muscles in my foot worse or weak also. He said not to dismiss it completely but if we do decide to try it to give it some serious consideration.

The spasms in my leg are a lot worse than they were when I first finished the Physio program in July and my Neurologist thinks that that is because of the flare of the RSD in my arm. He feels that my body is reacting to the pain in my arm by causing something else to happen (nice, huh?!)

I have to go and see my Neuro again in March or April next year however if the spasms don't settle has my arm gets better, we have to get straight back in touch with him to see what he can suggest to try and help. My Pain Management Doctor also keeps in touch with him a lot so he will keep him updated also. My Neuro feels that the best thing to do at the moment is to continue doing my exercises at home on a daily basis and also go and see my Physiotherapists every week.

For those of you that haven't seen the spasms in my leg, here's a video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIXakErNBpE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE_OwuilOew

Have to go and rest has my arms hurting a lot ...