Final paper

Kristen Ott

Professor: T. Thomas

Composition : literacy narrative

14 September 2012

                                                           RSD? Suck It up

The big white gloves, rides like “It’s a Small world,” and characters like Cinderella and Donald Duck are the first things that come to mind when thinking about Disney world.  No matter how old you get the excitement of going to Florida and getting the chance to visit the parks never subsides. I have been going to Disney world every year since I was six so I thought this year would be like any other, a jam packed, forced family fun vacation. But little did I know along with all the excitement that would soon be here a big change would come shortly after. Nothing could go wrong its Disney world right? Wrong. Even though Disney is the happiest place on earth that is the place I was forced to first learn about RSD.

            Going to Chef Mickey’s in Disney is one of my family’s traditions. Four years ago in 2008 we were out to dinner together enjoying our time. Goofy, the character, was visiting our table and taking pictures with everyone. As my mom got up it almost looked like she was, or attempting to, dance with goofy as he was talking to my brother. When we all stopped laughing we realized my mom was no longer moving but just looking down at the floor. Minutes later we found out she had actually hurt herself. The carpet by our table was pulled up and my mom’s foot got caught underneath it. What looked like dancing turned out to be a disaster. My mom had tripped over the piece of rug and was now almost in tears. What looked like a mass had formed on the top of her left foot. My mom is very stubborn and refused to go to the hospital that night or tend to the injury at all.

 Not getting any sleep that night because of the overwhelming amount of pain she could not take it anymore. She was swayed into visiting the hospital. The doctors then decided it would be a good idea to perform surgery to try and get the mass out. Once the surgery was over she felt better for a few days and then was in pain once more. This pain was much different than the one she previously suffered. She could not even put her shoes on because the touch of the material sent shock waves through her foot. This time she waited until we got home to go see the doctor. It seemed like every doctor we went to had something different to say. As the time went on the pain grew at an unbearable rate. My mom, being the woman she is, held strong and believed the doctors were missing something such as a broken bone or a ligament so she would soon be well. My family is firm believers in the “suck it up” motto when an injury was involved so that’s exactly what she attempted to do.

Finally after going to several doctors we found one who would know exactly what he was talking about. After an exhausting week of going through various doctors, we were ready to hear some news that would put us at ease. We awaited the doctor to tell us she would have to stay off of it for a few weeks and to wear a little brace so she would be up and moving within a month or two. We were wrong. The doctor said technical terms that we did not understand then finally said she was diagnosed with the disease called RSD.

            My hands started shaking because the thought of losing my mom was inevitable. I listened closely and attempted to decipher the doctor’s words to find out more. I could feel my stomach slowly turning as my heart swelled up and my eyes got glassy while tears quickly filled them. Nothing. I couldn’t understand a thing. Instantly several questions swarmed my mind yet I didn’t want to speak up and show the emotions that were bursting inside of me. My mom and dad were there to ask the questions so I had to do my best to sit patiently and wait for something I could understand. How could he not explain to us if it was fatal or not! As soon as we stepped outside I burst into tears as my siblings and I ran to my dad and quietly asked if we were going to lose our mom. I could hear my heart pounding out of my chest while my brother, my sister, and I waited dreadfully for my dad’s answer. Finally he said no the disease wasn’t fatal. I can’t even begin to explain the relief and the smile that hit my face.

I thought to myself RSD couldn’t be so bad especially if it wasn’t going to take my mom away from our family. That moment right there is what changed my life forever. It wasn’t just okay for me to think RSD wasn’t such a bad thing just because it wasn’t fatal. Come to think about it, I didn’t know anything about my mom’s new disease. This made me crazy! I wanted to know what I could do and how I could help right away.

            RSD stands for reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome. RSD is a chronic condition characterized by burning pain and abnormalities in the sensory, motor and autonomic nervous systems. The syndrome usually develops in an injured part like a broken leg or following surgery, which in this case it was caused from my mom’s surgery. So basically RSD affects your nerves in all different locations of your body.

I also learned there is no cure but there are a few treatment methods. One, among the few was ketamine treatment. This is where they transfer the drug through IV into the patients system. This isn’t a permanent treatment and it doesn’t last very long. Along with this, I also discovered RSD can easily spread to all other parts of the body. Learning this made me nervous; my mom was in enough pain just because of it being in her left leg. I quickly researched what I could do to help.  All I can really do for her is to help her with normal tasks that have now become difficult, such as lifting things, getting out of bed in the morning, driving, and on bad days walking may even be an exasperating thing to try and accomplish. Knowing this made me strive to make my mom feel comfortable by doing things around the house that would be painful for her or helping her take on battles such as ketamine treatments. I also keep current with any new updates on her disease and ways to help.

            Even though this wasn’t a positive event in my life, I did get something good out of it. Learning about my mom’s disease helped me to better understand what she’s going through and what I can do for her. This experience taught me that having a better understanding of things makes it easier to handle and to figure out where to go with the situation at hand. To this day my mom is of course still dealing with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome and it has spread to all of her left side and to her chest. My mom is the strongest woman I know and is dealing with it better than I could ever imagine but it is helpful having people around her educated and well aware of the disease. We are doing everything we can to help. Four years ago, today, and four years from now my mom will still be struggling with RSD and going through treatment. It doesn’t matter if it’s past, present, or future I will keep researching and helping my mom in any way I can.

At a young age I took on more responsibility as a daughter. With my dad was always working and my mom being disabled I had to start doing things throughout the day. I started helping prepare supper, doing laundry, and picking up after my twin brother and older sister so my mom would not have to stress over the house being a mess or getting supper on the table. Having RSD restricts my mom from doing everyday things like going up steps, enjoying a walk on the beach, or even being able to walk around the university’s campus with me. Learning about my mom’s RSD will always have an effect on my life. Taking the time to read into and gain the knowledge of this disease has made me always want to dig deeper and find out more so I can fully understand the topic at hand.  Not only did RSD change my mom’s life but mine also. Turns out reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome isn’t a “suck it up” kind of disease and will not go away in a few months. This just goes to show there’s something you can learn from everything that happens in life, good or bad.