About Me

I am aged 45, a teacher and I live in England, very near London. I am married with three sons, a dog, two gerbils and some fish.

I was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) 19 months ago. It has been an eventful journey to say the least! But I won't bore you with that here (see My Story). I started writing this blog because as part of my treatment it was suggested to me that I write down my achievements, however small they may seem to other people. So I thought I might as well write them online so that they might help someone else as well. Besides, I lose bits of paper or notebooks, I forget where I put them! Short term memory loss comes with the syndrome. Even I can't lose my laptop!

You may have stumbled across my blog while searching for information about CRPS, in which case welcome. I'm guessing you or someone you know has been recently diagnosed with CRPS and are looking for clues! I know when CRPS was first mentioned to me I was searching like mad. I followed so many links to see what on earth this thing called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome was all about. Some of it was useful, some of it was horrific! That's the internet for you; it's like a huge cauldron of words and pictures for you to delve into but you've got to make sure you've got your "what do I need to know right now" glasses on.

So, I've been diagnosed with CRPS? What do I say to myself?  - Be positive, be realistic, try not to judge yourself, it's not your fault, it's nothing you did, it's not all in your head but you will have to explain CRPS a hundred million times! There's new research being published all the time so keep searching, be proactive and keep spreading the word - awareness is key.