CRPS... & Pregnant!

Here is the email I sent to my staff when I had to first go out on leave:

I have great news and I have bad news. The great news is that we are pregnant with our 4th baby! We know this will complete our family! I am due May 5th (yes, I am well aware I already have two children born on May 8th). This will be the last baby and we are not going to find out if it's a boy or girl until his/her birth day! Also, good news: the morning sickness was kept at bay and overall the pregnancy (in isolation) is good. Here's the bad news... You may or may not know, I developed CRPS as a result of my shoulder injury from February 2017.

CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) is a rare, progressive, chronic pain disease that is essentially a malfunction of the central nervous system. Basically, even though my initial injury was a strain/sprain to my shoulder, the pain reaches levels higher than labor pains on the McGill Pain Index (which is what doctors use to measure pain). It causes deep, persistent burning pain along with swelling, skin color changes, temperature changes, and so on. The slightest touch can set off astounding pain. Rewind a bit...I have been managing this pain fairly well with a nerve block procedure at a surgery center every few months, multiple daily high-dose medications, and other therapeutic treatments. I was functional - especially right after a block. However, the minute we found out I was pregnant, I had to stop all my medications and some therapies. Stopping the meds itself was a brutal process because these are hard core medications that affect the way my brain and nerves communicate. And once that got out of my system, the pain started to creep in stronger and stronger each day. And, as you prob know, they only give pregnant women Tylenol. Mother lovin' Tylenol. And let me tell you... I have thrown that bottle of Tylenol across the room with my left arm more than once because it does absolutely nothing to this kind of pain. The doctors are trying to be as aggressive as they can, but there is only so much they can do because it's not just me anymore. The primary concern is that my body is under such stress while pregnant and that's not good for baby. My pulse and blood pressure get so high with the pain. So far, the OB says this baby can handle stress well. And, I guess that's a good thing, since he/she is joining my crazy circus of a family. Now, I spend most of my day on my back in bed. It's the most relieving position to be in right now. Once I sit up, it escalates. I can't even do all my basic needs by myself at this point. I barely sleep an hour or two a day. And that's why I haven't been at work… or hardly anywhere else for that matter.