Eek! I seemed to have tricked you....I'm Sorry!

Dear Audy,

I wrote to you earlier and told you my new address...but I totally screwed you on the subscription part!

It was still subscribing you to this, the old address.

I'm sorry!

A huge thanks to Jessica for pointing it out! I was flying blind there...

I believe the issue is fixed now, if you head on over to:

http://rellacafa.com

And hit the 'Subscribe' button on the right, or the little RSS symbol in the address bar if you're using Firefox, you will actually subscribe to my new posts...not just these old, apologetic ones.

See you there!

Love & Moving Boxes,
Caf

Rellacafa has Moved!!

Dear Audy,

Rellacafa has moved!

To read all the latest updates and check out my new layout, go to:


http://rellacafa.com

I'm terribly sorry to make you click again and update your subscriptions and bookmarks!

I've added a heap more information about me and what I do, as well as some detailed links to other RSD blogs and websites to help with the great connection between people and information.

See you at the new addy!

Love & Moving,
Caf

living with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) #3: from crap to crappier

Dear Audy,

Ugh, things have not been going well. My hip is killing me...stupid RSD. I really hope it's just RSD, if I finally get ketamine infused and then find out they want to cut into my hip again, well, I, well, well...that would just plain suck. Sigh, when is the dealer gonna hand me an ace, already? I'm tired of playing these cards...

I think I need to play a little round of Pollyanna's glad game, instead. She's adamant that one can always find something to be glad about. Today I am glad that I have super thick curtains (it's hot and they keep the sun out brilliantly), I am glad that I have some Lindt balls with my name on them and, most of all, I am glad that my prince is home to cook me dinner!

I have some pics of my icky, swollen ankle to post, but my camera has a flat battery...and I can't be bothered waiting for it to charge. I'll share them soon.

Love & Chocolatey Cheering,

Caf

a spa, a massage and a wish

Dear Audy,

Sigh, it has been a rough week. On top of the hip flare that I was telling you about, my left ankle decided to get in on the action with some swelling and a whole new level of pain. The little cherry on top of that is that they have postponed my ketamine infusion that was scheduled for Monday, hopefully it will only be held off for a couple of days as I seem to just keep getting worse and worse...sigh.

To cheer myself up today, I have edited a little look at last weekend. My prince and I headed down to Hepburn Springs for some rest and relaxation. Hepburn is just over an hour out of Melbourne, in mineral springs country. There are a lot of B&B type places in the area and a smorgasbord of day spa location and treatments to choose from. We booked ourselves a room and a spa and massage for both days. The first spa was fantastic, at Hepburn Spa, we added pela mud, lavender and juniper to our mineral bath and just let the stress drain away. This, followed by a gentle massage of my troubled back muscles was just what I needed to help keep me sane and happy. A relaxing drive in the country to a nearby town rounded out Saturday's activities...so nice to be away from the city with all its people! On Sunday we visited the Daylesford market and Lavendula Lavender Farm, before indulging at The Body of Isle spa in a mineral bath with ginger and eucalyptus, as well as another massage! To finish we bobbed around for a while in an outside spa with spectacular views of the surrounding bush...I could so live there!

It was so nice to get away for a couple of nights and wake up to kookaburras instead of garbage trucks! As far as RSD is concerned, it can get a little frustrating away from home. Relaxing always helps the pain, but being away makes me want to run and play and do more than my body can. I would have liked to not have found myself thinking 'I'm not going to let this ruin my day' so frequently! Whenever you do anything with RSD, you will usually get extra pain afterward, so much so that it feels like punishment. My flares this week feel like I'm being punished for having a nice time! I know that's not really the case, but just wanted to point out how frustrating and ridiculous this condition can be.

You may have noticed me wishing in this clip...I'm wishing away RSD, not just for me but for everyone suffering out there...I think the rule where you don't tell your wishes is crap, how will the cosmos know what I want if I keep it inside my head??

You may have also noticed how incredibly dry the countryside is...paddocks and paddocks with no livestock or crops...drought makes me sad. Come on sky, rain a little on Oz would ya?

Love & Sweet Memories,

Caf

living with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) #2: the hip goes bang

Dear Audy,

Me writing twice in two days can only mean one of two things...either something particularly exciting has happened, or something particularly painful has happened...sigh...unfortunately today it is the latter.

This clip is me talking briefly about what happened when I had to wait in the Centrelink line yesterday. I was standing with a crutch, but apparently that was not enough for the great gods of yesterday's fortune!

I realise that you can't actually see the RSD affected areas in this clip, however the point was more to highlight how quickly one's condition can change. For this reason, it makes it incredibly difficult for sufferers to keep jobs and other commitments. We can make plans, but we always know there is a chance we'll have to drop them at the last minute because our body gives out on us...it is awfully frustrating!! This is also frustrating for our friends, who can sometimes find it hard to understand why we can't always do what we said we could, or who might feel as the person with RSD is exaggerating their symptoms because of some other personal conflict. Stress can make the pain worse, for this reason it can also appear like the RSD sufferer is reporting mental stress as physical pain when this is not the case, the mental stress actually sets off the physical pain. Not unlike regular people suffering from tension headaches or raised blood pressure.

I am still in a lot of pain today. The sharp pains are creeping higher up my back than I have known them to before...so woo hoo, it looks like if I need to leave the house I am going in the wheelchair again...sigh. I can't wait till next week when they will pump me full of ketamine and disconnect this stupidly excessive firing from my nerves to my brain...and hopefully they won't reconnect themselves afterward!!

Love & Horizontal Healing,

Caf

my reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) story part 5

Dear Audy,

I have been down to Hepburn for the weekend and had a lovely time! Enjoying mineral spas and massages...definitely helps my pain levels to be able to relax. I'll post some pics and details shortly.

It's less than a week now until I go in for my ketamine infusion. I am very excited and nervous! I expect it will be a particularly boring week...but hopefully after that I can start really living again...I am determined to have my spreading RSD story told before then so that I can keep you updated with how the treatment goes.

In this installment, I tell you about how I dislocated my jaw in the middle of last year and how this led to more pain and tests....fun stuff not being able to move or talk!

My Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Story part 5

It is going to be a million degrees in Melbourne today and tomorrow...the weather here just hasn't nailed a nice warm...say 30 degree day....instead we are heading straight toward 40...silly weather, that's too hot for anything! It's especially too hot for not having air-conditioning...What do you do when it gets ridiculously hot, Audy?

Love & Storytelling,

Caf

living with RSD #1: the hand flare

Dear Audy,

Ugh, my hands are killing me. This is the most frustrating sort of flare that I know, I can't escape the pain and I can't make it better...grrrrrrrrrrr.

This is a short clip I recorded last night to try and show you what it looks like when this happens. It's kind of hard to tell, I guess, when you don't know what my hands normally look like. My skin texture is altered, it is shiny and smooth...I have no idea about the science behind why that happens, but I would really like to! My range of motion is very limited and they are kind of puffy. It's hard to describe, but to me they just look odd.

When I mention that I take more drugs to help when the pain flares, I am referring to Di-Gesic. This doesn't stop the pain, but it takes the edge off and makes it a little easier to deal with. It also completely spaces me out so I hold off taking it for as long as I can and try not to use it two days in a row.

Sorry for the sidestep from my RSD story into current events. I have two more installments involving a jaw dislocation and how the pain moved into my hands. I'll record and post these as soon as I am able.

Love & Waiting,

Caf