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During worship this morning, I stood gritting my teeth and holding back tears, desperately clutching my arm to my body in an attempt to protect it from the low bass sound waves ricocheted around my body. For some reason, my arm responds to low sound waves the same way your arm might if it was placed in a pair of vice grips, then tightened. As painful as it was, it wasn’t the pain that finally caused the tears to roll down my face. “How can I say thanks For the things You have done for me, Things so undeserved, Yet You gave to prove YourRead More →

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In: Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain

I have felt like my life has gone no where recently. My spiritual life seems the same. My arm is showing no instantaneous improvements. I was starting to struggle with these ideas when God gave me a huge reminder. In the United States 100 pennies are equal to $1. In countries where we still use the evil English system, there are 5,280 feet in a mile. At the same time, it is a lot easier to save one penny than to make a dollar. And everyone knows it is easier to take a 1 foot-long step than a mile-long step. Likewise, it is easier toRead More →

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In: Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain

This post was written when my blog was called Out of the Flames So, why the title of this blog? I wanted a title that portrayed a little of my story, who I am, in spite of the pain I’m in currently. Because CRPS pain is so often described as a burning pain (and I would agree, my arm often burns), I thought of a Phoenix who rises out of the flames. In spite of devastating events that threaten to burn my life into ashes, even when the doctor diagnoses me with a condition that destroys my life like an inferno destroys a house, orRead More →

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In: Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain
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The purpose of this blog isn’t for me to complain, but to comment on my life with a chronic pain syndrome, which of course includes pain. Even though pain is a part of my everyday life, it isn’t always the thing that most affects my life. Sometimes the emotional struggles are just as difficult as the physical ones. I realized the other day that I had not used my left arm normally in more than six months. I have not folded my own clothes, zipped a Ziploc bag, or clapped my hands in half of a year. I remember being insisting that people know myRead More →

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In: Chronic Pain

Two months ago, I had never heard of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), but those four letters have changed my life. It is amazing how a few words from a doctor can make such a significant change in your life. Just as I had not heard of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, I cannot assume you have, though there are more than 1.2 million people in the United States alone who are suffering with this disease formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). I’m writing about my Complex Regional Pain Syndrome not because I want to scare you by letting you know a little of theRead More →