As part of our mission we try to raise awareness of what our clients are going through with CRPS, a client of ours has allowed us to share his story.
Sadly the Claimant ‘C’ suffered an injury at work which lead to his development of stage 2 Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome in his dominant lower arm/wrist and hand.
My client wants to raise awareness about CRPS, but also to give people a positive message. He’s been through hell, but in so many ways has got his life back on track,
which he has sought to explain in his story below.
Without an understanding of the condition a lawyer will be ill-equipped to put the appropriate steps in place to secure the necessary treatment.
This is where we at FT Chronic Pain Solicitors come in.
C’s Story
"I almost lost my arm due to some mechanical doors closing on it. Fortunately something I was holding prevented my arm from being amputated, instead I suffered crush fractures to my wrist. There were days I wished the arm had been removed in the incident.
I can say that my normal life just stopped from the day of the injury.
People struggle to imagine the extent of the pain I experience and people that don’t understand the condition feel I have a low pain tolerance. I can almost see them rolling their eyes. Prior to the accident I was no stranger to injury or pain having injured myself in the course of my hobby of moto-cross on numerous occasions. Never before, even when I broke my wrist ten years earlier had I ever experienced pain like the pain of CRPS.
In the first year after the accident I felt constantly frustrated about my condition. Unlike other injuries I have had in the past, this just wasn’t getting better. To start with whilst the pain was terrible, although I truly believed it would just get better. That’s all I had known about injury in the past. My mental health was fine but over time I gradually felt like CRPS was winning and I felt depressed and anxious about my life falling away from me. I had lost my career as a heavy goods driver which I loved and with that my independence. I had to move in with my parents which was degrading, but I couldn’t afford to live by myself without an income.
One of the hardest things to deal with over time has been sleep deprivation. Often I wake suddenly in chronic pain as I had rolled onto my hand. Thereafter, I would be wide awake and spend the rest of the day feeling tired and lacking energy.
The pain feels like my fingernails are being pulled out slowly at the roots. Touching something relatively harmless, such as the seam on my jeans will cause sharp stabbing, burning pain.
At its worst I went to B&Q and purchased a rick saw, I had planned to tie a brick to one end of the saw to cause it to drop and the blade would then cut my arm off. My girlfriend questioned me as to why I had bought the saw and fortunately took it back to the shop. At this time I was asking doctors to remove my arm routinely and I was frustrated that no one would do as I wanted. I pulled my little toe nails out including the nail bed in order to detract myself from the pain in my arm. I carried out self-harm routinely including biting on sharp objects to cut the roof of my mouth. My mind-set was simply to play over and over in my mind the message ‘the pain the pain the pain’ I couldn’t think of anything else.
I began to dissociate myself from my limb. I would avoid looking at it and using it. It looked strange, at times it looked like the hand of a corpse, lacking pigmentation and feeling cold to touch and sweaty. I would avoid any changes of temperature as this would cause my hand to swell to twice its normal size. The colour would drain giving my hand the appearance of looking almost blue and the pain would be incredible.
I attended a pain management programme. This was recommended by the consultant in my case. Despite continuing to live with the pain I no longer idealise about having my arm removed.
The pain management programme showed me techniques to help manage my condition. They trained me in developing ways to use my injured hand in order to try and gain normal sensation again. Before pain management if I picked up a pen it would feel as fat as a carrot, whereas now I am able to gain a proper sense of scale through touch and so the hand has a better degree of function, save for times when symptoms peak and the hand swells. I attended a fireworks party and due to the extreme temperatures I have had a flare up of the swelling and extreme symptoms of pain, although now I know it's just part of me and I have to go continue being positive which is helped by having a loving family around me.
Paul was able to obtain interim payments which have allowed me to remain independent to some extent and to offset some of my financial hardship whilst they investigate my claim.
My advice to anyone suffering from symptoms of CRPS is that they seek help and fully engage in pain management techniques."
If you are looking for a lawyer who understands the chronic pain claims get in touch now, we can help and talking through your options is free.
Contact FT Chronic Pain Solicitors today
Contact us today and see how FT Chronic Pain Solicitors may be able to change your life.
Call us: 0800 999 1078
Email us: info@ftchronicpain.co.uk
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