Better Late, Than Never!!!

Greetings, to all who are reading this, if anyone is. My name is Keith, and I was recently diagnosed with Type 1, Stage 3, RSD/CRPS. My journey began on a sunny morning, on August 4, 1987. I was on one of those 3 wheeled ATCs, that were popular back then. I was actually helping a friend get it back to his house. In the end, I was hit by a van and my life hasn't been the same since. I didn't have a helmet on, I was wearing nothing more than a net shirt, blue jeans and a new pair of Addidas high tops. My left leg suffered 6 breaks and a shattered knee. 2 of those breaks were compound fractures where the bone was protruding from the skin on the inner side of the knee and the lower part of the leg. The foot peg of the ATC, which resembles a serated post, went through the lower part of my leg, which accounts for one of the compound fractures. On the inner side of my knee and leg is a 14" scar and centered is a big ass hole where flesh used to be. I destroyed my thigh muscle and my calf muscle. Up until 2005, I have endured 16 surgeries to put this limb back together. I have endured over 10 years worth of physical therapy sessions and daily agony. In 2005 my roomate mouthed off with vulgarities to my then 7 year old son, and thus an argument ensued. In the end I had his drunken ass in a head lock and in order to avoid shattering an all glass coffee table, I shifted my weight and moved us to the side and "SNAP", down I went. I gave myself a tibia plateau fracture. I needed surgery in which the surgeons grafted cadaver bone to the fracture site and installed 3 screws. Then 3 months later I was scheduled to have additional surgery. I had an Orthoscopy, they removed scar tissue and half of my Miniscus from my knee. Then they did a lengthening to my Achilles Tendon so I could at least get my foot into a neutral position and put my foot flat on the floor (didn't work). They also did a release and fusion on my 5 toes on the left foot, since they were clawed down and made wearing anykind of shoe longer than 5 minutes a tortuous event. I spent 2 years recovering from all that additional surgeries bringing my total to 18. I was told in 2006 I would never be able to do anykind of manual labor and would need to find sedementary job. In 2007 I found a decent job that paid good, and all I had to do was sit in a lab and every 2 hours walk the production floor, collect samples, and take measurement readings on the product, then bag and tag the samples and enter the data in files as well as into a computer, all right up my alley. I was made to perform a job outside of my limitations as well as my job description and as result of simply pulling a heavy pallet loaded with stock (750+lbs.), I tore something in my knee, and down I went, again. I haven't worked since July 14, 2007 and applied for Social Security Disabilty. So I had been seeing these cheesy, cracker jack type of Doctors using my county hospital's indegency program. In the 20+ years I had been seeing doctors and with the now 18 surgeries, all those first year interns would do was ask stupid questions. "What's with the cane? What's with the brace?" Blah Blah Blah........in the end I was treated like some pill popping junkie, wasting their time and just looking to get high! 2 weeks ago, my lawyer scheduled an Independant Medical Exam with a real doctor, who was literally shocked when he heard everything I had been through. In the course of his examination and the multitude of pokings and prodings, he determined that I had Type 1, Stage 3, RSD/ CRPS. I was floored, because nobody had ever mentioned anything about this Disorder/Disease. But now I know what's going on. I will keep this updated as things progress. Stay tuned......<<>>