You didn't mention what the pain feels like. Now that the medical community is finally becoming familiar with it, some doctors are incorrectly diagnosing it when they cannot figure it out. My wife is a surgical nurse for your type of surgery. If it feels like something isn't healing then something went wrong in the surgery, out the rod may be defective. For instance, several years ago, a company that makes some rods altered their cleaning process to save money and was unintentionally leaving a microscopic later of oil on them. The result was the binge could not heal by adhering to the surface, which also resulted in chronic pain, discoloration, swelling, etc, due to rejection. Bone infections also have similar symptoms. The product had to be recalled and the patients needed follow-up surgery to remove, clean, and put new rods in place.
I have RSD, and also belong to a support group with over 20 members. If you have RSD, you would have unending and crippling disabling FIRE for pain, and the pain is so severe it would be your ONLY concern. Days would pass without sleep until exhaustion causes several hours. You would be so obsessed by the unimaginable pain that nothing else matters. I feel for you, but you should get a second opinion. I know that getting a diagnosis is somewhat comforting, but your problem might be fixable. RSD is not, at list not in this country. It causes lifelong disability and the severe pain never end. I have broken my arm, suffered from shingles, cluster headaches, chronic migraines and the RSD is significantly worse - the pain is off the scale. It doesn't feel like you got burned - it feels like you ARE on unending fire. There are simultaneously other pains, like shredding nerves, barbs, and such, but the fire is the worst... It is all consuming and I have had periods when I couldn't understand what was being said to me because it seems like the all of the brain is so busy processing the pain that it couldn't process language, and the words sound foreign.
So, be glad with what you have because another doctor may be able to figure out out and fix it.
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