My drawing entitled "Pain" is a direct look into what it is to live with RSD. The pain, at times, is overwhelming, and there are days when I wonder why everyone else can't see the fire burning inside my body.

The drawings I sketch are like a window into my eyes so you can actually see what I am feeling. I feel a deeper sense of living now that I have been diagnosed with a non-curable, obscure disease. It is an appreciation for what I have now, and not what I have lost. After a grieving period I began to understand and accept that some days I have to go a little slower. Some days are like the drawing and I can't do much at all, but the best days are when I can tell my husband I feel great!

Drawing is a wonderful way to express yourself when you feel that you are alone in your private battle. I can use it to say I love you or a funny face to make someone smile. And, when you see others sometime feel as you do by there expression in art, you make a connection with people you may have never met.