Persistence is Power
By Barbara Schaffer

If you are reading this, you either have, or know someone who has, CRPS; and you may be feeling powerless—powerless over a body that seems to have taken control; powerless over medical care; powerless when facing your insurance company; powerless when addressing people at work. Powerless is a feeling you know.

Many of your fellow “RSDers” have found ways to address these issues. Personally, I had to battle the workers’ compensation system for 10 years before
they were forced to accept responsibility for my care. When I won that court case, I felt as if I had the power to direct my life again; but this was a very difficult battle, and a book like Persistence is Power would have helped.

Authors Jeanne Lazo and Carol J. Amato have done an excellent job providing an
outline to help you deal with many issues, now that you are disabled and facing the battles of life.

This book, Persistence is Power is a “real world guide for the newly disabled
employee” because the authors cover many of the battles you are facing.
They discuss how to address a doctor who doesn’t understand or believe
what you’re reporting. They give you information, techniques, and forms for
you to keep track of what is happening in your Social Security and workers’ compensation cases.

The forms in this book are excellent and definitely take a lot of the work out
of keeping track of the different issues (Actually, devising a form that really
works was the hardest thing that I had to do for my cases).

Getting a copy of this book will help you as you face these battles—but only you
can provide the persistence that is needed. I know this book says it is for the newly disabled, but anyone who has CRPS knows that many of our battles start years after the disability starts, because it takes that long for us to know what’s happening, and that we really cannot handle the jobs that we’ve tried so hard to keep.

This book was up to date in 2004. Laws change, Social Security regulations
change, and it is your job to keep up with these changes. The forms in the book will work; but some of the information may be outdated, and you will have to rely on your persistence to keep up with these changes.

CRPS is probably the most difficult battle you have ever had to face. The
feeling of powerlessness is so common that it should be one of the major
symptoms of the syndrome. You can get some of that power back by being
organized and persistent as you face the medical community, the employment
world, and the insurance company. Get a copy of this book, and good luck on all
of your battles.

Jeanne Laso, co-author of Persistence is Power, has donated a number of copies of her book to RSDSA. We are making them available free of charge to our members.

RSDSA Review. Winter 2007.