Having RSD has caused quite a few drastic changes in my life. One of which is the impact it had on my schooling. All of my life I had wanted to become a doctor. Learning came very easy to me and school was a breeze. I spent most of my life relying on my intelligence to get me by. Having RSD quickly changed all of that.
All throughout school I was intellectually more advanced for my age. I had an incredible ability of remembering everything I learned. This ability helped me to start college after my tenth grade year of high school. I graduated high school only a few credits short of having an AA degree. I graduated in June of 1998 and that coming September I was going to start med school. However, in August of that year I was in a car accident and the injuries that I sustained caused my RSD.
At first I thought that the RSD wouldn't affect this aspect of my life that much, but I was totally wrong. IT wasn't long before that truth, which was totally unexpected, slapped reality in my face. The first big shock to me was the fact that after spending so much time in the hospital and the million doctors appointments I had after my accident made me loose all interest in becoming a doctor. I am glad that I found this out sooner rather than later. I don't look at this as a bad thing. I look at is as an opportunity to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. I soon found out that I totally loved law. I always had but thought that I was more interested in medicine. Anyways I decided that I would finish out my degree than transfer to law school. Soon as I began my studies I automatically was aware of the effects. I have major memory and concentration problems. Instead of having a photographic memory I can't even remember what my address and phone number is. I can't pass a class if my life depended on it. This may really sound discouraging, but it really isn't. All my life I have depended on knowledge as opposed to skill. I have come to realize that both are of equal importance. My memory and concentration may be inadequate right now, but until they become adequate I have been given a chance to learn how to rely on skill. My doctor believes that my memory and concentration will improve when my pain level decreases. Until that time I will not give up. I will take the classes I need and do my best. I may fail or I may pass. Either way I will succeed in life. My dream is to study law and then use that information to help people. Ideally I would do that by becoming a lawyer. However, if that doesn't happen I can still use the things I learned to help people. I could still advise people on what to do. It may not be from a lawyers point of view but it will be coming from someone who had the same dream but may not have been able to reach that dream because of learning difficulties. I guess that my whole point is that school may be difficult with RSD but know what your dream is and what you need to do to reach it. Don't get discouraged if it takes you longer than you had planned or if you are faced with obstacles. You will learn along the way and things will work themselves out. True happiness is found in knowing what you want and knowing how to realistically get there. How long it takes you won't interfere with your happiness unless you let it.~Kyla