Well I asked around the office to other people I knew who dealt with pain on a daily basis like I was. They told me to look up pain management centers, and see what they could do for me. So I did. I found one in Orem (that I would highly recommend), and I made an appointment. Within the first appointment I knew that the doctors were taking me seriously and not looking at me like I was crazy, or lying through my teeth about the pain I was in. I'd be lucky to go a day or even half of a day a month without a migraine.
So first things first, was an MRI to make sure that there were no tumors or masses in my brain causing the pain, and to start me on a proactive migraine medication to prevent migraines. The follow up appointment wasn't for another month after the MRI. The morning of the MRI I just had the luck of slamming my left pinky toe into the corner of my couch and breaking it in like four places... joy... I know... Well pinky toe aside, I made it through the MRI okay with my claustrophobia barely kicking in, however the next few days for me waiting for the results were like Hell. I was freaking out because they never called me back because they can't give the results over the phone. So I canceled my later appointment and moved up my appointment to the next day or two.
My MRI came back clean no tumors or masses. Let me tell you, that was the best news I'd had in a long time! However it still didn't explain my migraines, and they just seemed to be getting worse. So my doctors told me that they were putting me on a leave of absence until we could figure this all out.
The next idea was possibly Facet Joint Arthritis in my neck. (Now just a little info, I've been also dealing with this horrible pain in my left shoulder since I was like 13 or 14 as well it's to the point that most days I can't handle wearing my bra strap, or even carry a purse on that side.) The doctors also explained that the Facet Joint Arthritis could also account for the pain in my shoulder.
What they would have to do for it would be called a Medial Branch Block, which basically is taking a really really thick needle (about a cm wide) sticking it through the vertebra and numbing the nerve, that would then make the migraine go away if that was the cause of the problem. The fun part about this is that I have one of only four insurances that requires this to be done twice before they will allow for a Medial Branch Radio Frequency Ablation, which is basically killing the nerve. All but these four insurances allow it to be done only once... lucky me... (please note the sarcasm flowing from that sentence). Now the killing of the nerve will last about a year and a half or so.
The first time this was done, I went by myself. I didn't see the needles when I first went in. I wasn't told that these needles would be extremely large in both width and length. I saw it on my way out the door. O.O oooooohhh goodness! Yeah the next time I went my mother drove me and I took Valum... it was my friend.
Each of these procedures had to be done two weeks apart, for my sanity and because of the pain and recovery time.
Because the pain that I was experiencing was on two different sides (migraines on the right side, shoulder pain on the left side) the doctors order the Branch Blocks and the RFs on the right side done first. That was only one needle. That wasn't so bad. However when it came to actually killing the nerve. It was about 15 minutes of absolute torture. I could feel everything.
Because they killed the nerve I had to wait about a month before they could begin on the other side because of the dizziness that it causes they didn't want to mess up my vertigo completely.
Now when they started on the left side, I was smart. From the very beginning I had my mother driving me so that I could take valum. However this time because it was a larger area, my doctor had ordered for three nerves to be tested and killed, so that's three very large needles being dug through the muscle to get between the vertebra all at the same time.
I went in for the final procedure on the 8th of this month. At least I'm hoping it's the final procedure. But the doctors started with the worst pain and are working their way down.
They have to do these tests to make sure that they have the needles on the nerves, the first one is like this clenching feeling, while the second one is like a heart beat feeling. Well they did the first one on all three nerves separately and I could feel it tighten up my shoulder all three times with them only having to repeat it on the first nerve. The second test there was no problem with the first two nerves feeling it, but when it came to the third nerve I couldn't feel it, and they had to laugh because apparently they could see it and didn't have to do it again.
The numbing stuff they put on the nerves burns like putting your hand on a hot stove for ten seconds, and lasts about that long if not longer. And I'm grateful that they did it because killing the nerve lasts for about ten to fifteen minutes and feels like a stabbing burning feeling (I know this from the last nerve they killed back in July).
When they pulled the needles out, I felt more warmer stuff run down my face, and I knew it was blood because of the way it dried. You know how blood kind of immediately gets this crusty feeling on your skin when it dries and there's no new fresh blood on it? yeah that's pretty much what it was. But it was confirmed when the second nurse asked if one of them bled as the first (primary?) nurse was cleaning me up and putting band aids on.
I was a lot dizzier than with the normal Medial Branch Blocks, but about as dizzy with the last Medial Brand Radio Frequency Abilation. When I did finally sit up I did see there was a tiny puddle of blood in the head rest. I've never bled that much... Of course the doctor who worked on me that day was a doctor that I'd never worked with before.
They did get me back into the room half an hour early, and the whole procedure took a good hour. But my shoulder was feeling soooo much better. I went in with my pain level at like a 9 on a scale of 1-10 and walked out with it at like a 0... which is the first time since I was 13 or 14. And that was the goal. I have had a few flair ups since I left, but they did say that it could take up to three weeks for it to take full affect as the nerve is completely dying. And I notice that with the last RFA that it did take a few weeks before it completely took affect, but that's why we did this with several weeks before I went back to work so that it had time to completely take affect, and I had time to heal from the injections, and my doctor was kind enough as well to cover Angela's first anniversary because I would not have the vacation time to cover it. I was originally planning to work Labor Day so that I could have the floating holiday to cover it, but that didn't exactly go as planned... I'm just glad that I have such and understanding doctor.
At this point I'm just excited to get back to work and get back to a 'normal' life. As 'normal' as it can be I guess.
Today my mother would be 60 years old. September 18th 1951. One week from today my sister will have been gone for a year. I feel like there is this huge hole in my heart that will never heal. And I know this will seem like a bunch of whining, but I feel as though I don't have any friends. The one friend that I do have lives out in Michigan and the other one I feel like she's not really my friend and I'm just imposing on her any time that I ask to hang out, because she does have other friends. The people at work that I thought were my friends haven't talked to me since I went on my leave. Of course it doesn't help that I don't have a cell phone. I feel like I've fallen off the face of the earth for the last four and a half months.
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