3 month anniversary

How depressing. Today it is 3 months since this literal pain in the neck started. I also had my second epidural today. At the moment I'm in agony but thought I should move around a little before lying down again. Need to ice as that seems to help, it feels very sore. I have had two acupuncture appointments in the last few weeks. The first one seemed to help loosen up my trapezius muscles which was good, so we did another appt 12 days later, and I'm not sure if it was that or the combination of going to 2 Depeche concerts in a row and overdoing the whole week with the work move, etc. but the last two weeks have been v. painful. That and I'm incredibly depressed from gaining almost 5 lbs in four weeks! So NOT good. My muscles are atrophying and I lose my breath so easily, worse than normal.

During the procedure the dr says to tell him if/when you feel anything painful or uncomfortable. Last time I had pins and needles shoot all the way down my right arm when the needle was going in. This time it was so strange, it was my chest and back on the right side, it felt like an electrical shock. Freaked me out completely but thankfully as soon as he moved the needle it stopped. It's not a fun procedure but if it works I will be very happy about having to deal with it!

Anyway Dr. Ahmed said the procedure went well today and the medicine went where he wanted it to go. I know the first few days can be worse after the local wears off, but am hoping they are not too bad and that I will feel much better in a few days. Please, please, please. It's 7 weeks until Italy and I REALLY don't want to be feeling like this, as it will completely limit me as to what I want to do. So fingers, and everything else, is crossed.

Also had a quick scare this week with a possible abscess again. It started hurting a few weeks ago but went away, so I let it go, then this Monday/Tuesdsay I was in a lot of pain. The dr wasn't in until Thursday so I made an appt then, but strangely by Wednesday it felt better. The dr said it did feel a bit "weird" on that side but that he couldn't find anything "surgical" that he needed to do, so I yet again completely perplexed another dr. At least he's v. nice and said, even b/f the exam, that he always wants me to come in if I suspect something, even if it's nothing, b/c he'd rather deal with the beginning of a bad thing than me putting it off. HUGE relief it was nothing though.

Must go ice and lay down again, in mucho pain.

No changes

The good news is I had an MRI last Saturday and it showed nothing. No rotator cuff tear (I knew that but everyone kept jumping to that), no bursitis (surprising since everyone's told me I've had that for ages). All good, and I am definitely relieved b/c if it was a tear then I'd have to contemplate shoulder surgery and who has the time (or energy) for that? I've already decided to push back my hand surgery till the new year so I will have a full FSA account and days off.

But the question still remains, what the F*** is going on w/ my neck??? I see Dr. Ahmed (the anesthesiologist/pain dr) on the 6th. The other drs think he will want to do another epidural. Fun stuff! But if it works then it's fine because the pain has actually been really bad this week, especially in my shoulder and upper arm. I am praying that it will work this time because tomorrow is 10 weeks and I'm seriously going to lose my mind, or what's left of it!

9 weeks and still (sadly) counting

Well I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm at a complete loss. Did the epidural injection work? It might have helped a little with the inflammation in the nerve in my spine, but I still have pain in my shoulder and down my arm, as well as pins and needles. My trapezius muscles are v. v. tight. I asked Dr. P what to do and he said I could try at home traction (don't have one), muscle relaxers, or dry needling. So I tried the muscle relaxers. Of course the next day when he got back to me he said which ones to try, and the one I used was left over from my hip surgery. All it did was give me restless leg syndrome and I was up all night from it, dry as a bone, eyes hurting from being so dry and dehydrated. Must remember to toss out any remaining pills. It was something w/ at T. Anyway then I rang my acupuncturist. He said that he could try some treatment that wouldn't increase the inflammation. I went last night, and felt a little better after, even though the needles hurt like hell - surprising because they don't really normally hurt. But today my neck /spine hurts and the shoulder hurts and the pins and needles are still the same. I'm am going to lose what is left of my mind. Mark did notice last night that my right side seemed weaker - I told him I'm not surprised b/c I've been guarding it and using my left side - which explained why when he touched my left trapezius muscle I screamed - it's been working overtime. Thank goodness it is Friday and I don't have to sit for two days at a computer. I am getting very worried though because time is running out to sort this before October and Italy. There is no way I'll survive that trip like this. Something must be done! Two weeks until I see the anesthesiologist again, perhaps I should see if I can get an appointment sooner. He might have to do another epidural. I also definitely need an MRI of my shoulder, so wondering if I should have that arranged because perhaps this is coming from there as well and a shot in there would be good? I don't mean the one Dr. P. did a month ago, I mean like they did with my hip where they really get into the joint. I have to ask someone and hopefully get some information because I am so worn out I could just give up at this point - and I'm sadly not even trying to be dramatic.

Beyond frustration

The injection so far hasn't seemed to do much of anything to my body. Last night I thought perhaps I had less pain in my neck, but that is probably because my shoulder was killing me it was taking all the attention away. This morning I have pain in my neck and also stabbing pain in my shoulder. I never heard back again from Dr. P about what to do w/ exercising at home so I've not done anything as when I was in PT they told me to not do anything if I was in pain. I am so confused. Granted I've heard it could take another week or so for the injection to kick in but yes, I'm slightly impatient. (At this point I have a right to be, it's been 8 weeks of this crap!) The pain in my neck does seem a bit higher today though and not in the joint where they injected it. I'm losing my mind. Part of me thinks I should call Dr. Kelly up and have him check out my shoulder, perhaps it is surgical after all, but then again, there's nothing I could do until after October because of my trip. I go back to see Dr. Ahmed on the 6th August, perhaps he'll have some ideas then. My head is spinning, as was the rest of my insides this morning when I had a massive blood pressure drop from out of nowhere. I hate when that happens. Feeling a bit better now but just want to rest, not be sitting in the office uncomfortably.
Ok, I am done with the whinging for now. I just want my life back!

Post - injection

Thankfully it all was worked out. Friday am I received another call from Dr. Wu's office saying I needed another blood test. I rang back and explained the procedure was set up for Tuesday and that unless the results would be back by Monday I wasn't going to have it. The assistant said to ring the dr at his Queens office. What a backwards place that is! I tried ringing and either got a busy or fax sound. I rang the assistant back to make sure it was the wrong number and told him and he said that you have to let the fax go on and when someone is there and the realise it's not a fax they will answer. Quite frustrating. So I finally gave up with that concept and sent a fax in big black marker asking the dr to ring me ASAP - which was about an hour or so later. He said there was one more test, but I probably was ok b/c of previous results, but to be sure I needed this one. I said all the other dr's said the test results were fine and he said most likely but he couldn't definitively say. By this time I had received a call from Dr. Ahmed's office saying someone cancelled for Monday am and I could have that slot. I asked Dr. Wu when the results would be back and he said Tuesday so I said no thanks, I'm just going to go have the test done. Truly there is only so much you can put up with. Just like I'm not going to have an X-ray taken to see if my neck is lax when we know it is already. No wonder the health system is such crap in this country. They overdo tests when you don't need them and the people that do don't get them! Anyway, I digress.

So Monday I went to the hospital at 10 for an 11 am appointment. They put an IV in me for fluids and electrolytes, but no meds. I thought I would be out but when the doctor came down to talk to me he said they wanted me awake so I could tell them if they were in the right spot. This didn't sound like an enjoyable concept but I guess there is a better chance of it working if you can get the medicine as close as possible to the correct spot. I went up about half an hour or so later and the worst part was laying down on the table. They had a couple of pillows that went under my chest and this big foam cut out with a mirror under it to put my head on. This and laying on my back flat are the most painful for me currently. I told him so he said to try to get in a comfortable position, but I told him there was no way like this so lets just get it over with. He was concerned I wouldn't make it but afterwards said I was a trooper as he couldn't believe how I didn't move. I was too afraid to move, and also figured it would go faster so I tried to zone out.

First they put a local in my neck. That burned a lot but I've had worse so whatever. After that they put in the contrast, and then poke around, whilst continually taking x-rays, to see where they are near the nerve and spine. At times I had the strongest stabbing pain down to my right third finger and I told him. The procedure is quite interactive! That happened about twice I think. I also think it mean it was near where he wanted to get so it was good. The pain would go away pretty much as soon as he moved the catheter away from the spot. It was freaky having someone mess around with your nerves and feeling how they control different parts.

After he found the spot he had to push the medicine in. They go very slowly with this,especially, as the dr explained after, that the nerve area was quite narrow. The extra pressure can cause more pain whilst injecting it. Thankfully it didn't really with me and next thing I knew we were done and he was cleaning up the iodine. They sat me up carefully and I was feeling okay, a little light headed but not too much. The dr then showed me the images of my spine and the injection and explained what he did and what I might experience. He told me to rest the rest of the day and put ice on my neck if it hurt, and I could take pain killers if I wanted, but I usually avoid those like the plague. Some nice wine is much more preferable to me. Then I was wheeled back down into the nurses are where my parents were waiting for me. All in all not the first choice of things to do with free time but it's nothing compared to what I've been through. The hip surgery still remains the all time tops of nightmares, and the brutal ER visit last year the second.

I iced and just vegged on the couch for the rest of the day yesterday and came to work today. Taking it easy. Have some mid back pain on the right side but think that's more from being a couch potato the last 7.5 weeks as it's been getting worse for about a week. At this moment I'm icing my neck as it was hurting after going out for lunch. Should have had a liquid one! Ha!
So that's that and we will see if it (G-d willingly) kicks in and works in the next few days. So far I still have pins and needles depending on how I'm standing/sitting and stabbing in my neck depending on how I move, but as he said, it can take a few days. Fingers crossed!