CT Guided Costovertebral Nerve Ablations

[dshobbies]

I'm waiting for the post 'forgot to take any meds all day...' Until then I guess forgetting for hours will have to do.

[jsewell]

Motor Vehicle Accident i guess this is my brain on drugs that i could not figure that one out.
I am charting what i take and when , only because i was forgetting when i took anything. i love when i look at it and realize i have gone like 12 hours with no pain pills. Of course i am sleeping for about 14 of them!!!! Still nice to not be on a 2 or 4 hour schedule.
I have been taking oxy straight since my hip replacement of june 2008 and for a while have taken 20 mg as a dose. My pm doc never writes the prescription out that way, only for 1 every 4-6 hours. But she kind of gives me just enough, not any left over, maybe this time if i keep sleeping so much. I guess it is bad to write it on a prescription although i would have thought i was not alone in this dose with others much higher.

Cheryl i saw that you had C3-4 done or higher, i forget one second later after reading something. Anyway if my screws are put in higher it would be around the C3 area, i think. What motion did you loose with that ?
thanks everyone
That is some serious touring Mark, How old is Lauren?
judy

[mmglobal]

Lauren is 22 and is my youngest of 3. She finished her undergrad degree in cellular bio at UCSB last year and will take the MCAT soon. Next year, she should be in med school. I am a proud Papa as she is my tour guide. She lover her AP art history and AP European History classes and her retention is amazing. I ask a question about a painting and she not only gives me the history of the painting and artist, but also fills me in on the politics that surrounded the work!

This has been a wonderful trip. (Pictures coming soon!)

Mark

[jsewell]

OK i was wondering if she was the little one in the picture. Makes sense now. Funny i have a 22 year old daughter with excellent retention skills also,.
she has just applied to UCSB among others to finish her undergrad. she has been at community college to save money. She also is hoping to get into medical school!!
judy

[Shebo]

That is great, Mark. I hope for the day that I can forget to take pain meds. You make me want to visit Germany. I would love to visit all of those places. Have fun!

[Maria]

Mark,
Sounds so wonderful to be traveling with your daughter and doing all that you both are with visiting the museums and such. Just your brief descriptions and other photos you've posted give some idea of how beautiful and fun this trip must be for you both. I'm very glad to hear how well you're tolerating everything! Also it would be great to be with someone with such great art history knowledge and retention that could make those trips that much more interesting and fun. Just all sounds like a very special trip!

Like others sure wish I could be doing the same or at least some of it! Look forward to continued posts and photos when you've time! Stay well

[mmglobal]

I've been negligent in not posting for a while. Some of you have seen me eluding to these results on other posts. It needs to be here so my story is complete.

Above, you’ve read about the very targeted and methodical approach to identifying pain generators. I’m very happy with the process and still think there is no better way for me to be proceeding; carefully, slowly, not submitting to anything big; or even just large panels of ablations. Small changes following accurate identification of pain generators.

It’s frustrating because the pain I experienced on injection, and the relief I felt seems to be 100% condordant with the pain I feel. Knowing what I know now, I would still make the same decisions in a similar situation.

While I experienced significant relief with these ablations, I still have my number one problem! I am getting by with less meds and experience less pain (for the activity level I sustain), I still have the #1 problem. When I do any “arms in front of me” activities, after a while I get severe pain that puts me down. I have to lie down for a long time. After a while, I can get up, but cannot sit at my computer, wash dishes, etc…

With regards to work time possible, I’m still in the same boat. I’m enjoying more and am more active with less meds, but I still can’t function normally with these types of activities.

Dale asked (on another thread), what is the next step? I’m afraid I know the answer, but it’s not a good one. I have some severely degenerated facets in my very low t-spine, but I think they are too low to be involved here. I also have a herniated T7-8, which is right in the area we are discussing. I have a HUGE amount of room around the spinal cord, so every surgeon who’s looked at it does not think this is a problem. However, just because the spinal cord compression is not significant, that doesn’t mean that the disc itself is not a serious pain generator. IMHO, the next step is discography. However, I am of the opinion that if you are not prepared to act on the results, why do the test? Positive discography would indicate fusion. I’m not sure I’d submit to a fusion at this level. Thoracic fusions are very tough to consider. I did present my case (just over a year ago) to Dr. Pimenta. He’s the top dog with the thoracic XLIF procedures. His advice was to “stay away from spine surgeons!” Perhaps with the additional investigation, he’d more seriously consider my case. I’ll see.

I’m going to try to adjust my lifestyle/work habits to see if I can function better working in small snippets of time. It’s tough, because I actually feel pretty good at times and the hours go by without me realizing it (until it’s too late.)

I will probably go back to Germany in mid March… I’ll make a decision about heading back to Bonn for thoracic discography (or perhaps Bertagnol for that) in a few weeks.

I’ll keep you posted. All the best,

Mark