I’m not yet clear about the effects of Nerve block No. 3, but I’m calling it… I’m going to be positive… I believe I’m building! It’s just a sorta three steps forward and two back situation.. I hope.
So far, my building blocks go like this:
- Nerve block No. 1 (December 7, 2011),
- Nerve block No. 2 (April 18, 2012),
- Nerve block No. 3 (November 23, 2012)
My current situation is a life setup based on my husband Theo’s help all day. I could not have returned to work without his help or the home/office setup we have. I’m still not driving and my weight limit goes from 0 – 3kg. I haven’t established a regular basic living routine (this includes a daily walk), still unreliable to myself!
My first block lasted 12 weeks. I teamed up No. 2 with a little Endep and got to 31 weeks but I have to consider the weeks it took to kick in, the weeks wondering if the block was wearing off, and also the waiting period to get in to see Dr Peter Courtney, so that reduces the time to about 21 weeks. Let’s not forget my ‘back to work’ activity and my work setup at Origin of Image, which from a Pudendal Neuralgia perspective, is nothing short of luxurious. It’s completely reliant on Theo, and based on the freedom to be able to sit, stand, rest, nap, duck my backside into water, move around, take days off, etc, as my backside requires (and no home chores either! Theo does all that too). So basically it’s completely unrealistic. It is a great trigger to my pain but I believe its good side doubles as an aid to my treatment, after all, I feel I’m ‘working’, part of the world again, creating, partaking in our business. And let’s face it, everything hurts so I have to choose what minimal activities I’m going to do.
I’ve always said that everything counts with chronic pain (have a look at my pain score), and as time goes by, I believe it even more so. Everything I do, everything I don’t do, every little/big thing I lift, every action, the shoes I wear, the temperature my body’s at, how I sleep, whether I rest or not, how often I travel in the car or go out, everything affects my capacity. The bigger the activity I plan, the more diligent I have to be. The reason I’m explaining this is because I truly believe if it weren’t for the help I get every hour of the day, I would be in pain 24/7 and my implant and blocks would not work. I would be lucky to get through minimal living activity and ‘return to work’ would remain a dream. Chronic pain needs its match – chronic help!
But back to Nerve blocks, and No. 3 is not even half kicked in at 4 weeks. But…
I think the tampering that goes with a nerve block, in my case having to get to the rectal branch, is going to cause a tremendous flare in itself. The procedure took 45 minutes (under anaesthetic) so if that’s fiddling in my pain area, everything is going to get pretty upset. Lucky for me, Dr Peter Courtney seems to numb the area and it stays that way up until a week, some of my skin I still can’t feel. I have to consider also, that this time I had no cortisone injected to the SI joints as they felt fine. Since returning home the pain has called for routine ‘Italiano‘ – back to sitting in cold water, daily siesta, minimal outings, basically super careful and in pain.
I try to stay positive but reality hits many times, currently I am completely reliant on this treatment, the medication and full-time help? I expected to pick up from my best point and overlap my relief so the months of relief could turn into a year, so on and so on. Instead I took a few steps back.
Let’s hope this doesn’t all come down to two anaesthetics per year for six months relief as I’m not sure that’s a decent life plan. I hope my block is going to kick in any minute and my blocks stack goes up ways and not sideways…
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This is a great post, Soula! Thanks for linking me to it.
Nerve block No.3 I believe you’re kicking in…. that’s 5 weeks post procedure. (Did I dare write that?)
Boring but I feel the story has to be told. The responses I get let me know there are people out there that understand the up/down road of pain. I think people will think I’m mad but sadly, many people are out there experiencing a similar thing, and they get it. We all need to speak up and stop judging I guess.
Such a good insight into what you’re going through. Am hoping with you xxx